Now, that is how you launch a comeback. Starting down the order in 13th on the grid, Roman Bilinski put in a seriously impressive shift to drag his machine up to sixth by the chequered flag, securing a very solid haul of points.
Driving for DAMS Lucas Oil, Bilinski relied on pure aggression and smart timing to pull off seven overtakes. The recovery comes as a massive relief following a disappointing qualifying session that left him stranded outside the top 10.
It definitely takes a lot, because this sport is so demanding mentally and physically, but we stayed late, we worked really hard and looked at past years' data to be as well prepared as possible,
Speaking about the frantic on-track battles, Bilinski pointed to specific scraps on track that got his adrenaline pumping. "The first one was with Miyata. He overtook me and straight away I wanted to get it back, and I didn't like that, so it was a good move," he explained.
He wasn't done there, immediately fighting back against Minì before launching a final lap lunge on Kush. "With the last lap on Kush, I just risked everything, dived down the inside, and kind of had nothing to lose, to be honest. I thought it was really good. So, I'm really proud of those. I hope it was a good show for the people watching, because it definitely was exciting in the car."
Getting back into the points was the immediate goal, but the turnaround required some proper graft behind the scenes. Bilinski was quick to praise the crew for staying late overnight, digging through past years' data, and fixing the car.
Looking ahead to the longer Feature Races, the DAMS Lucas Oil driver knows the circuit demands a mix of bravery and calculation. "It definitely takes a lot, because this sport is so demanding mentally and physically, but we stayed late, we worked really hard and looked at past years' data to be as well prepared as possible," Bilinski said.
"Then I think part of Baku is you just have to send it. There's always going to be a bit of chaos, and you have to try and make sure you're in the right place at the right time, which is easier said than done. But I think we didn't do too bad today, and now we need to bring that into the Feature Race later. It's going to be a longer race. But hopefully we can make some good overtakes and a good strategy can put us in some solid points, anything can happen here."
