Things didn’t quite go according to plan for the Barcelona-born driver and Trident at the opening round of the FIA Formula Two Championship in Bahrain. Canamasas and his Italian-based team are already focusing on round 2 taking place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 13-14 May.
Sergio Canamasas and Trident faced FIA Formula 2 Championship’s season debut at Bahrain International Circuit with optimism but weekend brought bittersweet results for them on Arabian soil. Canamasas, at the wheel of his Trident-entered Dallara GP2/11, clocked a time of 1:43.958 in free practice and improved significantly on his own time in qualifying by lapping the circuit in a time of 1:40.810. Unfortunately, he was handed a severe penalty and was forced to start from the pit lane on Saturday.
On his soft tires, Canamasas passed several cars to move into 16th place before making his mandatory pit stop on lap 11. Later, on his hard set of tires, Canamasas mastered the tire wear management and moved into the top 10. However, at the end he couldn’t keep his rivals on fresh tires at bay and dropped to 14th. For Sunday’s sprint race, Canamasas made another great start and gained four places on the very first lap. Following a safety car period, he overtook two other rivals, Stefano Coletti – who already had been passed on the outside by Canamasas on Saturday- and Lous Deletraz. Unfortunately, in the closing stages of the race, Canamasas struggled with tires and quicker drivers on new tires passed him. Finally, Canamasas took the checkered flag 11th.
“It was a tough weekend for sure”, Canamasas underlined aftermath. Spaniard driver said: “grid penalty was yet another major blow to us. I kept tire wear management under control in both races but our pace wasn’t enough competitive to stay up front. To be honest, we didn’t get a good setup for Bahrain. I fought off over both races but at the same time these battles cost me time. Despite I managed to beat several drivers using our strategy but it was impossible to keep others on a different pit strategy at bay. We are already working for round 2 in Barcelona, which is extremely important because my family, friends and fans attend. I’m really looking forward to it!”