‘I was a bit annoyed at myself’ – Weug reflects on ‘stressful’ wait for pole in Singapore

It was worth the wait for Maya Weug as the Ferrari driver held firm to claim pole position in the nighttime Qualifying session in Singapore.

Trading fastest laps with Doriane Pin and Chloe Chambers, Weug posted a 2:03.453 in the closing minutes of running to deny her title rivals by 0.042s and 0.189s, respectively. Despite that, the 21-year-old admits her best effort around the Marina Bay Street Circuit was less than perfect.

“It was tough,” said Weug reflecting on her session. “It was definitely not an easy Qualifying. It’s Singapore, there are close walls everywhere. We saw how tricky it was to put a lap together and in the end, I made quite a few mistakes.

“It’s about just making the mistakes as small as possible in your lap and we got the pole in the end. I’m super happy, keeping that momentum from Zandvoort. I’m just looking forward to the race tomorrow, it will be tricky to overtake.”

It was a nervous few minutes when the chequered flag fell as MP Motorsport held their breaths to see if Doriane Pin’s final attempt would be enough to deprive Weug of pole. Reflecting on the wait, she acknowledged that she could have put herself in a more comfortable position heading into those all-important final flying laps.

“I touched the wall on the last push,” explained Weug. “I had a green Sector 1 and then touched the wall in Sector 2, I was a bit annoyed at myself. Then when I crossed the line, there was silence on the radio until Turn 5.

“I was like ‘guys please let me know’ and it was still another minute that I didn’t know if I had pole or not. It was quite stressful! In the end, we got it and I’m a bit harsh on myself because I know I could have made my life easier. That’s the goal, we achieved it today and we go on for tomorrow and Sunday.”

READ MORE: QUALIFYING: Weug masters Singapore streets to seal crucial back-to-back pole positions

Lining up P8 for tomorrow’s reverse grid race, Weug has already proved her overtaking chops on Saturdays past. Whilst last time out in Zandvoort saw her execute a storming performance from P8 to the podium, the Dutch racer believes it’s unlikely she’ll be able to replicate the feat in Singapore.

“It’s really tricky to follow,” she said. “I think my biggest chance will be managing the tyres better than the others and try to make up places towards the end. Especially the start, where I can just make sure that I have a good start and make up places. Be aggressive at the beginning and manage tyres to clear up a bit at the end and then go for the fastest lap.”