McLaren protege Stoffel Vandoorne says it feels weird not to be on pole position after he was beaten in yesterday’s GP2 qualifying session at Silverstone by Rapax driver Sergey Sirotkin.
The Belgian, who is currently 76 points clear of Alexander Rossi in the championship, isn’t too worried about missing out on pole for only the second time this season as he is hoping to make an instant recovery in the race.
“I don’t think second is that bad a result,” said Vandoorne. “After Monaco it’s my second worst result of the season, so I can’t complain too much!
“It does feel a bit weird not to be on pole, but second is a really good result too.
“We did a good job today: we’re on the front row, and in GP2 anything is possible, so if we have a good start and are leading the race, it should be okay!”
Vandoorne also said he is aiming to ‘nail the start’ and take the lead as quick as possible to capitalise on Sirotkin’s lack of experience at Silverstone.
“First of all we need a good start to put myself in a good position, and then we’ll see,” said Vandoorne.
“If I can lead that’s the best thing that can happen – I just need to nail the start – and we’ll see what happens after that.
“I’ve got experience from the race here last year, Sergey doesn’t, so it’s definitely an advantage for us, and tyres are quite tricky around here.”
