Interview
‘Maya did everything she needed to do’ – Blokhuis insists title fight is back on if Weug can recreate Zandvoort triumph in Singapore
Team Manager Wouter Blokhuis is convinced that MP Motorsport and Maya Weug are ‘stronger than ever’ after the team secured the first Grand Slam of the season at their home event on Sunday.
Snatching pole away from Alisha Palmowski at the last second, Weug found herself starting from P8 on the reverse grid Race 1. Despite Zandvoort’s reputation for being a difficult track to overtake on, the Ferrari driver disproved the theory, rocketing up to third.
Back in front for Race 2, she looked to be in a league of her own, comfortably taking the chequered flag 7.333s ahead of Palmowski — the second-largest winning margin in F1 ACADEMY history.
Crucially, the Dutch racer has sliced Doriane Pin’s advantage down from 37 to 20 points, despite the Mercedes driver being promoted to the podium following Ella Lloyd’s five-second time penalty.
Returning to winning ways, Blokhuis is convinced that Weug couldn’t have done more to get her season back on track.
“This weekend, Maya did everything she needed to do,” he explained. “She started Saturday from P8 with the reverse grid and managed to get on the podium, that was the target a little bit.
“Today she had a good start and was leading the race to the finish, so she maximised the points. A little bit of luck for Doriane that Ella got the penalty, so that was not to our benefit. We’ve closed the gap now to 20 points.
READ MORE: STANDOUT STARS: Who banked on Zandvoort success in Round 5?
“We’re looking forward and having full confidence for Singapore. That’s a track she really likes and if we can do the same in Singapore, then it will be game on in Las Vegas.”
Prior to the summer break, MP suffered a disastrous weekend in Montreal, where technical issues on Weug’s #64 car ruined any shot she had at securing a big points haul.
“For the team and for Maya it was an extremely disappointing weekend,” Blokhuis admitted. “Everybody was completely flabbergasted with what happened. Yeah. It was fully out of our control that made it even a bit worse, but I have the feeling it only made us stronger.
“We were in the position where we didn't have anything to lose, so you can take a little bit more risk and maximise everything and that's exactly what happened. So, I have the feeling it only made her stronger.”
Rookies Alba Larsen and Joanne Ciconte endured a less successful weekend at the Dutch circuit, with the Tommy Hilfiger driver only able to net two points in Race 2. Heading to Singapore only 20 points behind second-place Campos Racing in the Teams’ Standings, Blokhuis is hopeful that regardless of the challenges ahead, Weug can spur them on to another trophy-filled weekend.
“It's going to be a difficult weekend,” he said. “If it will be the toughest, I don't know because I have the feeling Las Vegas will be a bit more complicated. We need to do good preparation on the sim for Singapore.
“It will be difficult weekend for Joanne and Alba. With Alba, she showed that she can be quite quick on pace and for Joanne, let's see how it goes. It will not be easy for them but let’s see. For Maya, she knows the track and she was quick there last year, so from that point of view, we go with full confidence to Singapore.”