Inthraphuvasak left with mixed feelings in Melbourne despite Qualifying in P7

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak had mixed feelings after the Melbourne Qualifying session, as despite ending up seventh, the Campos Racing driver felt there was more time left on the table.

The Thai driver had a solid Friday in Albert Park, finishing sixth in Practice, before setting a time of 1:35.924, putting him seventh in a session affected by Red Flags.

However, despite the guaranteed top 10 start for both races, and being the lead Campos driver in the session, Inthraphuvasak felt he could have been further up the leaderboard.

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“It was as a very messy session for everyone,” reflected Inthraphuvasak afterwards. “I think no one expected it to be this chaotic for the first Qualifying of the year. We had two or three Red Flags, so it was a bit tricky.

“But for how the session went, I think I should be happy with my position. It's a position where we can fight for good points on both Saturday and Sunday, starting P6 tomorrow and P7 on Sunday. So, I think it's a good position for me.

“The car had a lot more potential, and my lap was not the cleanest. I think we could have fought for the top three or the top spot if we had a clean session. But overall, I am not too mad about that one.”

This result was Inthraphuvasak’s best Qualifying performance in Formula 3, beating the P10 he had in Budapest last season. When this was put to him, the Campos driver lauded the work he and the team had done over the winter.

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“For the first round, to now have my best Qualifying result and after last year which was a tricky year for me. We were really strong in pre-season testing, so coming into this year I was really confident.

“I think we put in a lot of good work with the team behind the scenes to try to get the car in a good window, since it's a new F3 car this year as well.

“So, I am pretty confident we can fight for a lot of podiums this year, I am happy with how the improvement has been from last year.”

Looking ahead to both the Sprint and Feature Races, Inthraphuvasak does not expect both events to be as messy as Qualifying, and believes he is in a strong position to get to the podium on both days.

“I think it should be less chaotic,” said Inthraphuvasak. “This was one of the most chaotic sessions, even compared to last year. But it's looking to have mixed weather on Sunday as well, so that could change things a bit.

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“It's less points in the Sprint, so you always aim to have a good qualifying for the Feature. Nevertheless, it's a good position to fight for podiums in both races.

“I think we have really strong race pace, we’ve seen it in pre-season in Barcelona, so I am really confident for tomorrow and Sunday's race.”