Edgar looking to steer clear of trouble and avoid ‘getting stuck in a big battle’ after incident packed Race 1

He may not be starting from pole like his initial finishing position suggested, but Jonny Edgar will be more than pleased with his post-Race 1 promotion, the Carlin Buzz driver saying he’s more focused on scoring points as opposed to going out-and-out for a first win.

Finishing 12th on track. Edgar was promoted to sixth after a series of post-race penalties, decisions that handed Edgar his first points since Race 2 in Barcelona and increased his total tally to 16.

The Briton will now start from seventh instead of first and believes it will be important to steer clear of trouble, after seeing Matteo Nannini and Clement Novalak crash from the lead in Race 1.

“Lap 1 will just be about getting through it as high as possible without any damage,” said Edgar. “After that, I will just try and stay as high as possible. If there is a chance to sit behind someone quick and get away from those behind me, then that could work well, as opposed to getting stuck into a huge battle.

“You can never predict what will happen. It would be nice to get a podium, but I do think it will be difficult because there are teams who I think will have more pace. I just want to do the best I can and score some more points.”

An increase of temperature from Qualifying on Friday resulted in greater tyre wear during the race, but that didn’t prevent Edgar, starting 18th, from making several moves, before benefitting from the collision at the front.

“I had quite a good first lap and a good restart after the virtual safety car,” Edgar continued. “I made up places where I could, and I was then just sat in a train where no one could really overtake.

“I was in P13 or P14 and just staying there because I knew with all of the battling at the front that something would go off and obviously, we saw the front two go off and that meant that I managed to get P12 on the track.

“With it being warmer, the tyres dropped off a little bit more than they did in Qualifying, but once you have gotten into the race, it’s similar for everyone. We all end up with the same pace with DRS, so everyone started to struggle a little bit at the end.”