Lindblad expecting ‘incredibly close’ Qualifying in Barcelona after setting the pace in Practice

Arvid Lindblad was pleased to get his Barcelona weekend off to a good start after setting the pace in Free Practice, but the Campos Racing driver is expecting things to be tighter in Qualifying.

The Briton and his teammate Josep María Martí left the pitlane later than the rest of the field in the 45-minute session and completed their best lap times on a clear track.

Lindblad used that to his advantage to go up to P1 with a 1:27.147, putting him 0.278s clear of Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne in second.

READ MORE: Alexander Dunne penalised following Barcelona Free Practice

Speaking after the session, Lindblad said: “It was quite good. We waited a while in the beginning, the tyre doesn't last very long here, so we waited until later in the session.

“The first run felt good, I did a good time, and then went out again on the second push, did a practice start at the pit exit, all felt quite good.”

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a very familiar venue for the grid, given their previous racing and testing experience at the track. For Lindblad, that knowledge of the circuit is incredibly useful, especially with just one push lap ahead of Qualifying.

“It's a track that is well known by the drivers and the teams,” he said. “We test here a lot, which helps, partly because also the tyre doesn't last very long. We only really get one lap, maybe two.

“So having that previous knowledge helps us to utilise FP. The biggest thing is that the previous knowledge helps you be more on the limit in Lap 1, which is needed because the tyres are gone immediately afterwards and then you are going into quali blind.

PRACTICE: Lindblad sets the pace for home favourites Campos Racing in Barcelona

“It makes us be on the limit on the first lap, and we get a good read on quali. It will be different later on, on the Softs, we are going to go two, maybe two and a half seconds quicker. A bit different, but we have good pace from Practice.”

The Red Bull junior has qualified inside the top six at each of the last three rounds, however, he is yet to achieve that maiden Formula 2 Pole Position. He is hopeful today could be the day but is wary about the challenges of Barcelona.

“Putting the lap together in Barcelona is probably the biggest thing,” he said. “Everyone does a lot of testing here, so the level is high, and everyone is going to be pushing to the limit a lot.

“The biggest thing is doing a good lap without mistakes, and it's going to be incredibly close. I think last year the top three were covered by less than a hundredth, so any mistakes will be costly.

READ MORE: Villagómez expecting ‘tight’ weekend in Barcelona as he aims for more points

“We will see though. I hope today is the day. We've been close a lot of weekends now - Melbourne, Imola, we've been really close in a couple of places.

“So let's see, it should be a good session. We need to work with the team to make a good step for quali, and then we will see what happens.”