- Swedish driver outside the points in F2 round six
- Strong Formula 1 practice outing marks highlight of Austrian event
Dino Beganovic experienced conflicting emotions this weekend in Spielberg, enduring a difficult time in Formula 2 while conducting another encouraging Free Practice 1 outing in Formula 1 with Ferrari.
Beganovic’s Austrian weekend began on a positive note as the Swedish driver took over Charles Leclerc’s SF-26 in Friday’s opening F1 practice session, going ninth fastest and quickest among the six rookie drivers in action.
It marked Beganovic’s second consecutive FP1 outing with the legendary Italian outfit, following on from his run in Barcelona two weeks ago.
“It was another good session in the F1 car, really happy with how that went and with everything we managed to work through,” says Dino Beganovic. “The first run on the medium tyres was particularly strong, and then on the softs we were working on a couple of things, but all in all, a really good opportunity and lots learned for both myself and the team.”
On the Formula 2 side of things, however, the weekend proved more challenging, with a 14th place in qualifying followed up by 13th place in Saturday’s sprint race and 13th yet again in Sunday’s feature race.
It meant Beganovic lost out on points for the first time in an F2 event this season.
“A really tough weekend in Formula 2 with not a lot of positives to take away, to be honest,” says the DAMS Lucas Oil driver. “We struggled in qualifying and then in the races too, with no real pace and a strange balance in the car. We need to sit down and understand what went wrong, because we’ve not been as quick as previously in the year.
“The positive thing is we are back racing again in just a few days, so we’ll be back fighting soon.”
The Formula 2 field regroups next weekend (July 3-5) at Silverstone as part of the British Grand Prix.
RESULTS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Rd. 6 – Spielberg (AUT)
Race 1 (Sprint Race)
1: J. Bennett (GBR), Trident
2: S. Montoya (COL), PREMA Racing
3: R. Villagómez (MEX), Van Amersfoort Racing
—
13: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil
Race 2 (Feature Race)
1: N. Tsolov (BUL), Campos Racing
2: G. Minì (ITA), MP Motorsport
3: O. Goethe (GER), MP Motorsport
—
13: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
After 6/14 rounds
1: G. Minì (ITA), MP Motorsport, 108 p.
2: N. Tsolov (BUL), Campos Racing, 106 p.
3: R. Câmara (BRA), Invicta Racing, 82 p.
4: A. Dunne (IRE), Rodin Motorsport, 80 p.
5: N. Léon (MEX), Campos Racing, 62 p.
—
6: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil, 53 p.
