Tatiana Calderón demonstrated just how far she has come on in her short FIA Formula 2 career so far with a pair of strong finishes in last weekend’s Barcelona round.
The Alfa Romeo F1 test driver matched her best results in the grand prix feeder series at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, finishing in 13th place in both the Saturday and Sunday races.
Tatiana arrived at what she considers to be her ‘home’ race off the back of an encouraging weekend in Baku, where only an ill-timed mechanical problem stood between her and a strong points finish, confident of an improved showing compared to a difficult pre-season test at Barcelona.
A lingering grid penalty from Azerbaijan meant she would line up for Saturday’s opening race at the back of the grid, but a later pitstop than most of her rivals allowed her to eke out her hard-compound Pirelli tyres over the remaining distance and steadily climb the order to 13th place at the finish.
The Colombian rising star then made an excellent getaway in the sprint race to move up to 10th on the opening lap before the race was briefly neutralized by the safety car, deployed when Nobuharu Matsushita’s Carlin car set fire and parked up at Turn 10.
When action resumed, Tatiana’s pace allowed her to hold her own in the midfield, and even though she ultimately ended up back in the position she started in, her progression in a relatively short space of time gives her confidence for the upcoming rounds at other European circuits.
Tatiana Calderón: “Overall I think it was a pretty positive weekend, despite not having scored any points. We were better in terms of one-lap pace in qualifying – both relative to my teammate and to the pole position time, so that’s positive. In the races we had good pace, we made good starts, so that’s also encouraging looking forward to the rest of the European season. We still need to improve our race pace but we are competitive, and I think our main focus still needs to be on improving in qualifying. Now I look forward to the next round in Monaco and driving on this legendary circuit for the first time.”
Tatiana will return to action for the fourth round of the F2 season on the famous streets of Monte Carlo during the weekend of F1’s Monaco Grand Prix on May 23-25.
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