Interview
Campos Team Manager hails squad's 'huge step' as Parra insists Teams' title is still achievable
After finishing bottom of the Teams’ Standings in 2023, Campos Racing Team Manager Gabriela Parra says to be in contention for the title this time around is a mark of how far they’ve progressed over the last 12 months.
The Spanish outfit have enjoyed much stronger form throughout the 2024 season, but they have the most work to do in the final two rounds out of the contenders. Holding P3 in the Teams’ Standings with 228 points to their name, they sit 59 points behind leaders PREMA Racing.
Assessing her squad’s performances across the five rounds so far, Parra acknowledged that their inconsistency at times has allowed them to fall back from their rivals.
“In summary, we have had ups and downs,” she reflected. “There have been races where we have been stronger than others. But overall, I think we have been doing steps forward every race weekend and that’s the direction we can keep going in the last two rounds that we have.
“What we are aiming for now is to keep putting points in the bag and then try to fight as much as we can for the Teams’ title. I’m pretty sure and pretty confident that it’s achievable and we will do our best to go for it.”
Campos’ charge has been led by Haas’ Chloe Chambers and Tommy Hilfiger driver Nerea Martí, who are both still in the hunt for a top-three finish in the Drivers’ Standings — the duo lie fourth and fifth respectively.
Totalling six podiums between them, the pair have secured three apiece — with Chambers achieving their only win of the year so far in Barcelona.
“I’m more than happy with the performance of both drivers,” said Parra. “I think they have grown up during the whole season. They are constantly developing their driving and they are growing up as drivers, and as professionals.
“I’m quite happy and quite confident that they will deliver everything that they have to get this (the top three).”
Although Campos are the most regular points scorers in the field, netting 25 top-10 finishes out of a possible 30 compared to PREMA’s 23 and Rodin’s 17, the size of their hauls has varied. A 71-point haul in Barcelona remains their best weekend to date, whilst their worst performing round saw them yield only 35 points.
Parra puts that discrepancy down to Campos’ one-lap pace, with only four top-three appearances in Qualifying — with three of those during Round 3 where they enjoyed a double podium in Race 1 and the win in Race 2.
“I think we need to be sharper in the Qualifying sessions because we know that the car we have is not a strong car for overtaking,” she admitted.
“We’re missing some overtaking manoeuvres pretty much every race, so we know that we need to prioritise and be sharper in Qualifying, which is going to give you a better chance to grab more points.
“We need to cover all areas — not only focusing on Qualifying as also race pace is important. But definitely our biggest input now is to improve our Qualifying positions because we know that it’s going to give us a higher chance to fight for the podium and the top step.”
Closing the 59-point deficit and bringing the Teams’ title home will be no easy feat for Campos, but Parra acknowledges that being in the position to fight for it is an achievement in itself given the disappointments they endured last year.
“We have much more competition than we had last year,” she reflected. “It’s much better to see that all the teams are growing, that we’re all moving forward and in good directions. It’s really fun that we have three teams still in play to get the top step.
“For us, it’s a huge step coming from last year to this year. Already to be where we are, it’s a huge step from what we did last year. Fighting and achieving the Teams’ title would be mega because everyone has put in a lot of effort and everything has been put in this direction to work on. We are just doing everything that we can and (give) all our best to see what we get.”