Trident out of the points in the final race of the season

In the Feature Race that wrapped up the fourteenth and final round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, held at the Yas Marina circuit, just outside the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, the Trident Motorsport drivers failed to finish in the points. Laurens Van Hoepen's nineteenth position and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak's twenty-second on the starting grid predicted an uphill battle for the Ossona-based team's drivers.

And so it was. Van Hoepen was forced to retire before the start due to engine problems. This left Trident Motorsport's rookie Inthraphuvasak alone to defend the squad’s colors. Despite his limited experience in the junior series, the twenty-year-old Thai driver quickly made his way up the field, gaining two positions.

After a brief neutralization, which included the deployment of the safety car, Inthraphuvasakclimbed further positions at the restart, settling into seventeenth place. Starting on the Prime tires, the hardest compounds available, the Thai driver continued straight ahead, unlike his rivals, who, on a different strategy, immediately pitted.

Having climbed to eighth place, the second safety car deployment, which occurred on lap 12, ruined Trident Motorsport’s strategy. At the restart, Inthraphuvasak then paid for his inexperience, being overtaken by several rivals, dropping to fourteenth. A mandatory pit stop followed, three laps from the checkered flag, and the Thai driver finished seventeenth.

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager: “We ran the final with just one car due to an engine problem that occurred to Laurens Van Hoepen just moments before the start. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak started from the back and completed a race in which he was primarily aiming to gain experience.”