Nikita Mazepin anticipating ‘a difficult race’ ahead of F2 Belgian Grand Prix

Nikita Mazepin says he “expects an even more difficult race” in the F2 Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Speaking exclusively to Prost International’s Adrian Kita, Yuki Tsunoda, Mazepin and Nobuharu Matsushita shared their thoughts after qualifying and ahead of the 2020 F2 Belgian Grand Prix Feature Race.

Question for Yuki Tsunoda- You really showed your pace round Spa in qualifying. How was the car and was the setup to go for straight-line speed or more focus on tyre grip?

“I had no idea about the setup. I trust my engineer and they sort the setup whilst I go out and test it out so I didn’t really know about the setup.”

“All I do is give the feedback after the run and tell them whether it is understeering or oversteering and they’ll make the call after that. Also, I don’t want to say a lot about the setup with these two sat next to me but it was a great car from free practice.”

Question for Nikita Mazepin- The first time you are in the top three for qualifying this season with a fantastic performance overall in qualifying. How do you think the race will pan out and will you be looking to get a win in the Feature Race?

“Thank you very much. So I think the race will be very difficult. We’ve seen this year that tyre degradation is a massive factor weekend in and weekend out.”

“We’ve seen a lot of difficulties in the second race of Barcelona and I am expecting to have an even more difficult race here.”

“We get some information from Pirelli and they let us know what the tyre life limit is based on the tyre wear we have per lap.”

“So from the numbers that we have collected, I know that we don’t have enough tyre to get through the race. That means we will get through the race but with not much grip left.”

“So I think the factor of making sure the tyres are alive at the beginning of the race will be very interesting to see at the end of the Feature Race and especially during the Sprint Race.

Question for Nobuharu Matsushita- Another huge performance by putting your car on the second row of the grid in P3. How much has that win in Spain inspired you and how did the car feel out there during qualifying?

“Thank you for the compliment. To be fair we had very good race pace both days in Spain and I think this track will also see high tyre degradation.”

“You need to be very calm from the beginning of the race to take care of the tyres but we are confident that we will be able to save the tyres quite well and have a good race pace.”

“So let’s hope we have a decent start and do the easy things right by not making stupid mistakes throughout the race.”

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt