It was third time’s the charm for Richard Verschoor as he finally registered his first win of the 2024 season in Baku.
Verschoor is into his fourth season in Formula 2 and has won a race in every season he has competed in, previously driving for the likes of MP Motorsport, Charouz, Trident and Van Amersfoort Racing.
However, the Dutchman, currently racing for Trident, found his first win difficult to come by. Verschoor had won the Sprint Races in Jeddah and Budapest, but was disqualified from both, leaving him with just two podiums to his name as of the end of the round in Spa.
But at the last round in Baku, victory would finally come to Verschoor. After securing pole position for the Feature Race, the Dutchman held on to claim victory by just 0.3 seconds over Victor Martins, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli finishing 0.2 seconds behind him.
As Verschoor led the pack at the front, one Formula 2 driver over the weekend disappeared into the distance, but not in a good way.
Richard Verschoor gives assessment on ‘not terrible Niels Koolen after AIX Racing departure
AIX Racing confirmed that fellow Dutchman Niels Koolen would be driving for the team at Monza and Baku, taking the place of Taylor Barnard who has signed with McLaren in Formula E for next season.
Koolen’s signing was met with widespread criticism on social media, as the 23-year-old had failed to score a championship point in any category he competed in until his venture into Indy NXT in 2024.
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Perhaps as expected, Koolen struggled to make an impact. In Monza, he qualified last and a second behind the next driver Roman Stanek, finishing 19th in both races.
Things got even worse in Baku as the Dutchman was ten seconds off the pace in practice and qualified almost seven seconds behind pole sitter Verschoor. He finished nearly a minute behind in the Sprint Race and was involved in the horror crash at the start of the Feature Race after Kush Maini could not get going off the grid.
After these two dismal weekend, AIX have confirmed Koolen’s exit, but speaking with GPBlog, Verschoor defended his fellow countryman for making the ‘not easy’ transition to F2.
“I spoke to his father shortly and he’s only been in Formula Racing for two years,” he said.
“So of course we cannot expect for him to be on the pace. It’s not easy to go into F2. Of course Monza was a bit easier for him and okay, he’s not on the pace, but it’s not terrible. Here it’s not easy.
“You have the feeling the F2 car goes twice as quick between the walls. Then the last two corners to do flat, it’s not easy. So I think it was just for him to gain experience. I think they have different plans for next year. Just wish him best of luck.”
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Richard Verschoor is delivering results after a poor start to the season
While Koolen struggled for results in his brief time in F2, Verschoor is looking to recover his season after a rocky start.
The 23-year-old finished in the points only four times for the first 17 races, being denied victory twice with his disqualifications. Verschoor responded with three consecutive top five finishes, with third in the Feature Race in Hungary and the Sprint Race in Belgium.
In the last two rounds at Monza and Baku, Sprint Races seemed to be a struggle as Verschoor failed to score points in either. But in the longer format, the Trident driver was on the pace and finished on the podium with third in Italy and the win in Azerbaijan.
With two rounds left of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, Verschoor sits 10th in the standings with 81 points.