“I think I kind of found myself again” - Inthraphuvasak reflects ahead of F2’s Silverstone weekend

Credit: Formula 2

ART’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak has been through a rough ride to kick off 2026. A soft-spoken figure, he turned several heads early in the season with an excellent weekend down under in Melbourne. 

However, despite finishing fourth in the Melbourne sprint and sixth in the Feature Race, Inthraphuvasak’s only other points finish came during the Austrian weekend, when he pushed Invicta’s Rafa Câmara all the way before settling for fifth in the Feature Race. 

It’s been a welcome return to points for the F2 rookie, who comes off the back of a strong seventh position finish in the 2025 Formula 3 season for Campos. This score came at a crucial juncture for the Thai driver, with an important season-defining stretch of races in tow. 

“It played a big factor in my confidence,” Inthraphuvasak recollected, on his slower start to the season. 

A tough run for Inthraphuvasak saw him score no points at the Miami weekend, after an engine failure during the sprint, before finishing 15th in the wet Feature Race the following day. 

A heavy impact in qualifying into Turn 4 at Canada, with further medical reports seeing the ART man withdraw from the weekend’s races. 

Monaco would bring about another difficult weekend, as the Thai driver would retire five laps from the finish in the sprint with yet another issue, while he finished 13th in the Feature Race. 

This run of low scores can have a strong effect on a driver, more so for a rookie coming off the back of a strong Formula 3 season the year prior. “I think my confidence was not at the highest level during these past few rounds,” the ART man recollected, speaking to DIVEBOMB about his season so far. 

He has been on a stronger run across the Spanish and Austrian F2 events, though. Inthraphuvasak qualified 11th in Barcelona, before finishing ninth and 12th across the pair of races, while he returned to the top 10 in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring in sixth, a reassuring return for the 20-year-old this year.    

“Over the past weekend (in Austria), I think I kind of found of myself again, found my feet again, and I think we had a decent weekend,” Inthraphuvasak replied, speaking on his promising weekend. 

“I'm really happy with how we pulled everything back (in the Feature Race), and how I'm working with the team,” the ART racer replied, speaking about the efforts the team had put in throughout the weekend, as he looked ahead to Silverstone. 

Inthraphuvasak took his maiden F3 win at Silverstone in 2025 | Credit: Formula One

Perhaps, Inthraphuvasak has hit form at the right time once again, with Silverstone being a venue of success for the Thai driver. It was the scene of his maiden F3 victory in 2025, as he took the sprint victory for Campos. 

He would later go on to win the sprint in Hungary, before his maiden Feature Race win at the Monza season finale lifted him up seven positions in the standings, well into the top 10. 

But it was the British venue that marked the beginning of his ascent up to F2 in 2026. For a driver who has been finding his feet, returning to such a venue can only bring about a boost of confidence. 

“It's where I kind of turned the season around last year (in F3) after Silverstone. So I'm looking forward to hopefully doing the same thing after a good result in Red Bull Ring as well,” he responded, with a greater spring in his step for the race weekend ahead.  

While the Thai driver's race pace came good in Austria, a major positive earlier in the weekend was his qualifying form, which showed improvement. Inthraphuvasak has qualified in the top 10 only twice in 2026, at Melbourne on the opening weekend, and last time around at the Red Bull Ring.

As has been commonplace in 2026, qualifying has been key to a successful weekend. It’s a feat reflected by the top four in the championship, with the likes of Câmara, Alex Dunne, Nikola Tsolov and Gabriele Minì all maintaining strong records on Friday’s sessions. 

“I think the hardest bit in both F3 and F2 is getting qualifying right,” Inthraphuvasak reiterated. That's what we've been working on so far.

“I'm always in the race pace. I think we're one of the fastest in race pace, but just getting the qualifying right has been tricky so far,” he concluded, speaking on the biggest step-up to take in his rookie campaign.       

Perhaps, one of the most important elements for Inthraphuvasak to gain that qualifying pace sits on the other side of the garage. 

Teammate Kush Maini is the most experienced driver on the current F2 grid with 89 race starts. The Indian driver has also taken the only pole position and race win for the team so far in 2026, sitting in ninth with 43 points to his name. He remains one of the stronger drivers over a single lap, with four top 10 starts all season and a pole to his name in 2026. 

“He (Kush) pushes me a lot as a driver, and I can learn a lot from him,” Inthraphuvasak acknowledged, on Maini’s influence towards him. 

“I think all the teams he's been with in the past are top-running teams. He has really good experience that can help with the feedback for the team,” he said.   

Having a driver with such a wealth of experience is a big plus for a driver in their first F2 season. Observing and learning from a driver with sharper feedback and a stronger understanding of the championship would do plenty of good for the young rookie driver. 

“There is stuff that is different to F3 from last year that I'm still getting used to and improving race by race. So, yeah, his experience definitely helps me a lot,” Inthraphuvasak concluded, reflecting on how Maini has impacted his transition into F2 so far. 

For now, Silverstone is the closest the ART man will get to a home event, given he resides close to the circuit. Inthraphuvasak - who effectively comes full circle this weekend, would certainly be looking to capitalise on returning to the same venue that kickstarted his F3 campaign in 2025, and got him to where he is today.