Imola, difficult recovery in the opening race

The FIA Formula 2 Championship opened the fourth round of the season on the demanding Imola circuit, which today saw the drivers of the junior formula compete in the Sprint Race. In the qualifying session, the Trident Motorsport drivers paid dearly for a red flag, displayed five minutes from the end due to an opponent going off the track. Qualifying never resumed and Sami Meguetounif found himself with the sixteenth time, while Max Esterson was credited the eighteenth time.

Although starting from the back, Esterson had a good start when the lights went out. The twenty-two-year-old American driver immediately overtook some opponents, managing to recover two positions. Despite the layout of the track leaves few overtaking points, the Trident Motorsport driver managed to make his way up to fourteenth position. Unfortunately, a contact in the second half of the race saw Esterson lose ground and finish the Sprint Race seventeenth.

 It was an uphill race right away for Sami Meguetounif. The twenty-year-old from Marseille stalled on the starting grid, starting at the back of the group from the pit lane. Meguetounif tried to recover ground by showing an interesting pace on the race pace. Nonetheless, the Frenchman finished Saturday's race twenty-first. Now the Trident Motorsport technical staff will use the data collected in the Sprint Race in the usual preparation work for the Feature Race, scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00, a few hours before the Imola Grand Prix.

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager: “Imola is a track where it is not easy to overtake. Consequently, especially in a race that does not include tire changes, it is very difficult to recover and the starting position is decisive. Sami Meguetounif stalled at the start, having to recover from last place. Max Esterson had climbed well up to fourteenth place, showing a solid pace at times, but a contact cost him some positions at the finish line”.