Wickens and Aleshin secure second and third in championship
Red Bull duo gain qualification for FIA Superlicence
Robert Wickens and Mikhail Aleshin secured second and third
respectively in the 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship, earning
themselves qualification for an FIA Superlicence in the
process.
Wickens took second in the championship courtesy of a third
place finish in the final race of the season, which was enough to
hand him a five point advantage over Aleshin. The Russian in turn
finished nine points ahead of Mirko Bortolotti in fourth after
finishing seventh in the second race.
Speaking in the post race conference, Wickens paid tribute to
Soucek's season before admitting that he had adopted a conservative
race strategy throughout in order to procure the runner-up spot:
"First off, congratulations to Andy for putting together a
fantastic championship.
"From my side going into the race I knew that basically as long
as I was ahead of Aleshin I had second, so once I got through the
first lap safe and sound I just started being consistent and
mistake-free. I didn't really even really try and charge on De
Marco: it was a pretty conservative race from my part and I was
happy to get second."
Aleshin, who becomes the first Russian to ever qualify for a
Superlicence, was equally delighted with his prize for finishing in
the championship top three. "For sure it's great to be the first
person from your country (to achieve a Superlicence), but I think
it will also be good if I can use it! For me it was important to
finish in the points - that was my goal this race."
Mirko Bortolotti and Julien Jousse were unlucky to miss out on
the top three, the pair finishing fourth and fifth respectively
after solid campaigns which saw them both win races. Both drivers
were in contention until the final race of the season, but could
not do quite enough to overturn either Wickens or Aleshin in the
points standings.