FIA Formula 2: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the press conference for today’s FIA Formula 2 qualifying session here in Barcelona: joining us are poleman Charles Leclerc from PREMA Racing, in second place we have Luca Ghiotto from RUSSIAN TIME, and in third place we have Nyck De Vries from Rapax. Charles, you left it pretty late there: were you worried when the red flag came out late in the session?

Charles Leclerc: A little bit! The first lap was pretty good but I wasn’t quite happy, and the track was a bit slippery compared to the test we did a month ago, so it was tricky to drive. On the second set I was a bit happier: I didn’t quite get it in sector one, but we caught up in sector two and three. The lap was pretty good, and I’m really happy to be on pole for the second time: it was quite tricky because as you said there was a red flag, and then a yellow flag in the last sector, but we arrived just as it turned green so we had a little bit of luck, did the lap when we had to, and I’m really happy to take the points and to start from the front row tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Pole is vital here for Formula 1: how important for your race tomorrow is it to start from pole?

Charles: Let’s hope it’s as important as in Formula 1! [laughs] The Formula 2 starts are a lot harder than in Formula 1, I think: a lot is up to the driver, and I will have to make sure to make a good start, which is the key to the race, and to work from there. If I manage to do a good start then I have a good car underneath me, so if I do the job there’s no reason why we can’t make a good result.

FIA Formula 2: Luca, congratulations on your best result in qualifying at this level, but I guess you were thinking you had pole when the red flags came out?

Luca Ghiotto: Yes, for sure it was quite intense to be out of the car while the other guys were finishing their laps, but still it’s a good effort and we’ve moved forward from Bahrain, but a mistake in sector 2 maybe lost a little bit of time that could have made a difference. Still it’s good to start from the front row, and now we have to work towards the start because anything could happen.

FIA Formula 2: How do you see the tyre strategies working out tomorrow?

Luca: In Bahrain the start was pretty bad because there was so much dust on the right, so it was a big issue: here I think it should be pretty similar on both sides [of the grid], so if you can get a good start it will help a lot. We haven’t discussed the strategies with the team yet, so we’ll see tomorrow, but I think it would be quite a lot of difference between them, and we will only see at the end which is the good strategy.

FIA Formula 2: Nyck, as always it’s very tight with so many drivers close together on time: how pleased are you with this result?

Nyck: I’m very satisfied with our job today. We had a really strong session, got P2 on the first set and then were pushed to P3 because Charles went out a bit later, and then we were on an alternative session to go out in the middle and that worked out well. I was a bit disappointed that Luca just got us because I was hoping to be on the front row, but I made a mistake in the final sector: everyone makes mistakes and it’s never perfect, so we should be happy with P3 today. We were in the top 3 in Bahrain, and we’re in the top 3 again here, so I’m happy with our qualifying performance so far.

FIA Formula 2: Do you think there will be an advantage starting from P3, just on the grip off the line?

Nyck: I don’t know. As Charles said the start is already difficult enough, so I’m not sure if the side [of the track] makes a big difference here. Of course the start will be important, but tyre degradation and management will be a big thing to consider as well. In Bahrain I didn’t manage it quite well in race 1, but hopefully I’ve learned to put it together here.

FIA Formula 2: Before we go, it’s Volunteer’s Day today and there is a big celebration of them here. Perhaps you could all say a few words to describe your thoughts on the work these volunteers do?

Charles Leclerc: It’s amazing: it’s thanks to them that we can race, especially here. I think they do an amazing job, I don’t think we haven’t had any issues with them until now, and I’m sure it will remain like that. It’s great that we get to meet them after this because it’s quite rare that we get to meet the marshals and all the others who make the championship work, who are all working for us, and it’s always good to get to spend time with them.

Luca Ghiotto: These guys do such a great job, and that we can do what we love here is because of them. It’s great to think that they do this just because they are so passionate about motorsport, and in the end we have to acknowledge that they do this work because they care about us. It’s good to have these people who have such a passion to do what they do.

Nyck De Vries: Of course we all respect the work the volunteers do for us, and last year when I was flying out to Monza I got to meet a volunteer who had been doing it for years, who was flying out to Monza again. He told me what he was doing, and I didn’t realise they actually put so much effort into it: it’s a completely voluntary job, and I think we can only appreciate and thank them for all their hard work. It’s sad to see that drivers sometimes get angry or frustrated with marshals when things are not going well, because in the heat of the moment they can sometimes forget what they do for us, and that we couldn’t be here without them, so it’s really good that we get to meet them.