Mansell aiming to maximise Trident pace after top 10 in Qualifying on F2 debut

Christian Mansell was overjoyed to have finished his first Formula 2 Qualifying session in the top 10 and is set to start on reverse grid Pole for the Baku Sprint Race.
The Trident driver capped off a great day for the Italian outfit as teammate Richard Verschoor nailed his lap to secure outright Pole Position for Sunday’s Feature Race.
Speaking after stepping out of the car, Mansell says he was pleased to have given the team such a strong result at the first time of asking around a brand new circuit for him in Baku.
“Pretty outstanding I have to admit. I’m just very speechless to be honest. I’ve never been so excited for P10 in my entire life. It’s such a positive start to my F2 campaign and I can’t thank the boys and girls at Trident for giving Richard and I a great car today.
“He’s on Feature Race pole and that shows the potential of this car, and I’m really happy to be part of this organisation, it’s really cool.”
Mansell made the step up from Formula 3 after finishing the campaign fifth in the Championship but has not had much time in terms of preparation for this weekend.
READ MORE: QUALIFYING: Verschoor narrowly beats Antonelli to take Pole Position in Baku
He says he has been able to lean on teammate Verschoor for some words of wisdom that appear to have paid off after the duo’s Qualifying performances.
“He’s been helpful to be honest, been supportive, said about doing certain things ‘do this, don’t do this, that won’t work,’ stuff like that because he’s a very experienced driver in Formula 2.
“He’s kind of the perfect teammate for me at the moment. I’ve learned a lot from him and a lot from the team, so it’s been an amazing day.”
Diving into the lap itself, Mansell believes that he even had more time left of the table but had to balance any overexuberance with securing a strong result for the weekend going forward.
The Australian driver says that it could come with more F2 experience, but he was hardly dissatisfied with his first Qualifying effort in what is a new car for him.
“Sketchy! I still felt like I had a little bit left but I couldn’t extract it because my brain was saying no. I still don’t have the experience and there’s a few things I look back on in the lap and say ‘ah I could’ve done this or this,’ but that’s just part of the learning process. I’m already on the pace so hopefully I can do an even better job next time.”
Turning his attentions onto the race on Saturday, Mansell believes that it will be more important to build up experience in the F2 car over any specific result.
While he would of course love to secure a maiden victory at the first time of asking, he took the pragmatic view that maximising his and the car’s speed would be more beneficial in the longer run, and added that Sunday’s longer Feature Race would be much the same.
“Whatever happens, I’m not too fussed. I’m here to get the maximum out of myself and the car. Whether that’s P1, P2, P10, or P20 – I’m not going to go into tomorrow thinking I’m going to win or obsessing over it. I’m just going to let whatever happens happen, and I think that’s probably the healthiest approach you can have.
“It’ll be the same on Sunday. Try and score points and maximise the package. It’s obviously a very strong car around this circuit and I’ll have had a bit more time to think about stuff. I hope I can do a good result for the team and myself.”