Newly crowned GP3 Champion Alex Lynn, who secured the title after qualifying today, has reflected on his magnificent season and the stresses it presented. He also looks ahead to what the future may hold.
Carlin driver Lynn appeared to be relieved after clinching the title after qualifying. Speaking during the press conference he revealed how stressful this season really was.
“It’s such a stressful thing to try and win the title,” said Lynn. “You’re always under pressure and always trying to respond to everything. I’ve been working so hard all year and to be honest it does feel like a big relief to get it done.”
Lynn is now the fifth GP3 series champion following in the footsteps of previous champions like Esteban Gutierrez, Valtteri Bottas and Daniil Kvyat.
The young Brit is well aware of how coveted the championship is: “Everybody who has gone on to win this title has gone onto great careers,” said an elated Lynn. “It’s such a difficult series to win especially with the way the format works, it’s very tough. It takes an intelligent driver to win this and I think and hope that’s what I’ve shown this year.”
Lynn said he knew from early on that he was going to be in contention for the title as early pre-season testing at Estoril.
“Since Estoril when we were P1 I always felt that I was going in as the title favourite and I think a lot of the outsiders also saw me as someone who could be really fast and really hard to beat. It was right from the first moment that i knew that I needed to win.”
He may only be 21-years-old but Lynn remained calm when others tried to put pressure on his title charge. Lynn claims he and the team were never worried about other drivers challenging him, they just stuck to their plan.
“I always thought everything was clicking well. There were just different drivers who were quick at different points of the season. Jimmy Eriksson would go on a run, then Richie Stanaway would do the same and they started getting closer. Then one would fade away and a new rival would emerge or return.”
“My team and I really stuck to our plan of how we would win the title, which was by hitting a good average of points every weekend. We knew that the title had been won on a 22 point average in the past four years. We knew if we could make that a target for each round, we would be tough to beat. It’s a constant mind game, it was so tough.”
Looking ahead to the future Lynn is very clear about his aims which is to secure a drive at Toro Rosso. But he remains skeptical and has other options lined up as well.
“The best scenario for me would be to get the Toro Rosso drive in Formula 1, but ever increasingly, unfortunately, a small cog in a huge moving wheel goes around in terms of Red Bull and Formula 1. Things are very difficult but to be honest it’s very much in the air.”
“I do believe that in the next two to three weeks I will know for sure my future, once the F1 season is finished. It will be an interesting time but I have three or four options and if any of them come off, it will be amazing. I’m sure one of them will but until it’s done, it’s not done. Everything is looking good.”
