After a rained-out sprint race on Saturday with less than one lap of green flag action, today’s FIA Formula 2 feature race became the only opportunity for drivers to race on track this weekend. Trident driver Clément Novalak came on top in an incident-filled race which saw the four of the top six drivers in the championship retire. Speaking to Feeder Series and selected media, Novalak, Zane Maloney, and Jak Crawford shared their insights on the race.

By Nida Anis

A wet sprint race on Saturday saw Isack Hadjar start the race from the front of the grid, after championship leader Théo Pourchaire suffered a mechanical issue that forced him to start from pit lane. A three-way collision between Crawford and Campos drivers Kush Maini and Ralph Boschung triggered the red flag on the opening lap. All three drivers were unhurt after the incident and Campos were able to repair both of their cars for Sunday’s feature race.

After the barriers at Turn 5 were repaired, Hadjar led the field behind the safety car with twenty-two minutes left on the clock. However, heavy rain saw the race red-flagged for the second time, and it was not long before Race Control announced that the race would not resume. As less than two racing laps were completed without a Safety Car intervention, no points were awarded for the sprint race.

Returning to the top step after four years

Before he emerged victorious in today’s feature race, Novalak’s last race win was in 2019 in the third round of the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship. His win today was also an important milestone for his team, Trident, who took their first ever win in FIA Formula 2 and their first feature race victory in the second tier of single-seater racing since Johny Cecotto Jr. in the 2014 GP2 Series.

“I never really adapted well to Formula 2, especially coming in from Formula 3 where we had pretty strong results a couple years ago,” Novalak said. “It’s a very good feeling, it’s been a long time, and yeah, chuffed to bits to come away with the win.”

He added, “It’s great to get such a good result going into Monza. It’s a challenging race track but Trident were quick there last year, so hopefully we can carry the momentum forward. I don’t know if we’ll be able to replicate exactly this result, but, you know, hope for the best and give it our best.”

I didn’t even know I was in the lead until the safety car was right in front of me

Clement Novalak

Novalak’s path to winning the feature race was far from straightforward. The French-Swiss driver started from 13^th in an incident-filled race, which saw multiple drivers go off track and spin on the rolling race start. A well-timed pit stop before the second safety car intervention proved to be critical to his race strategy.

“To be honest, I didn’t really have much overtaking to do, I’m not gonna lie to you! I think at the first restart, a few guys went off and we managed to pick up a couple positions that way. And then I don’t really know when the safety car was triggered to be honest, because the incident wasn’t anywhere around me,” Novalak continued, referring to Pourchaire’s crash at Turn 7 on his outlap.

“We made use of the fact that we managed to box right before it came out, and sort of boxed under safety car, you could say, and managed to obviously come out in front. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t even know I was in the lead until the safety car was right in front of me and I realised there’s no cars between us!”

The French-Swiss driver suffered an issue with his brakes midway through the race.

“Behind the safety car, I don’t know why the pedal kept going extremely long. I don’t know I did too much power rating to warm the tyres, or whatever, but it would go really to the floor. And I was like, ‘Shit, really?’ Like having, it’s my one time, I’m behind the safety car, I’m leading a race and now the brakes decide to go?

“But no, it was only a little issue that lasted half a lap, so it was fine.”

Novalak kept his lead after the second safety car restart, with Rodin Carlin and Red Bull Junior Team driver Zane Maloney close behind. Whilst Maloney initially remained close to Novalak, the Trident driver held his nerve to pull a gap and maintain position.

“The first three laps, I thought it was going to be a really long race because I could see that Zane was keeping up quite close, and then slowly we managed to pull a gap which was comforting to say the least,” Novalak said. “And then obviously, made a couple of mistakes, he sort of came back, managed to make the gap on again, and now from then on, the last couple laps, controlled it.

“It was a physical track, so it wasn’t an easy race, it was a hard race.”

Maloney and Crawford’s battle for second

Polesitter Crawford finished in third place, a result the Hitech Pulse-Eight and Red Bull Junior Team driver described as “bittersweet”.

