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The 2023 Formula 2 Championship is close to being sealed after Frederik Vesti closed the gap to Théo Pourchaire, but it all comes down to the final Feature Race of the season.
This weekend is the final weekend of the Formula 2 championship. Heading into the weekend, Théo Pourchaire had a 25-points lead. However, after Qualifying and the Sprint Race, Frederik Vesti, currently P2 in the standings, has reduced that gap to 16 points.
Qualifying saw Pourchaire struggle at getting into the top 10. The Frenchman was only quick enough for P14, which is where he’ll start the Feature Race from tomorrow.
But for Vesti, he was able to get into the top 10, qualifying ninth. For today’s Sprint Race, the Dane started on the front row due to the reverse grid.
After dropping back to fourth in the beginning, Vesti was able to claw back positions, eventually taking the lead from Enzo Fittipaldi towards the later stages of the race.
With today’s victory, Vesti scored 10 points, whilst Pourchaire finished 7th, scoring two points. This means that the championship will be decided tomorrow in the Feature Race, where more points are available.
Ahead of the weekend, Vesti spoke to FormulaNerds about how much racing in F2 means to him. The PREMA driver reflected on his struggles in his rookie season last year, but admitted that this year, he’s “taken it to another level” with PREMA, fighting for the championship.
Now, after the Sprint Race, Vesti spoke to FormulaNerds about how much winning the championship tomorrow would mean to him.
P1 in Abu Dhabi ? pic.twitter.com/9kZPxx652h
— PREMA (@PREMA_Team) November 25, 2023
‘It’s not over yet’
Speaking to FormulaNerds, Vesti reflected on the season, noting some highlights but also tough moments, before admitting that the championship would mean “everything”. He said:
“Honestly, it would mean everything to me. I’ve given everything this year. There have been a lot of ups and a lot of downs as well.
“Obviously, my win in Monaco stands out as the highlight and then just the three feature races in Spa, Zandvoort and Monza just destroying my championship lead.
“It’s been really painful and after Monza, I just went home; I barely spoke to anyone for two weeks and was just very sad.
“But that’s also why you become tough. If you can get over it, you also get stronger and I’ve certainly done that and I’m just excited for my future and excited to move on.
“It’s not over yet and tomorrow is a big day for both me and Théo and I’m excited to fight with everything I have.”
In the post-sprint press conference, Vesti also spoke to Formula 2, and other accredited media including FormulaNerds, about his race. The Dane admitted that it was a “brilliant race” from his side.
He continued saying that for the Sprint, he couldn’t “risk it all” if he wanted a “chance to fight for the championship” on Sunday. But when it comes to the Feature Race and his approach, Vesti said:
“Today the car was really really good and much better than I actually expected it to be. So that’s very good for tomorrow. Hopefully, it’s similar conditions and we can go for it. Starting P9 obviously, the challenge is bigger, but also the race is longer and with the pitstops a lot of things can happen.”
One final race
There is one final race of the 2023 season of Formula 2. 16 points separate championship leader Pourchaire and Vesti. The two drivers were teammates last year at ART Grand Prix, but now they’re rivals.
Both need to make up positions throughout the race to score some high points, but with the action that the Sprint Race today brought, anything could happen.
Headline image: X @Formula2