Drugovich says eighth isn’t ‘too bad’ after seeing his first flying lap deleted for exceeding track limits

After seeing his laptime deleted on the first set of tyres for exceeding track limits, Felipe Drugovich admitted that he “didn’t feel too confident” ahead of the second run, but added that he was pleased with his final position of P8 and believes that he can fight for the win in Sprint Race 1.

Lining up third on the reverse grid, Drugovich is targeting his first win of the season. He’ll also be directly fighting with his teams’ main rivals in the Championship, as UNI-Virtuosi look to beat Carlin to second in the standings, who have Jehan Daruvala and Dan Ticktum starting from the front row.

“I expected a little bit better, but it wasn't too bad,” said Drugovich “I don’t think that my second lap was the best - I had a lap deleted for track limits in the first one, so I didn't feel too confident for the second one. P8 is fine and we start P3 tomorrow.

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I think we can fight for victory. We have good pace in the car and our starts have normally been good. Hopefully, we can get a good start, manage the tyres and try to win.

“I will try to do my race first of all, but I think that my target is the same as the teams, so I am not too worried about (the Teams’ Championship).”

Drugovich has two podiums so far this season and will be looking to add a third during the weekend, but with temperatures expected to be around 27 degrees during the midday race on Saturday, the Brazilian is expecting a tough afternoon’s work.

“It felt really good out there. There was a lot of grip, especially with the super-soft,” he continued. “It was really fun to drive, but everything will be different tomorrow.

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“We will be back on the mediums again and in hot conditions, so it will be hot physically and probably quite a bit slower than today.

“But we have been there or thereabouts the whole time this weekend, in terms of both Quali and race pace, so hopefully we can be good and fight for the victory tomorrow.”