Feature Race podium not ‘out of sight’ for Inthraphuvasak after P5 result at Silverstone Sprint

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak finished fifth in Saturday’s Silverstone Sprint Race, and while he happily took the points, he was not all that pleased with how the race went.

The ART Grand Prix driver lined up in P5 but a slow getaway dropped him down the order. However, Inthraphuvasak fought back well, pulling off impressive overtakes on Ritomo Miyata and Joshua Duerksen to finish where he started.

Speaking in the paddock afterwards, the 20-year-old was impressed with pace, but not the result.

“I’m a bit disappointed,” said Inthraphuvasak. “Obviously, we started P5 and if you look at the result, it's a really good result. But I had a really bad start, starting from P5. I think at the end of the first lap, I dropped to either ninth or 10th.

“We need to look into the data for why I had such a difficult start, but then afterwards the pace was really good, and I felt really good with the car and with myself as well.

“I think I did a good job to come through the field and finish P5 and collect good points. With this track, having a lot of high-speed corners, it's always hard to follow and I think hard to make any moves, especially with the wind that we have currently.

“There was no headwind on the straight, so it was really difficult to pass anyone. But I think I did a pretty good job to move forward and the pace was really good.

“So happy with how it went overall, excluding the start. So I think starting from P6, we can definitely move forward tomorrow.”

Speaking more about the race, Inthraphuvasak talked about his approach after the early Safety Car that lasted six laps.

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The Thai rookie revealed that he pushed most of the race after that looking to recover the positions he lost, which meant he was not able to catch up with those on the podiums.

“I was pushing basically the whole race and I think that ruined my tyres a bit for the end of the race,” he explained. “At the end of the race I think my pace dropped a bit compared to the guys in front.

“But it's just because I fell back in the beginning and I had to push to get past the others. But I think how long the safety car was today, it definitely helped some guys in front out.

“There was a lot of drivers struggling with the tyres in the end, so I think if we have a longer race tomorrow, for sure degradation will come into play. I think the strategy will be the same tomorrow.”

When asked if he was expecting a different type of race on Sunday given the cooler track temperatures, Inthraphuvasak responded: “Looking at how it went today, I think the softs actually worked a lot better than expected with the hot conditions today.

“But tomorrow it's going to be colder conditions, so we need to discuss which strategy we're going for starting from P6. Obviously, you can risk on the strategy, but there's a lot to lose as P6 is already a good starting position to score some good points.

“So let's see what we decide with the team. But tomorrow with colder temps, I think we should expect less degradation than today, but I think there will still be a lot.”

This was another good result for Inthraphuvasak, whose form has picked up off late.

In Spielberg, the ART rookie again qualified sixth and in the Feature Race, he used the alternative strategy to finish in fifth.

Today was another strong result, and Inthraphuvasak feels a better start should give him a better chance at a podium on Sunday.

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“For sure moving forward is the goal tomorrow,” he said. “We know we have a really good package in the car, in the race especially, and I think the podium is definitely not out of sight.

“I think we can aim for that definitely tomorrow. But it's been a good two rounds now with the pace being there consistently. So like I said in Spielberg, I'm happy with the step I made on myself to be back fighting where we belong.

“I'm carrying that momentum and I am in a good rhythm right now. So I'm really looking forward to the next rounds too.”