‘Not what I’m here for’ – Felbermayr insists she can contend for podiums after P5 finish in Shanghai

Netting a top-five finish in your first F1 ACADEMY weekend might be a good day in the office for some, but Emma Felbermayr believes more should have been possible in Race 2 in Shanghai.

Felbermayr quickly dispatched Joanne Ciconte following the rolling start for fifth and fended off an attack from Nina Gademan. The Kick Sauber driver spent the next eight laps staring at Alisha Palmowski’s rear wing, until a gutsy move saw her go side by side with the Red Bull Racing driver to snatch P5.

Labelling it as a ‘decent debut’, Felbermayr said: “Definitely not what I’m here for because the testing went quite well and I expected more. But I think overall it was the maximum of the race.

“If I would have been faster to overtake Palmowski, maybe I could have caught up with Alba (Larsen), but also the Safety Car at the beginning wasn’t ideal for that.”

Her 10-point haul comes off the back of a frustrating Race 1 which saw Felbermayr drop back from her front row start on the reverse grid. Slipping down to P6, she defended the place from Larsen before contact between the pair on the penultimate lap cost her a points finish.

As one of seven drivers racing in their first F1 ACADEMY weekend, Felbermayr acknowledged the difficulty her inexperience posed — namely shifting her mindset and approach from karting to her first single-seater season.

“A big change to testing was the track with the grip from Formula 1,” she explained. “The whole situation was different. I didn’t have a lot of testing before Qualifying, which I also have to get used to.

READ MORE: RACE 2: Pin charges to dominant victory in Shanghai ahead of Weug

“Qualifying went not so well for my expectations, but overall it was still solid. Then the first race was just a shame, but it was my mistake to be so far back after starting from P2. When you’re in the back it’s always dangerous. It’s a shame that I got pushed out.”

She added: “I learnt a lot this weekend. From karting I know I have to be as aggressive as I can and now, I have to calm down more sometimes. That’s the biggest areas I learnt and I need to improve.”

Felbermayr will have a chance to embed those lessons before she gets back on track, with three days of testing at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit ahead of Round 2’s appearance there. Ready to take on the demanding street circuit, the Austrian racer believes she has the potential to fight towards the podium.

READ MORE: 'We nailed it' - Pin thrilled to cap off Shanghai weekend with dominant Race 2 victory

“Jeddah is a completely different track (to Shanghai),” she noted. “Looking forward to drive on new types of track. I think testing in Jeddah will be really important because it’s a different track with a different layout and the walls are coming closer and closer. So, I think it takes more to see where the limit is.”

She concluded: “I hope for even better than the top-five. We’re here to drive in the top-three and I think the speed is not too bad for that.”