Despite a disappointing qualifying on Friday, DAMS driver Ayumu Iwasa scored his third victory of the season on Saturday in the Monaco Sprint Race. In doing so, the Red Bull junior will briefly sit atop the championship standings for the second time this season. Following his win, Iwasa gave his thoughts to Feeder Series and selected media on his mixed Monaco weekend thus far.

By Tyler Foster

It was a victory in the Melbourne feature event that handed Iwasa his moment in the sun. The Honda Development driver shot himself into the spotlight with an excellent pole lap and then converted to leave Australia with an eight-point championship lead. Unfortunately, the Japanese driver went scoreless in a disastrous next round in Baku.

A good start in Monte Carlo saw Iwasa finish free practice as the quickest on track. He stated afterward that he showed potential for pole but ultimately could only qualify ninth. Nevertheless, he showed strong pace from the reverse grid front row and took advantage of the misfortune of Isack Hadjar to win the sprint. Still frustrated from his performance on Friday, Iwasa spoke honestly of his recent fortunes.

“I think it’s quite positive, but unfortunately I missed the result again in quali yesterday, even though I had the speed. That’s why also I could take P1 in free practice. I just hit the wall yesterday and I lost the position. So, I think this is the minimum recovery as a driver. I’m quite happy with this result and the speed in the race. I think this will be quite positive for tomorrow’s race.”

It was clear that Iwasa did have the pace to win bo his own accord, his achievement only assisted by the retirement of polesitter Hadjar. As the race restarted from a safety car period on lap six, the Hitech driver suffered a mechanical issue that handed Iwasa P1. In passing the slowing rookie, Iwasa said that he assumed he had a problem.

“I was expecting that he had a car issue when he slowed down the first time. It was quite tight because when he slowed down the second time, he slowed down quite a lot and I had quite good speed as well. It was quite tight but it was still under control.”

Both drivers had a similar start with Iwasa marginally quicker off the line, but the DAMS driver said that “it was not perfect”. He was also asked post-race whether he would have been victorious in an uninterrupted battle with Hadjar.

“Honestly, it’s really difficult to think because we didn’t run so many laps before the safety car. It’s difficult because it’s Monaco, so maybe [my] pace was a little bit better than [Hadjar], but maybe the overtaking was a bit more difficult.”

In the preceding Formula 3 sprint race, tyre management proved a vital factor in the contest. Considering the earlier start and less predictable weather for the feature race on Sunday, Iwasa admitted difficulty in predicting the preferred strategy.

“Actually, for me, the tyre was under control. Still, I was trying not to kill the tyre straight away. I was managing the thermal and tyre wall. I think it was quite a bit on the edge because of the high track temperature. Tomorrow will be different because the track temperature will be different as well. It will be difficult to decide a good strategy in the race.

“I think tomorrow’s race will be quite difficult because I’m starting from P9 and it’s Monaco. First of all, the start will be really important at this track. If I have the speed, maybe I will be able to overtake at one point. What I need to think about is just how to manage the tyre. The session will be a bit different with the following tomorrow, so that is a key point.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool