Nyck De Vries 3rd with Fastest Lap while Sean Gelael doesn’t start due to technical issue

PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing secured another podium finish at Sochi, in the Russian round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. The team performed well at the Olympic Park circuit although, starting from P1, Nyck De Vries couldn’t capitalize on his stunning pole position. The 23-year-old racer, who performed in sensational fashion on Saturday, eventually lost momentum after the initial stint and throughout the feature event.

De Vries fought as hard as he could and eventually brought home a third place which puts him back to the great form previous to Monza. On the other hand, Indonesian Sean Gelael continued to suffer from bad luck and didn’t even start the race. He was stuck on the starting grid with clutch issues and, once pushed back to the pitlane, he could not be re-started. He will take-off in tomorrow’s race 2 with plenty of determination in search of a well-deserved rebound.

Sean Gelael, Car #3

“It wasn’t a DNF today, it was a DNS. It’s a shame because I thought we were coming in quite strong and we had a good feeling with the car for the race. At the start there is always lots of carnage and many opportunities to get a good result. We will fight again tomorrow and in the next race. Congrats to Nyck for his podium finish.”

Nyck De Vries, Car #4

“We had a good start and obviously we had a decent first stint although perhaps some guys behind were a little quicker. Unfortunately our pit-stop was a bit long so we lost a position to Alex. I tried to push to try to see if I had the pace to fight back but I realized that we didn’t. We didn’t seem to have the same pace as both Alex and Nicholas. Three laps to go I locked up and that was a big big flatspot: I was just praying for the end. I thought we would finish P4, we got P3 but unfortunately I can’t really smile.“