“You know, I feel like we did everything right. On the first stint we had amazing pace. The warm up, the start, everything, was maintaining the gap, had a solid out lap, was being aggressive. We had the same strategy as Zane, which was to cover off the safety car,” Crawford said.

“Fair play to Zane, Clem, and the guys. You know, it’s part of racing. It could go my way sometimes as well. And that mistake battling on the restart, which let Zane get by, sort of puts the nail in the coffin.”

Fellow Red Bull Junior Team driver Maloney battled with Crawford on the second safety car restart, overtaking the American to take second place. Speaking about his move, Maloney said, “All three of us were really close going into Turn 1, and Jak went for a move on Clem, but I know it’s really difficult to brake on the inside here with the bumps.

“So I just tried to go on the outside, and once I realised that the move was on, I committed to it. It was kind of, just go on the outside and see what plays out, but I was ready to back out if I needed to. He left me good room and I was able to get the move in and finish second.”

Feeder Series asked Maloney whether he had the pace to catch Novalak in front.

“The first three laps after the safety car, for sure could have done a better job there,” he said. “After that, I think I just had a bit too much sliding on the tyre following too closely, and you really get affected by it. So I decided to save the tyre for a few laps, but I quickly realised that even saving the tyre is just doing the same thing as pushing the tyre, so started pushing again.

“I mean, we could have done many things better during the race. I could have had a better out lap on the initial stint which then I could have jumped maybe Jak as well as Dennis. But we executed the race well, I think the pace was good. I need to work on a few corners in Sector 2 we’re losing. But other than that, it was just the first three laps after [the second safety car restart].

“We were pretty much driving around Monaco without the long straights so yeah, almost impossible to overtake properly.”

Treacherous conditions and a physical track

Despite mixed conditions before the race start, most drivers opted to start the race on slicks, with a few choosing to gamble on wets. Novalak, Maloney, and Crawford started the race on slicks, with Crawford being one of the first drivers to use those tyres on the reconnaissance lap.

“We decided it would be best if I just went on slicks and braved it out,” Crawford said. “Honestly, the wets are quite easy to get in in those conditions. And if we had to switch back to wets for some reason, then we would have, but we just had to be brave and not crash the car, basically, just to put some temp into the tyres.”

Novalak shared similar thoughts to Crawford. “I actually did the same to Jak. To be honest, I was probably one of the few that were on the slicks. It was a last-minute decision as well, due to the weather radar that was saying that there was a massive cloud and a big storm coming.

“And it must have missed the track by about, three, four [kilometres] because yeah, up until about three minutes to for the reconnaissance laps we were planning on going on wets. And even the race start to be honest, we were a little unsure because it wasn’t raining, but there was a big chance that it might do in the first 10, 15 minutes.

“And obviously we went the right way, because I think a few guys went out on the wets and it didn’t work out for them.”

Zandvoort’s undulating track and banked corners make it one of the most physical circuits on the FIA Formula 2 calendar. How challenging was the race for the top three finishers?

“As drivers, we really are put through our paces out here,” Novalak said. “We were talking about it in the cooldown room, you know, you sort of put your hand on the, your elbow on the tub and you just hope that the car doesn’t snap and go around corners that way, kind of.”

Maloney added, “It’s a very physical track, the most on the calendar, and there’s so many back-to-back high-speed right-handers. The rear left is screaming the whole lap, which is difficult to deal with during the race. So it’s physically hard and also mentally hard to keep it on the track.”

“The track keeps you on your toes,” Crawford continued. “At this track, already for a completely bone-dry track, you have to be so precise, and when you send us with slick tyres on a wet track it just creates chaos.”

When you’re pushing for the top three and fighting for the win, you’re absolutely bringing everything out

Jak Crawford

Speaking about his collision yesterday with Maini and Boschung, Crawford said, “Yesterday was so wet, I was involved in the crash. I think Kush couldn’t even see, it was so wet, and that’s what caused the crash.

“A bit of a tough one yesterday, and obviously with the tyres and the physicality of the track. It’s such a tough track, and when you’re pushing for the top three and fighting for the win, you’re absolutely bringing everything out.

“And when you go into the fastest corner with a massive snap, and it’s thirty-nine laps into the race, it’s quite challenging to keep it on track.”

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