Despite problematic weekend, Samaia shows competitive pace

Guilherme Samaia showed a competitive pace last weekend during the 9th round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at Mugello. Despite the victories of Nikita Mazepin and Christian Lundgaard, the Brazilian rookie could show a great improvement in his understanding with all the procedures regarding the most difficult F1 feeder series.

Finishing 18th and 16th, the Campos Racing driver made the fourth fastest lap of Sunday’s sprint race. “It shows a bit of the hard work the team and myself had been doing during these months. It was all completely new for me, but with the help of the engineers and the mechanics, things got a bit clearer now. We just have to improve on how to work with the harder tires”, Guilherme said.

It wasn’t a issue-free weekend for the Brazilian. The team and F2 is yet to discover the source of a power problem in his Dallara. “We don’t know if it’s the engine, the turbo, or the throttle sensor. The thing is that I have a very strange reaction of the car when I put my foot down. The torque isn’t what it’s supposed to be and I lose a lot of time and balance coming out of the corners”, he pointed.

“The icing on the cake was when I got a 10 second stop and go for supposedly infringing a Virtual Safety Car rule. I had to pit to serve the penalty with a few laps do go and that ruined my race”, Samaia recalls. Hours after the race, the FIA and F2 issued a memo attesting a software error that showed, incorrectly, that Samaia was above the allowed pace for the VSC rule. They appologised for the mistake and cancelled the three penalty points in his racing licence.

“We have got to look at the positives. We are improving, everyone is working hard and all we can do is expect for better things to come”, he finished. The FIA Formula 2 Championship will take a two-week hiatus and resume in Sochi.

www.camposracing.com

www.fiaformula2.com
Instagram - Guilherme Samaia: www.instagram.com/gsamaia
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Instagram - Fórmula 2: www.instagram.com/fiaf2championship

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