Bruno del Pino grabbed a strong P4 during qualifying for the F3 Austrian GP which is his best qualifying finish this season. It also becomes the team’s best qualifying performance this season, topping his P5 finish in Bahrain.
The 19-year-old delivered a strong performance and kept pushing throughout the session which truly paid off. On his last flying lap, del Pino was sharp and precise which secured him the second row spot, with a beautiful lap of 1:20.937. The rookie was not too far off Nikola Tsolov who grasped pole with a 1:20.743.
del Pino relieved after a positive start to the weekend
The MP Motorsport driver appeared positive after his strong Friday performance, stating:
“I thought I did a pretty good job throughout the session. I felt I under pushed a bit in sector three, but with the track limits on this track, you had to leave a gap, but I pushed a bit more on the last lap.”
He continued on to reflect on the qualifying sessions of the last two race weekends in Monaco and Barcelona, which both left him disappointed. Through the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, the MP Motorsport driver did not manage to qualify higher than P25. Similarly, Barcelona left him grasping for more as he qualified P20. This time, he delivered a wonderful performance that left him feeling happy after the session.
“I feel good. The last two qualifying’s in Monaco and Barcelona haven’t been the best, so this is a relief. I’m starting from the second row, and it’s a good way to start the weekend.” del Pino expressed.
Maximise the team performance
Furthermore, the young driver expressed how tight qualifying can be between the 30 F3 drivers. With the field constantly getting closer to each other, it can make it unpredictable to guess who comes out on top each weekend.
“Qualifying is really tight between all the drivers, it was six-tenths until P23, so I think MP did a good job from my side.”
The Spanish driver went on to convey how much effort the team has been putting in through the first couple of rounds, stating:
“Giusti and I managed to be in the top 12 today. Tim unluckily hasn’t been but he’s been showing strong pace through the first five rounds, so for sure he will come back. He has done a good job in qualifying, but especially in race pace. The main goal is always to be in the top 12 with all three cars and from my side, I’m trying to maximise what I have in the car and what I have to do to be in the highest position possible.”
Mentality and fighting for podiums
The 19-year-old candidly opened up about the difficulties he has experienced the past couple of weeks. The devastation of not scoring any points during his home race in Barcelona was huge, and the young driver needed to recover after.
“The last two weeks have been quite challenging mentally for me, but it’s a good recovery today, knowing that the last two weekends haven’t been positive. I knew there was a lot of pace in Monaco and Barcelona.
From my side I’ve had pace all season, so it’s a second top five this season. But I had a chance to disconnect and try to improve as much as possible looking towards these last five rounds and so far, we’ve been showing good form but still two races to go.” del Pino sincerely explained.
The racing driver appeared to keep his head high and bounce back stronger after the last two race weekends left him unfulfilled. As the team has been showing better pace, del Pino’s hunger for more points has grown, stating:
“I feel good and I feel strong. Race pace has been there, we are getting there and it’s a good way to show what we are capable of. The starting position is a great advantage, especially for Sunday. We are able to fight for points and hopefully a podium if we do all things great.”
Hopefully, the young driver will be able to fight for points this weekend and continue to grow with the team.
