as clutch problems in both races affected his results, but he still managed to score points…..
A 5th place finish in the first race was followed by a solitary point for 10th in the second race, which was quite amazing considering his clutch pedal collapsed on the grid and he started the race in last place.
Overall the strong pace that Max and the Carlin team have demonstrated in the earlier races this season wasn’t there this weekend around the tricky Rockingham venue. Max and his team mates all seemed to struggle with their cars’ handling at some point – never really finding the sweet spot set-up wise.
Friday’s practice sessions showed there was some work to do with Max only able to run just inside the top ten on lap times. Come qualifying on Saturday though, improvements had been found with Max now able to set the 5th and 6th fastest times in the two sessions.
“We have moved in the right direction for sure,” Max said after qualifying, “The gap is down to just a couple of tenths of a second now. It’s going to be hard in the races, I’ve just got to try and get as many points as I can.”
The first race brought further difficulties for him as a slipping clutch resulted in a slow getaway off the line and Max dropped down the order. He held on, struggling as most drivers were with the tyres going off, and managed to avoid making any mistakes to take 5th place at the chequered flag.
“That was one of the hardest races I’ve had.” He explained, “I lost a few places at the start as the clutch was slipping, then there were a couple of sections of the track where my car was not good at all. I had to change the way I drove the lap to minimise the chances of anyone getting past. The tyres had gone pretty early on and to be honest I feel pretty lucky to have finished as high as I did.”
The Carlin mechanics put in a new clutch for the second race, but the pedal gave way on the grid and Max was lucky to get away at all. He eventually managed to re-start with the car in gear and got away at the back of the field. Helped by a first lap incident and the subsequent safety car, he was up to 11th place when the race restarted. Still battling with an ill-handling car, Max couldn’t make any more progress through the field but benefited from another drivers retirement to come home in 10th place and picked up a point for his efforts.
“Obviously I’m not happy with the result, but when the car stalled on the grid and I got away last, I never imagined I could get in the points, so that was pretty lucky. It’s been our worse event of the year so far and hopefully that’s the low point. I don’t know why we’ve struggled here, but I’m sure we’ll get back to normal at Hockenheim. Some circuits just don’t suit my style or the car’s set-up or maybe it was something else. Whatever the reason I’ve got to look ahead to the next races and bounce back.”
Those next races will be at the Hockenheim Grand Prix circuit in Germany next weekend.
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