Fittipaldi ready to capitalise on best F2 Qualifying result in Madrid

Emerson Fittipaldi secured P10 in the FIA Formula 2 Qualifying session in Madrid, a season-best result for the AIX Racing driver.

The Brazilian left it late in the day but kept his cool under pressure having had an earlier laptime deleted for exceeding track limits.

Reflecting on his session back in the paddock, Fittipaldi explained just how difficult the session was to manage from the cockpit.

"I'm very, very happy. I can only thank God for this result. It was a very stressful and chaotic qualifying as everybody saw.

"It's a very technical and difficult track and finally we got the car in the window where we could be competitive and in the top 10 and that's amazing.

"Because no one's been here before, I think that really helped level things out. Most of the other races this season, it was my first time there when all the others had already raced there, so that has been a big disadvantage.

"Today was very fair and the team managed to give me a very nice car and finally we have a top 10 and reverse pole tomorrow, so it's an amazing weekend already."

Diving deeper into his session, Fittipaldi explained how his qualifying session took shape, with the AIX driver losing an earlier effort to a track limits violation.

Along with that, the three Red Flag stoppages meant that there was no time to get into a rhythm during the half-hour session, and that it all came down to that final lap.

"Up until the last push of the whole qualifying session, I didn't have a lap in," Fittipaldi explained. "I was dead last, so it was very, very stressful. I got track limits and red flags here and there and you're like, 'oh my God, what am I going to do now?'

"Then in the last lap, I was like, let me give it everything I have and that was enough to put me in top 10, so that was good."

Looking ahead to the remainder of the Madrid weekend, Fittipaldi is aiming to capitalise on his strong grid position for both races.

Overtaking is set to be tricky according to the drivers, meaning that reverse grid pole potentially holds even more value around the Madring.

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The AIX driver isn't getting carried away however, and is focused on executing a clean weekend from here on out.

"Hoping for the best result possible. I don't want to add any extra pressure, just enjoy starting from the front row and do the best I can.

"I know that the team will give me the best car that they can do because the engineers have been working so hard this year and we've been working so much to try to develop and improve to be closer to the top teams. Finally, now we're getting there.

"I think it's going to happen mostly off the line, that's where most people are going to get their overtakes done. I'm in a pretty good position, I think, for tomorrow's race because it's a track where you really cannot overtake easily and it's very challenging.

"I'll just do the best race I can tomorrow and see where we finish."