Martinius Stenshorne says he got the maximum out of himself and his Hitech TGR car in Spa-Francorchamps Qualifying to earn fifth place on the grid.
The Norwegian driver says the session was a difficult one to handle with traffic and the preference of a slipstream made getting a clean run in far less straightforward than usual.
Speaking afterwards in the paddock, Stenshorne says the team did a good job in managing things during what was a hectic session around the longest lap on the calendar.
“It was typical Spa last push lap, everyone wants the draft. It was a good Qualifying overall. I think we were already competitive from Practice, we were P2, so it was good.
“After the first lap as well in Qualifying, the cooldown lap after was quite chaotic but in the end, we managed to get a good position there as well, but the tyre just wasn’t there anymore.
“It was a bit of a combination of both track position – which is important here. You can gain quite a bit of time in sector one and three, especially from the tow and not being too close to lose time when we get into sector two. But then you also need to do the job if you have a tow or not.”
Reflecting further upon his result, the McLaren Development Driver says that he was able to extract the maximum from his session, but that the team would still have to keep on top of conditions come rain or shine tomorrow.
“I’m quite happy with the result. I didn’t have too much more to be honest. But there are some things to fine tune. Tomorrow is the first race, so completely different scenario for the car perspective. But happy overall with P5 in this session.
“Tomorrow looks okay but then Sunday I think there might be a bit more rain. So, we will have to see, it’ll be the same for everyone, you just have to be on the right tyres.
Looking at his season overall, Stenshorne says that recent races have brought a step forward in terms of consistency after Hitech were able to find a detail that has improved their performance in the races.
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He will be hoping their pace from Spielberg in particular carries over into the races at Spa after a charge through the pack that ultimately led to his second race victory of 2025.
“I’m happy because at the beginning of the season we were struggling with qualifying and race pace. In Barcelona we were quite poor in the races, to be honest, but from Red Bull Ring, we found some stuff which has worked quite well.
“So we got a very good picture there and were good in the dry at Silverstone as well. I hope I can continue this momentum here as well.
“It’s going to be interesting. It’s a long run to Turn 5, so it’s going to be about getting the right slipstream which is not always so easy. Anything can happen here, and starting from P7, let’s see what happens.”