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Enzo Fittipaldi of Rodin Carlin had a great weekend in Spa for Round 11 of the F2 championship as the young Brazilian secured not only another podium but his first race win in Formula 2.
Third placed Enzo Fittipaldi celebrates on the podium during the Round 11:Spa-Francorchamps Feature race of the Formula 2 Championship. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)The final race weekend before the summer break saw Formula 2 take to the track at Spa-Francorchamps, where Théo Pourchaire took the championship lead from Frederik Vesti. Across the weekend, the paddock was greeted with mixed weather conditions that saw Enzo Fittipaldi qualify in eighth.
This meant for the Sprint Race, the Brazilian driver started the race in P3. During the Sprint Race, Jehan Daruvala, who began on pole, lost the race lead, resulting in Richard Verschoor taking P1. However, on the final few laps, Fittipaldi was able to challenge the Dutchman and achieved his first race win in Formula 2.
In the Feature Race, Fittipaldi continued his run of form and finished P3, taking the final podium position. He was fighting his teammate for fifth, however, Oliver Bearman and Victor Martins both received penalties, bumping Fittipaldi up the order.
After his successful weekend in Spa, Fittipaldi is now seventh in the Championship, having gained 26 points across both races. In the post-race press conferences, FormulaNerds and other selected media spoke to the Rodin Carlin driver about his performance.
‘An amazing feeling’ to win at Spa
Speaking in the press conference, Fittipaldi reflected on what it was like to achieve his first win at Spa. He told Formula 2:
“It was an amazing feeling, obviously. I’m very happy with my first win and to be at such an amazing track like Spa is very special.
“I’m just very happy to have had a really good race today, a good fight as well with Théo for one or two laps and then with Richard in the last two laps.
“So it was an amazing race. We had great pace, especially from the middle to the end of the end of the race and I saw Richard was struggling and took advantage of that to bang some good laps in at the end and make a move.”
P1!!! So happy, thank you so much! VAMO ???? pic.twitter.com/UXeFjt25M0
— Enzo Fittipaldi (@enzofitti) July 29, 2023
Fittipaldi continued saying that initially, he did struggle “a bit with pace” so much so that he wasn’t certain that he could “keep [his] position”. However, things turned around from the middle to the end. Fittipaldi said:
“I kind of found a balance where it was comfortable and I could start pushing more of the corners and I started catching Richard. The balance towards the end of the race was really very good.”
Fittipaldi continued commenting on his overtake of Verschoor at the end on the final two laps. The Rodin Carlin driver said he “lifted a little bit before Eau Rouge to give a little bit of a gap”. This then meant Fittipaldi could “do Eau Rouge flat and have a great run into Turn 5.”
Overtaking into Turn 5 seems to be a strength of Fittipaldi’s as he was able to execute he same move on his teammate in the Feature Race, which he spoke about in the press conference on Sunday.
Reflecting on the Feature Race and ‘war’ between teammates
Speaking in the press conference, Fittipaldi told media that the weekend as a whole was “great”. He said:
“It’s been a great weekend. I had my first win yesterday, which was a great race and then today as well. I started eighth, but was up to fourth on the first lap. I had a very strong battle with my teammate, Zane, at the beginning but also the end of the race.
“It’s been a great weekend for me, great points for the championship so yeah, I’m very happy with the result.”
Fittipaldi did finish on the podium ahead of his teammate, Zane Maloney, who finished the race in fourth. However, both the Rodin Carlin drivers fought against each other on track throughout the 25 laps. Commenting on the intra-team battle, Fittipaldi said:
“It got really close. I think we were fair with each other but obviously, we’re both aggressive drivers. It was clean and fair, we both got a great result at the end of the race. Me in third and him in fourth so it is great points for the team.”
Enzo did it again!! ?
After Sprint Race victory on Saturday, a sublime podium to wash it down on Sunday ✌️#BelgianGP #F2 @enzofitti pic.twitter.com/05MDM6J5zb
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 30, 2023
The Brazilian continued, however, touching on how the relationship between teammates changes when on track. Fittipaldi said:
“When you go to the race, we have a good relationship outside the race track and we’re good teammates and stuff, but when you get in the race, it’s war.
“There’s no friends or anything, you just go for it.”
He also said that he was able to get ahead of Maloney. Fittipaldi explained: “I was very close to Zane, I did Eau Rouge flat to make sure I got a great run on him and was able to make the overtake into Turn 5 and then crossed the line.”
Looking ahead to the final rounds
Now after cementing a good amount of points for himself, but also for Rodin Carlin, Fittipaldi is more confident heading into the final three rounds of the season.
He told media that despite being “unlucky in some moments”, he has “always been there this year, around the top six in qualifying and being always in the top 10 in the feature races.
“And now I know my pace is there to finish on the podium and win races now. So I’m confident going into Zandvoort and going into the last two races.
“I’m sure we can make great results and continue climbing the championship.”
The next round of the F2 championship is at the end of the summer break. All 22 drivers will take to the track at Zandvoort for Round 12.
Headline Image: GettyImages