EDUCATIONAL RACE WEEKEND FOR BWT HWA RACELAB IN SILVERSTONE

: on 09 August 2020

16th and 20th place for Giuliano Alesi, 19th and 11th place for Artem Markelov
Giuliano Alesi: “We will keep working hard.”
Artem Markelov: “I think that we will be more competitive in Barcelona.”
Thomas Strick: “We need to keep on consistently looking for solutions.”

Silverstone, 09 August 2020 – In qualifying on Friday, the BWT HWA RACELAB drivers were off the field’s top times like at previous race weekends. This saw Artem Markelov (Russia) and Giuliano Alesi (France) qualify in 17th and 19th on the grid.

On Saturday, Artem initially started well on the 5.891-kilometre Silverstone Circuit, moving up into 13th place from the start. But he didn’t have the necessary pace after that and dropped down behind his team-mate. As the race went on, he was overtaken several times and was in 20th place shortly before the end of the race, with the field having completed all pit stops. Artem ended up crossing the finish line in 19th place.

Artem performed well in the race on Sunday. Reacting quickly at the start, from 19th on the grid he moved past several of his rivals to take 13th place on lap two. Compared with the day before, Artem drove consistent lap times this time and was able to maintain his rhythm. He crossed the finish line in eleventh place, which saw him move up eight places during the race.

Giuliano had things slightly easier than his team-mate on Saturday with hard tyres, but he was also slightly off the pace of the rest of the field. He finally entered the pit on lap 20. He returned to the track in position 18 and hinted at his potential once again. With fresh tyres, he moved up the field and attacked the previous weekend’s winner, Dan Ticktum (DAMS), on the final lap. He ended up only just losing this duel, and finished the race in 16th place.

Then on Sunday it was Giuliano who had problems with the tyre set-up. He couldn’t find the pace at all during the race and dropped down from 16th on the grid into position 20. He pitted shortly before the end of the race, having fresh tyres put on the car. These allowed him to show what he is actually capable of and he set the fastest race lap at one point. However, he was unable to close the gap between him and the drivers ahead of him, and Giuliano crossed the finish line in 20th place.

The FIA Formula 2 Championship continues with two races in Barcelona on 15th and 16th August.

Quotes on the race weekend

Artem Markelov (25, Russia, car number 16), 19th and 11th place

“I’m happy with Sunday’s race. We found a solution for the issues we had with the tyre temperature after the race on Saturday, which had an immediate impact on Sunday. I made up a lot of places, it was a great race. Now I feel positive looking ahead to Barcelona and think that we will be more competitive as of the free practice session. With the improved set-up it should be possible to finish in the points in the next races.”

Giuliano Alesi (20, France, car number 17), 16th and 20th place
“Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t go as we had hoped. We didn’t have the pace at all throughout the weekend. As a team we need to find a solution for this problem. But I’m looking forward to Barcelona now. We will keep working hard and see what comes from that.”

Thomas Strick (team principal BWT HWA RACELAB)
“An educational weekend for us that could have a positive effect looking ahead to the next races. We made a change to the tyre management on Sunday, which paid off immediately for Artem. That was a huge difference compared with the previous races. Giuliano also proved that he can drive fast lap times. If we keep working so hard as a team and consistently look for solutions like we did this weekend, we will be on the right track.”

Result of race one, Saturday 08 August:

1.	C. Ilott	UNI-Virtuosi	51:12.407
16.	Giuliano Alesi	BWT HWA RACELAB	51:55.659
19.	Artem Markelov	BWT HWA RACELAB	52:26.600

Result of race two, Sunday 09 August:

1.	Y. Tsunoda	Carlin	36:15.140
11.	Artem Markelov	BWT HWA RACELAB	36:48.826
20.	Giuliano Alesi	BWT HWA RACELAB	37:46.688