© FIA F2 Media ServiceConstant progress
A month after his excellent debut in Bahrain where he flirted with the podium, Anthoine was eager to confirm his performance in Azerbaijan. A mix of a classic street circuit and long straights where Formula 2 cars reach close to 330 km/h, the Baku circuit is a novelty dreaded by a lot of rookies.
« I had prepared well for Baku in the simulators and I was not too surprised by the circuit, even though I must admit that it has character! In qualifying, we had the potential to do a little better, but I was still rather satisfied with the result and how we managed the session. Starting from inside the top 10, I thought it was possible for a better race result because overtaking is a lot easier here due to the layout of the track ».
Free practice - Sunny
 | 1. | Luca Ghiotto (UNI-Virtuosi Racing) 1:56.637 |
 | 2. | Nobuharu Matsushita (Carlin) 1:56.919 |
 | 3. | Jordan King (MP Motorsport) 1:57.023 |
| ... | ||
 | 16. | Anthoine Hubert (HWA Arden) 1:59.801 |
Qualifying - Sunny
| 1. | Nobuharu Matsushita (Carlin) 1:54.555 |
 | 2. | Nyck de Vries (ART Grand Prix) 1:54.999 |
| 3. | Luca Ghiotto (UNI-Virtuosi Racing) 1:55.037 |
| ... | ||
| 9. | Anthoine Hubert (HWA Arden) 1:56.138 |
In the fight for a podium
Anthoine had a great start that allowed him to move up three places after he skilfully avoided the chaos of the opening lap. Combining wisdom and speed, he overtook several of his rivals and moved up to 4th place. Unfortunately, his stop for new tires dragged on and he eventually emerged from the pits in 9th place. From there Anthoine fought back to 5th position when the third and last safety car intervened just 7 laps from the finish…
« Boccolacci came up alongside me so I braked late to counter his attack. But my front wheel was immediately blocked and I had no choice but to go straight on... It's annoying to let some big points go when we were so close to the finish and after having such a great race. One point is only a tiny reward, but we must remember the positive aspects and there are many! ».
Race 1 - 29 laps – Sunny
| 1. | Jack Aitken (Campos Racing) 1:02:27.628 |
| 2. | Nyck De Vries (ART Grand Prix) 2.221 |
| 3. | Jordan King (MP Motorsport) 4.134 |
| ... | ||
| 10. | Anthoine Hubert (HWA Arden) 1:02:45.828 +18.200 |
Brake problem
Unfortunately, the sprint race failed to offer Anthoine the chance to show his potential. Interrupted by several safety cars, race two saw Anthoine struggling in the middle of the pack. On the 13th of 21 laps, four drivers had an issue with braking and, while Anthoine could have moved into the top 8 and a points paying position, he had no choice but to go straight into the run off area.
« Whenever there was a re-start, I lacked efficiency in the brakes and tires. However, after the misadventure of the day before, I took good care to keep them warm but it didn’t really work. This is a problem that will have to be solved for the next races. We tried to analyze it in the heat of the race without success. It's frustrating because the weekend was very good overall except the re-starts! ».
Race 2 - 21 laps - Sunny
 | 1. | Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) 48:43.284 |
 | 2. | Juan Manuel Correa (Sauber Junior Team by Charouz) 0.961 |
| 3. | Jack Aitken (Campos Racing) 1.521 |
| ... | ||
| 10. | Anthoine Hubert (HWA Arden) +11.074 |
Championship
| 1. | Nicholas Latifi 62 |
| 2. | Jack Aitken 43 |
| 3. | Luca Ghiotto 39 |
| 4. | Nyck De Vries 38 |
| ... | ||
| 10. | Anthoine Hubert 13 |
