Martí optimistic Qualifying tyre strategy can pay off in fight for victory

Nerea Martí already had one eye on the races during Qualifying and she’s hoping her gamble to save one set of tyres gives her a leg up on the rest of the field going forward this weekend.

Despite putting in 10 laps on one set of tyres, Martí continued to improve throughout the session all the way to the chequered flag. Lining up in P4 for Race 1 and P5 for Race 2 in Jeddah, the Tommy Hilfiger driver is satisfied that her performance puts her in the hunt for victory across both races.

“I’m happy because I’m P4 anyways and we have one set of new tyres for the race,” she said. “We need to check and see if we put them on for Race 1 or Race 2, but let’s see what we can do. Obviously, I want more, I want to not be in P4, I want to be on top. I can improve my driving, so we will put everything together and let’s see if we can be on the podium.

“It depends on the strategy and the new tyres, but obviously the plan is to be on top and to be on the podium in both races. So, I’m going to push a lot to be there.”

Each driver has three sets of medium tyres to play with across the weekend. In contrast to most of the field, the trio of Campos Racing cars waited in the pits until 12 minutes into the session. For the Spaniard, it was all about prioritising the points available in the races as she chose to save a fresh set of tyres for Friday and Saturday instead.

READ MORE: QUALIFYING: Pin untouchable with double pole position in Jeddah

“We put just one set of new tyres on, so the other drivers used two sets,” Martí explained. “The strategy was really firm because when the girls put on the second set of new tyres, they improved a lot.

“The problem was the time was really tight in Quali because we had just 30 minutes. There were drivers that were on another strategy. I don’t know if it is better or not because the points are in the races and that’s what’s important, so we need to put everything into them. On my part, I need to keep working, keep improving on my driving and then, with the team, we will decide what we do with the tyres for the races.”