Juan Manuel Correa narrowly misses out on points at Silverstone

Step One ambassador, Juan Manuel Correa, narrowly missed out on a top 10 finish in the FIA Formula 2 Championship’s return to the iconic Silverstone International Circuit.

The American-Ecuadorian racer started both Sprint and Feature events from 22nd after a challenging qualifying but recovered from a difficult start by finishing close to the points on Sunday.

Saturday’s Sprint Race took place in full-wet conditions, and although the poor weather generated an unpredictable, constantly evolving environment, JM enjoyed a competitive start.

He gained ground on the opening lap by overtaking Ayumu Iwasa and team-mate Richard Verschoor before a Safety Car paused all action when Brad Benavides was tipped into a spin and hit the wall.

JM continued to hold position during the race’s restart, but unfortunately slipped to 20th after being re-passed by Verschoor.

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old settled into a rhythm and enjoyed a close battle Amaury Cordeel to finish 19th after overtaking Ralph Boschung in the closing stages.

In stark contrast to Saturday’s weather, Sunday’s Feature Race took place in perfect conditions, and produced some of the closest racing of the 2023 season.

After securing a clean getaway from the final row of the grid, JM ascended to 20th after five laps of running and continued to gain ground when the pit phase opened on lap seven.

This coincided with a Safety Car, caused by a stoppage for Cordeel, and prompted JM into the pitlane for a change of tyres, from where he emerged in fifth place.

Action was resumed on lap 11, although the Safety Car swiftly made another appearance when Roman Stanek, Dennis Hauger, and Frederik Vesti made contact moments before the restart.

The race was restarted for a second time on lap 15 of 29, and JM made immediate progress by overtaking Clement Novalak for fourth, with his eyes glued to the fight for the podium.

As the race raged on, and JM’s tyre performance started to deteriorate, however, he was unable to maintain pace with his closest competitors.

Unfortunately, JM lost ground in the closing stages, and despite fighting gallantly, finished just shy of the points, taking home 11th.

JM’s 2023 Formula 2 campaign with Van Amersfoort Racing will continue on July 22-23 at Budapest’s Hungaroring.