Dino Beganovic was heading for a top result in Canada. Then came the next major setback of the Formula 2 season.
Dino Beganovic looked set for his first podium of the season in Formula 2. But just like in the season opener in Australia, Sunday’s feature race ended with a technical failure.
The Swedish Ferrari junior was running second at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal when he was forced to stop at the side of the track in the closing stages of the race.
It was the second time in three rounds that Beganovic was forced to retire from a feature race while in a position that could have delivered victory or a podium finish.
– It’s tough to take this. That’s two out of three feature races now that we could potentially have won, or at least been on the podium. It’s extremely frustrating not just for me, but for the whole team, says Dino Beganovic.
Climbed from 14th Place
The weekend in Canada started poorly with a qualifying session where Beganovic didn’t get the pace he had hoped for. He therefore started both races from 14th place.
Despite that, the DAMS driver showed strong race pace. In Saturday’s sprint, he made his way up to sixth place and secured three important championship points.
In the feature race, it looked even better. Beganovic climbed all the way from 14th to second place and had saved his tires for the finish.
– We had a fantastic race up until then, up from P14 to P2 after a tough qualifying, and I had saved a lot of tire to be able to make a strong finish. I was patient and I think it would have paid off, says Beganovic.
But instead of a possible podium finish, it became another zero result.
– Not what we needed right now, but we’ll analyze what happened, learn from it, and go at it again next time.
Focus on Monaco
Despite two retired feature races, Beganovic sits eighth in the Formula 2 championship after three of 14 rounds. He has 24 points.
The weekend’s results also mean he lost important ground at the top. Gabriele Minì leads the championship on 57 points, ahead of Rafael Câmara on 36 and Nikola Tsolov on 35.
The next round takes place in Monaco on June 4–7. A completely different type of challenge awaits there, where qualifying will be especially important.
– The sprint race was good, I was happy to finish sixth there and salvage some points. We have very good race pace, but we need to keep working on qualifying trim where we’re lacking a bit at the moment. That will be the main focus from now on, especially ahead of Monaco where qualifying is super important, says Dino Beganovic.
Results in Canada
Sprint:
- Noel León, Campos Racing
- Gabriele Minì, MP Motorsport
- Martinius Stenshorne, Rodin Motorsport
- Sebastián Montoya, Prema Racing
- Cian Shields, AIX Racing
- Dino Beganovic, DAMS Lucas Oil
Feature Race:
- Martinius Stenshorne, Rodin Motorsport
- Alex Dunne, Rodin Motorsport
- Gabriele Minì, MP Motorsport
DNF. Dino Beganovic, DAMS Lucas Oil
Points Standings in Formula 2
After three of 14 rounds, Dino Beganovic sits in eighth place in the Formula 2 championship. He has scored 24 points so far this season.
Top 10 after Montreal:
1. Gabriele Minì, MP Motorsport, 57 points
2. Rafael Câmara, Invicta Racing, 36 points
3. Nikola Tsolov, Campos Racing, 35 points
4. Martinius Stenshorne, Rodin Motorsport, 35 points
5. Noel León, Campos Racing, 33 points
6. Laurens van Hoepen, Trident, 33 points
7. Alex Dunne, Rodin Motorsport, 30 points
8. Dino Beganovic, DAMS Lucas Oil, 24 points
9. Ritomo Miyata, ART Grand Prix, 22 points
10. Joshua Dürksen, AIX Racing, 16 points
