‘I would love to be on pole’ as Nael sets sights on being ready for Barcelona races

Théophile Nael led a Campos Racing 1-2-3 in Barcelona Free Practice and while he would love to do the same in Qualifying, his main focus is to be ready for this weekend’s races.

The French driver’s 1:28.422 was the fastest time of the session, leading teammate Ugo Ugochukwu by over two-tenths with Ernesto Rivera in third.

Speaking at the end of the session, Nael said: “I am quite happy, the pace was there since the first push obviously.

“The car felt good, the grip was really low but I think that was for everyone, the track was completely green. So I expect a big step for quali in terms of grip in general.

“It’s a good start of the weekend and I'm looking forward to quali later.”

Nael has taken the Aramco Pole Position Award in each of the opening two rounds in Melbourne and Monte Carlo, and while he would love to make it three from three, he is a bigger goal on his mind this weekend.

“I would love to be in pole today but let's see, because it’s not the main objective,” he said. “The main objective is to be at the top and to be well positioned for the Feature Race on Sunday.

“I think I'm not going to touch a lot the car to be honest because the pace is looking strong. Since Monaco I’ve been feeling really good since the restart of the season, so I am looking forward to this quali.”

For Nael, there could be one issue affecting them as a team in qualifying with their pit location putting them at risk of a Red Flag.

“It looks good,” continued Nael. “But maybe we were a bit at an advantage about the pit lane allocation for Free Practice because the grip improved during the session quite a lot.

“But the track should improve, and it could be hotter but also the the pit allocation. If the track is going to improve, hopefully we don't have any Red Flags for quali so then we are safe to make some clean laps for quali.”