Pulling and Al Qubaisi looking forward to first qualifying sessions at the Red Bull Ring

Hamda Al Qubaisi and Abbi Pulling are both feeling confident ahead of qualifying later this afternoon after topping the two Free Practice Sessions this morning.

MP Motorsport driver Al Qubaisi has been working her way back into full fitness after an arm injury hindered her pre-season testing plans, and today she was happy to show how her improvement is coming along:

“I still struggle a bit with my arm, but it is good to still be on top and it shows that I can improve even more. I’m really looking forward to quali and Hopefully I can do the same kind of performance!”

The weather played a large factor in the Free Practice sessions with morning, with both Pulling and Qubaisi commenting on how the cold weather gave them something to think aboutf for qualifying. Al Qubaisi said: “It was a bit colder this morning compared to what we ran yesterday, but it was a good learning experience and definitely good for quali.

“(During the session) We went out behind each other as a team and yeah it was really good. I feel like the pace has been getting better and better as well and we built well off of yesterday, trying to fine tune on the track and find those last few tenths."

Rodin Carlin driver Pulling was delighted to finish at the front of the pack after the first Free Practice as she set herself up in the best possible way for qualifying, while still knowing there were chances to improve:

“Yeah it is definitely a positive to finish P1 in the first test of the day just before qualifying. I’m never satisfied though and I think there was still some in it – I didn’t quite put it all together, it was a very cold session and there were a number of mistakes through the lap. I’ve just got to put it all together and see what I can do.”

Qualifying 1 starts at 15:10 local time (GMT+2) with Qualifying 2 shortly after at 15:30.