In our latest interview, we caught up with ORLEN Team WRT’s Louis Deletraz who confirmed that the ‘Formula 2 page is over’ as he returned to Sportscar racing this season.
At 24 years-old, Deletraz has enjoyed four impressive seasons in F2 after rising through the single-seater ranks but has now moved on to sportscar racing with ORLEN Team WRT this season.
The Swiss now exclusively talk to us about his time climbing up the motorsport ladder and time in F2, alongside his feelings on making a victorious permanent move to sportscar racing as he admits that his time in F2 is over unless offered a return.
Who inspired you to become a racing driver?
Deletraz: “Obviously, I came from a racing family, with my father raced his whole life pretty much, so I joined the races since I was born.
“I smelled fuel and tyres since my early age and I always wanted to be a racing driver. I loved cars, I loved seeing my father’s races.
When I turned 8 years-old. I asked him to do karting and that’s how it started. So my hero is my father [Jean-Denis Deletraz] who inspired me to go racing.”
Having spent the early stages in your career racing in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, what did you find to be the toughest thing about stepping up from karting and especially racing drivers like Jack Aitken and Alex Albon who you then came up against in F2?
Deletraz: “Indeed, I stepped from karting to single seater. We had a lot of success there with many victories and pole positions. The grid was great with Aitken and Albon.
“The toughest part from karting to single seaters is that you go from a small go-kart to a big car and you have to understand a new mechanism, the behaviour of the car and the whole new racing because of downforce etc. and the technical stuff is just different.
“In the end the spirit is just the same.”
2016 saw you miss out on the Formula V8 3.5 title by seven points but how huge a learning curve was it to have missed out on another junior title, whilst also running a dual rookie campaign in GP2?
Deletraz: “2016 was a great year with my first Formula V8, the world series cup, a very similar car to Formula 2.
“As a rookie we finished second in the championship, so for me it was a big step closer to my Formula 1 goal.
“After that I’ve got my super license which means that I could have join Formula 1 any time, so that was a really great year with Fortec Motorsports and I really enjoined that.”
2017 F2 season was quite an intriguing year as you departed Racing Engineering mid-season to join Rapax. What was the toughest thing about making that mid-season switch whilst trying to produce results that you eventually found with Rapax?
Deletraz: “2017 was a difficult year for me. It was my first year in Formula 2 with Racing Engineering.
“There were some big management problems in the team and that’s why I left mid of the season, because we were not performed at all.
“So I joined Rapax and straight away we were in P3 in qualification and after that my Formula 2 carer has just started and we started to work on improvement.”
2018 and 2020 saw you race for Charouz either side of a stint at Carlin in 2019 with constant improvement throughout. Looking back now, how do you reflect on your time in F2 with plenty of progress and ten podiums?
Deletraz: “My time in Formula 2 was great and I enjoyed it a lot – I did many starts, many races. In the end it wasn’t easy but I think we improved a lot with both, Carlin and Charouz, in the last years.
“So I had 10 podiums but no victories, and with this fact I’m not sad but disappointed because I always finished in P2. I had two podiums in Monaco (P2 and P3), so I think there is nothing to be ashamed of.
“I really enjoyed my time but now the Formula 2 page is over and I’m focusing on my future in other categories and I’m very happy at the moment.”
After driving for Haas in 2018 Young Drivers Test, you spent the last two seasons working with the team as Test and Reserve Driver. How beneficial did you find your time with Haas in not just development but also on track in F2?
Deletraz: “I spent two-and-a-half years together with Haas Formula 1 team as a test and reserve driver, where I took a big part in development of the car on the simulator.
“Those years was a good years, but in the end I just decided not to carry on this relationships with a team, because there was no opportunity for Formula 1.
“I learned a lot from it, but I also learned from my experience with a Sim so it was a win-win situation in this case.”
2020 saw you conduct a triple programme across F2, GT World Challenge and 24 Hours of Le Mans. What was it like adapting back to sport car racing for the first time since 2016?
Deletraz: “2020 was indeed a very positive year for me. The COVID came in and we didn’t race till June and suddenly I signed with the GPX Racing with Porsche in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup plus the 24h of Le Mans in LMP1.
“So, I had a triple program, including Formula 2. I enjoyed this year really a lot. It was three very different cars but I always said to myself that being a driver, you should be able to drive any cars and so I’ve got a lot of experience in 2020 and the LMP1 was the highlight of the year.”
This season saw you switch to European Le Mans with ORLEN Team WRT and enjoy immediate success with two wins. After four seasons without a race victory, how much does it mean to return to the winning trail and sportscar racing?
Deletraz: “We had a dream start of the season with my teammates Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye. We had two races and two wins which is incredible, because I didn’t win the race since four year, because I always finished second or third.
“Winning races is very difficult in those top championships, European or World, where you have a massive level.
“I’m super happy and I’m actually also very happy with my choice of moving from the single seater to the sports cars, because I think this is where the future is with a new regulations coming.”
Finally, what are your hopes for the future and could we see you make a potential return to single-seater racing in future?
Deletraz: “I want to stay around LMP2 and a new regulation of hypercars LMDh. That would be the plan.
“Obviously, Formula 1 is not my focus anymore and there is much brighter future for me in endurance racing, so that’s probably where you will see me.
“However, if someone will call me and offer to do a few single seaters races or a proper championship, I would not deny it but probably think about it. But at the moment, as I said I’m focusing on a sportscars.”