After taking two podiums in three races at Spa-Francorchamps, I walked into the Euroformula Open paddock at the Hungaroring more confident than ever and certain that my first win in the series wasn't far away.
The weekend did not start too smoothly. My engineer was forced to miss the round after testing positive for Covid-19, which made setting up the car a little more difficult than usual, and meant I had to adapt to working alongside a new engineer, but it was a challenge that I knew I had the experience and maturity to successfully overcome. At the end of the day, the plan hadn’t changed. I maintained my reinvigorated self-belief and I increased the amount of meditation I did that weekend - I find that meditation helps me approach races with a calm and clear head for optimal focus.
We were fourth fastest in qualifying, just 0.200 seconds off of pole, so lined up in fourth on the Race 1 grid and finished P5. A solid but less-than-ideal result, but the weekend wasn't over!
With Saturday behind us, it was time to take on the final two races of the round. Starting from P2, I got off the line very well in Race 2 and came out on top of the battle with my teammate at the first corner. I knew it was important to be in the lead coming out of turn one, so that was my aim. It is hard to follow and race around Hungary, and coming out of turn one first is 50% of the job. The other 50% was hitting my markers, staying consistent, and not making any mistakes despite the pressure. I did that, and was able to pull away to take the win. My first in Euroformula Open. It was a mature drive and one that I’m proud of.
I barely had time to celebrate as we had a quick turnaround, with Race 3 being later the same day, so I was quickly back in pre-race concentration mode but have since had time to celebrate and study my drive.
Looking ahead to the next round at Imola, I can confidently say that having left Belgium with two podiums, and Hungary with the win, I have the self-belief to continue that momentum and, hopefully, collect more silverware.