Interview
‘It’s all starting to align’ – Hausmann heralds ‘positive step forward’ as she claims Jeddah points haul
After a fruitless outing in Round 1, Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann claimed a stellar double points finish in Jeddah to propel her up to seventh in the Standings.
Shanghai was a weekend to forget for the 18-year-old as she got caught up in two incidents, receiving a 10-second penalty for the one in Race 2 as she collided with Nina Gademan during an attempted overtake.
Hausmann quickly reset and qualified in P6 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, giving her a useful position to chase down her first points of the season – she maintained her spot across the round to leave with 11 points overall.
“I think it’s been a really positive step forward, made good progress and bounced back from last weekend,” she summarised. “I think I’m happy – we took some good points with us, showed some great pace so lots of positives to take away.
“(We have a) good base to work from towards the future, especially in Miami. We know the track and we know we can be fast there so we keep working, we try to improve what needs more steps and keep doing well what we are doing well at the moment.
“I really enjoyed this weekend. It’s been very tricky with the temperature – we’ve all struggled a lot but the team did an amazing job. Taking the confidence from this weekend but the focus has already shifted.”
As one of the grid’s second-year drivers, Hausmann has previously competed at both Jeddah and Miami, giving her an advantage when it comes to understanding the nature of the circuits.
Nevertheless, the Swiss racer explained that she took a more cautious approach in Race 2 in order to avoid a repeat of Shanghai, emphasising her long-term plan for the season.
She said: “I think we had a really strong start, didn’t take too much risk into Turn 1 because I knew we had to finish the race. I think for sure if we had a bit more pace, I was able to fight with the three cars in front, so Alba (Larsen), (Alisha) Palmowski and Doriane (Pin).
“Just not quite enough pace – I think two or three tenths would have been enough to be fighting for the podium. I’m taking it step by step, I focus on the positives and it’s all starting to align. I think we need some patience, keep making good steps forward and the results will come even better than they are now.”