F2, the first act of the season kicks off at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit

The FIA Formula 2 Championship held its first round of the season on the semi-permanent circuit of Albert Park in Melbourne, with the Sprint Race. The qualifying session did not give Trident Motorsport any particular satisfaction. Max Esterson was involved in a contact in the early stages of the session, while Sami Meguetounif incurred in some off-tracks. A problem related to the incorrect positioning and management of a sensor caused both drivers to be relegated ten positions back on the starting grid.

The Frenchman started from twentieth place on the grid, two positions ahead of his teammate. Both Trident Motorsport drivers faced a recovery race, making some mistakes. The twenty-year-old from Marseille was the protagonist of a consistent charge that took him up to fourteenth position, but on lap 14, Meugetounif was betrayed by poor grip and ended up in the gravel.

Max Esterson was also forced to give up in the early stages of the race, spinning out in one of the Melbourne circuit’s escape routes. The Trident Motorsport technical staff will now use the data collected in the Sprint Race in their usual preparation work for the Feature Race, scheduled for tomorrow at 11:30 local time, GMT+10, a few hours before the Australian Grand Prix.

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager, commented: “The position at the back on the starting grid complicated the race for our drivers, who had to manage a challenging catch-up Sprint Race. Max Esterson got stuck in the sand after a spin, while Meguetounif made a remarkable recovery up to fourteenth place, when an off-track ended his race. The French driver’s race pace was solid until his retirement. Tomorrow’s Feature Race, thanks to the strategies and the tyre change, could give us a better chance of recovering”.