Boschung and Maini, who had already enjoyed the taste of podiums in the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship season, will contest the fourth round in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. The ultra-fast urban circuit always brings one of the most difficult weekends on the calendar
Campos Racing heads to Azerbaijan for the fourth venue of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship season, which is set to take place at Baku City Circuit in the frame of the Azerbaijani F1 Grand Prix this weekend. Both Campos Racing-entered Dallara F2 cars will be driven by Swiss Ralph Boschung and Indian Kush Maini, who have already proved to be one of the strongest duos on the grid of the F1 feeder series.
Boschung scored his maiden win in the series at the season-opener held in Bahrain with a lights-to-flag dominant performance. The Swiss racer rounded off the nearly perfect weekend with a second place during Sunday’s feature race in Sakhir. He brought more points home in Jeddah and, despite a tough weekend in Australia, still sits in fourth place in the drivers’ standings on 33 points.
Maini is emerging as one of the most solid rookie drivers in the competitive Formula 2 field. The Indian talent has scored points in five out of the six first races of the season. Maini made his debut in Bahrain with a fourth and seventh place at Bahrain International Circuit and put himself back in the top-five in Jeddah once again. But Melbourne saw his season’s high so far as he clinched a third-place finish on Saturday’s sprint race. Maini continued his streak of points with a ninth place on Sunday. At the moment, Maini is ninth in the drivers’ standings on 26 points.
Besides, Campos Racing currently sits fourth in teams’ standings on 59 points.
Both Boschung and Maini have focused their sights on adding more podiums to their tally in Baku. The track is one of its kind thanks to a unique combination of narrow, blind corners and long straights. The Baku City Circuit features a 6.003 km layout, the fourth-longest on the calendar, with characteristic complex slow zones such as the famous Turn 9 in the old city center. But the 2.2 km stretch along Neftchilar Avenue forces to use a set-up of compromise with low-medium downforce as there is a need for high top speeds. Braking and traction are two others aspects in which engineers must focus to be competitive.
Both free practice and qualifying sessions will take place on Friday at 09.05 and 13.00 respectively. Saturday’s Sprint race is scheduled at 13.15 with Sunday’s Feature race taking place at 09.35. All times are CET.
Adrián Campos (Team Principal de Campos Racing): “We are scoring podium finishes on a regular basis this season, besides with our two drivers. We want to extend our streak in Baku, a track in which we already proved to be quite competitive in the past. Our goal is to continue scoring a good haul of points every weekend and, if we make it to the podium once again, much better.”
Ralph Boschung (Campos Racing Driver of FIA Formula 2): “I’m looking forward to driving on such a demanding street circuit once again. It’s a very nice track. I have some good memories there in 2021. We had good races there despite qualifying wasn’t very promising. Weather should be good, which helps as Baku races are always pretty difficult and crazy ones. Our goal is to remain out of trouble, which should be key. Hopefully, we can get back on the podium and bring big points home.”
Kush Maini (Campos Racing Driver of FIA Formula 2): “Super excited to be racing in Baku, my first time on the track. Looks very challenging with some very tight sections but also the long straights mean the racing is always exciting.”
