Oliver Goethe and Rafael Villagómez discussed the Baku track in Azerbaijan, on the eve of round 11 of the Formula 2 championship. Both drivers spoke to Feeder Series, alongside selected media at a press conference. 

By Martin Lloyd

The German has experienced a whirlwind since he replaced Franco Colapinto at MP Motorsport for the previous weekend in Monza. With the Argentine moving to F1 with Williams, Goethe stepped into the now-vacant #12 MP car and abandoned his final F3 weekend with Campos. 

“I found out about Franco’s promotion to F1 maybe an hour before the announcement, so very last minute”, Goethe said. “I was coming from Valencia, from doing sim with Campos for F3, and everything changed super quickly.”

Goethe had a mixed debut weekend. He qualified 12th, three tenths behind experienced teammate Dennis Hauger, but was eliminated from the sprint race before Turn 1 after an incident with Zak O’Sullivan. In the feature race, the early safety car unpicked his strategy of starting on the medium tyres, leading to an eventual finish of 16th. Despite his lack of points, Goethe acquitted himself well in his machinery and is now able to head to Baku with more preparation. 

“For this weekend, I’ve been to MP and Red Bull to do sim for F2 for the first time, so that definitely gives me a bit more confidence and preparation going into the weekend.”

The Baku track presents its own distinct characteristics. With its tight corners and close walls, it is the polar opposite of the open European tracks that Goethe has become accustomed to in F3.

“For me, driving-wise, it’s a big change,” Goethe said. ”I haven’t driven so much on street tracks; I think in F2 they’ve already had a couple of races, like Jeddah, where they gained experience on some street tracks. It’s a big change, a slightly different approach.”

Villagómez has more experience than Goethe, but it is also his first race weekend at Baku. The Mexican is nearing the end of his first F2 season, lying 22nd in the drivers’ standings with four points finishes so far. Villagómez feels that the lack of track action will play a key role in the weekend. 

“When you go to the European races, you arrive and the track is more or less within the window,” said Villagómez. “You have F3 rubber which helps quite a bit. Here, we’re the first ones on track, at a street circuit.”

“You have cars going around every day, so for sure practice is going to be tricky, with a heavy car as well. We’ve seen from practice to qualifying, the delta is quite big, I think for a driver it’s quite a challenge.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency