In an eventful last sprint race of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 season, Frederik Vesti claimed his sixth win of the season. Reducing the gap with Théo Pourchaire to 16 points, the Dane spoke to Feeder Series and selected media ahead of the final feature race of the season tomorrow.

By Grégoire Devaux 

As the F2 season comes to a close this weekend, it will all go down to the very last race of the championship to crown a new champion. Starting P14, Théo Pourchaire could have been crowned today with a DNF from old teammate and title rival Frederik Vesti. However, Prema Racing put on a show to give Vesti the best chance of leaving F2 in the highest fashion by winning the sprint race ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi and Richard Verschoor.

A battle from start to finish

Starting fourth on the reversed grid, Frederik Vesti managed a stellar start, going side-by-side with Enzo Fittipaldi for the lead of the race entering turn 1 of an action-packed opening lap. However, the Brazilian managed to keep the lead, and Vesti’s attacks were quickly shut down due to a safety car following Juan Manuel Correa’s spin. It was an interruption that happened at the worst time for Vesti, who had just fallen down to fourth at the exit of turn 7. 

“The opening lap was exciting. I thought I had a really good start, but then Enzo took back the lead, and we were side by side into turn 1. I went for a move at turn 4, but it was a bit too tight. In the end, I entered turn 1 at P1 and exited turn 7 at P4. It was very eventful.”

With Enzo Fittipaldi, Isack Hadjar, and Richard Verschoor ahead of him at the end of the safety car procedure, Vesti gave his all to grab as many positions as possible. Taking the fastest lap on lap eight, the four-way battle for the win quickly became a duel between Fittipaldi and Vesti. 

“If I wanted a chance to win the championship tomorrow, I needed a good race today. I couldn’t just risk it all and crash on lap one. On the other hand, I needed to push as much as possible to get this win.”

After almost ten laps of a thrilling battle in which Enzo Fittipaldi managed to hold his position despite Vesti always being in the DRS range, the Brazilian locked up.  As a result, Vesti took the lead on lap 20 and was 1.8 seconds ahead before the end of the lap. As has often been the case this season, Vesti made the difference with his tyre management skills. 

“The tyres were surprisingly good. Even at the end, I felt that I was able to maintain a good speed. I didn’t want to push because Enzo fell down quite a lot, but I was able to keep them in good shape.”

At the end of the day, Vesti did exactly what he could do best: win the race and give himself a last shot at the championship before tomorrow’s final feature race of the season. With Théo Pourchaire’s stunning comeback from P14 to P7, gaining two more points, the Frenchman now has a 16-point gap over Frederik Vesti, promising a thrilling feature race tomorrow.

“From a pure racer perspective, this race was great on my side. I really enjoyed that one. Coming into this weekend, I really had to do something special. The sprint race was the first part of that. I still have a big job tomorrow to try to go for this championship.”

“I was really pleased with the car today. Obviously, yesterday, I was lacking a bit of pace. My last push lap time was good for P4, I think, but I made a mistake. Tomorrow will have similar conditions to today, so hopefully we can go for it. Starting ninth, the gap is bigger, but the race is longer. Everything can happen.”

Massive expectations for tomorrow

After reducing the gap with Pourchaire from 25 points to 16 today, Frederik Vesti can still dream of joining the likes of Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher, and Oscar Piastri, who have all been crowned with Prema in Formula 2. The Italian outfit is also only 17 points behind ART Grand Prix in the Teams’ Championship, setting another objective for what could be a historic day tomorrow. Ahead of the last race of the season, Vesti reflected on a very tough couple of months, as his results in the feature races in Spa, Zandvoort, and Monza, in which he all had to retire, “destroyed [his] championship lead.”

“I gave everything this year, and it’s been a lot of ups and downs. After Monza, I just went home, barely speaking to anyone for two weeks. I was very sad. If you can get over it, you get stronger, and I have certainly done that. Tomorrow is a big day, and I’m excited to fight with everything I have. Winning the title would mean everything to me.”

Vesti insisted on the fact that he has “nothing to lose tomorrow” in what is without a doubt “the biggest day of [his] career so far.” For his last race in FIA Formula 2, the Danish driver wants to create history, overcoming a 25-point gap before the last race weekend of the season to claim the driver’s title. 

“Starting from P9, I obviously need a good race tomorrow. I’m confident we can do it with our pace. On the other hand, feature races in Formula 2 are crazy. As we know, many things can happen depending on the strategy. I need to win, and I will do everything I can to achieve that.” 

Header photo credit: Formula Motorsport Limited