The Swiss driver crossed the finish line in third place on Sunday after making a sensational start. Boschung took revenge after being forced to retire while in podium contention on Saturday due to a fuel pump issue. Caldwell continues making strong improvements in race pace
Campos Racing has secured its first podium of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship season this Sunday thanks to Swiss racer Ralph Boschung, who completed a strong race at the wheel of his Dallara F2 machinery. Despite a bitter Saturday in which he lost his chances of another podium, Boschung fought back to step onto the rostrum during Sunday’s feature race. It was achieved despite of being hit from the back at the start, which damaged his rear wing and broke the flat bottom but the Swiss driver still secured the podium finish. Briton Olli Caldwell is progressing race by race despite starting from the back at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, after an eventful qualifying session, slightly hampered his potential in both races.
On Friday, the single free practice session took place in extremely difficult weather conditions due to heavy rain. Besides, the reduce 30-minute format came to a halt twice as a result of two red flags. With drivers being able to complete just a few laps, Boschung emerged as the fastest man on track with a lap time of 1m41.996s. His teammate Caldwell clocked a lap time of 1m46.251s to finish 14th in the timesheets but with always no chances to put his best sectors together due to red and yellow flags. In qualifying, which took place in very late evening, Boschung put himself in pole position contention once again. With drivers qualifying on wet tires once again, Boschung set a lap time of 1m40.496s to line up 4th for the Feature race on Sunday. Caldwell was also posting competitive lap times at the beginning but spun out and he couldn’t improve his best effort of 1m42.954s, forcing him to start from the back of grid both days.
With Boschung starting from seventh on Saturday’s reverse starting grid, the driver in Campos Racing colors moved up to sixth after one lap behind polesitter Logan Sargeant. After a four-lap safety car period as David Beckmann spun out, the Sprint race was green-flagged again. Boschung was solidly running in sixth place with a potential podium finish later in the race when his car gradually struggled to keep the pace. Finally, Boschung was forced to retire with a fuel pump issue on lap 10. Caldwell took the checkered flag in 17th place after gaining several places on such a difficult circuit to overtake.
Sunday brought a new opportunity for Campos Racing and its drivers. Boschung, from fourth on the grid, moved up to second after a fantastic start behind Roy Nissany. Further adrift, Caldwell also overtook several cars in the incident-marred first laps. Dennis Hauger and Jack Doohan made contact at the start and the first safety car was deployed. Just at the restart, Juri Vips lost control on lap 7 and brought the safety car out once again. Just at that moment Boschung, who had opted by the soft compound in his first stint, made his mandatory pit stop for medium tires. The Swiss racer was back on track in 11th place but virtually was second behind Nissany. The Israeli driver also retired after crashing into the wall later in the race and Boschung got involved in a closely-fought battle with Sargeant, Théo Pourchaire and Enzo Fittipaldi. Caldwell, who started on the opposite tire strategy, ran in third place until his pit stop in the final stages of the race but a safety car damaged his chances. The Feature race came to an end behind the safety car deployed when Liam Lawson crashed. In such conditions, Boschung brought a third place home behind Pourchaire and Fittipaldi. Caldwell ended up in 14th place.
After three rounds, Boschung currently sits sixth in the drivers’ standings on 32 points. Meanwhile, Campos Racing is lying in 8th place in the teams’ standings.
The fourth round of the FIA Formula 2 will take place on 21-22 May at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the home round of Campos Racing.
