Mercedes junior, Frederik Vesti has refused to give up on his F2 title ambitions “without a fight.”
Vesti had been battling Theo Pourchaire for the F2 title for much of this season and seized the title lead in Monaco, but bad luck in the last two rounds have seen him fall 25 points behind his title rival needing a miracle to win the title in Abu Dhabi.
The 21 year-old however looked to have bounced back in Monza by taking the Sprint victory, which he described as “very important”, having set himself the target of being “able to leave having no regrets and knowing I’d not left anything on the table.”
His Feature Race however ended on Lap 1 after he was spun out by Roman Stanek, which he finds “difficult” to accept, such was the impact of that incident upon his title ambitions as Pourchaire finished second to leave the title in his own hands heading into the season finale.
Vesti however has taken heart from how bold he was at the start, as he explained: “The only thing that helped me was that I went for it, it wasn’t a passive move, it was aggressive.
“I wanted to win. When you take risks, there can be consequences. Sadly, this was a big consequence, but I am still glad I went for it.”
Although Vesti needs a drastic swing of results in Abu Dhabi to snatch the title, he is ready for the challenge, as he revealed that he is still “full of confidence” that he “can go to Abu Dhabi, challenge for the top spots and maximise the car every session. I’m not giving up without a fight.”
There is a two-and-a-half month gap until the F2 season finale across the weekend of 24-26 November but Vesti is “already focused” on how he can improve his performance for one final push to deny Pourchaire the title.
Whilst the traditional two-month gap between the penultimate and final rounds of F2 season hasn’t gone down well with fans, Vesti admitted that the break is “actually a big challenge for drivers but my plan is to stay fit in the gym, mental preparations and lots of sim work with Mercedes.”
Vesti will also hit the track as part of his preparations with another F1 appearance as he is set to participate in the FP1 session in Mexico on 27 October, which he describes as “huge motivation” but also “a childhood dream.”
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