Now it gets serious!
2 days left before the final attempt of the year to take the title in an impressive F2 Championship, which experts have deemed the most competitive and toughest ever. In that field, Vesti has been among the top contenders throughout the year to have a real shot at clinching the Championship.
"It's going to be a crazy week. I start out with F2 Practice on Friday. A few hours later, I will be in Lewis Hamilton's race car in the first F1 Free Practice. Huge thanks to Mercedes for another FP1 this year and this time on a circuit that I am very familiar with. A few hours later on Friday it's time to get ready for my F2 Qualifying. Saturday I have the F2 Sprint Race and then on Sunday the F2 Feature Race. On Tuesday I will yet again just like last year take part in the Young Driver Test along with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and I will be behind the steering wheel of the "black beast" W14 all day. 4 days at full blast at this level is almost unfathomable, but it is as real as it gets and not a dream nor fantasy ;-))
"
"My manager just recently asked me if it would feel any easier to be in the F2 Qualifying right after having driven a faster Mercedes' W14 in the FP1. Absolutely not. The F1 car is faster yes, but a completely different car that handles and drives like none other. It will be a very quick adjustment process for me - and a challenge. But an exciting one of its kind.
"
Vesti enters the final round in the F2 Championship 25 points behind Théo Pourchaire, who took over the Championship lead after an ill-fated Monza, where a lightening fast Vesti found himself pushed off the track in the Feature Race, already on the first lap. The previous day Vesti had won the Sprint Race displaying his superior racing skills and keeping his head cool, down to the very last lap with Victor Martins racer getting ever bigger in Vesti's mirrors. Just a few hundreds of a sec separated the two when crossing the finishing line.
"Nothing is impossible. 39 points are at stake. I'll take my chances. As always, I will be pushing hard for pole in Qualifying and hence victory in the Feature Race. I am betting on finishing off the season with maintaining my position as the most winning driver in F2 in 2023. All in all, I look at this race weekend like any other. An isolated event and effort and a task that must be carried out to perfection every single time I show up on the track. All my focus will be on the things that I can control myself. Reluctantly I must admit that I have been somewhat down after Monza. But all that will be forgotten when I get strapped into my race car on Friday. I will muster all the strength that I have and give it my all - for myself and not the least for PREMA. Because that's exactly what I owe my team. I love this team and the people behind me more than anything. I am fully aware that there is a NOW that will never ever come back and especially this time. After this final weekend I will never again drive in the F2 series which has been the strongest and most competitive experience of my life. And that's why I want to enjoy this weekend to its fullest.
"
Foto Prema: Joan Cordina, Prema
