Manor F1 development driver Jordan King says he is relishing the chance to compete in his home race at Silverstone this weekend and is hoping to give the British fans something to cheer about.
King’s rookie GP2 season started out with great promise following a strong fourth place in Bahrain but the results haven’t followed since, despite showing strong pace at times – which included picking up the fastest lap in Austria.
The 21-year-old Racing Engineering driver is hoping he can change his fortunes this weekend and pick up a podium in front of a home crowd at Silverstone – a venue he has visited numerous times to watch the Formula 1.
“I have been to Silverstone for the Formula One weekend for the past four or five years now so to finally be driving on the weekend is a bit surreal,” said King.
“I am really looking forward to driving there as the fans always show some great support and it has a great atmosphere.”
King is hoping to use this atmosphere at Silverstone to push him on to his first GP2 podium which he feels is a realistic possibility.
“Everything has been going well and my speed is very good, so I feel it is just a matter of time until I get my first podium,” said King.
“I do think that realistically a podium is possible at Silverstone and I feel we can start to challenge for wins and podiums consistently.”
Once again tyre management will be the key to picking up a strong result and King is well aware of this, especially with the high speed challenge that Silverstone poses.
“I think the biggest thing for Silverstone, as it always in with GP2, is the tyre management; with the high speed corners and a lot of traction zones it will make for some high tyre wear,” added King.
“Even though qualifying is very important as always I think you will be able to overtake there as we have two DRS zones coupled with some heavy breaking zones.”
