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"As we prepare for the second round of the season, I’ve spent a bit of time reflecting on the incredible journey we've had so far. Over the winter I went back home to New Zealand but remained focused on the task ahead: I’ve put in countless hours in the simulator and at the gym, ensuring I'm physically and mentally prepared for the challenges this year will bring. The hard work has paid off, and I'm feeling more ready than ever.
The first round came straight out of the blocks with its own set of challenges but I’d expect nothing less for my debut race weekend in theF3 Championship. Our pace was impressive, and we had the potential to secure atop three position in qualifying but unfortunately red flags disrupted our momentum, and that put us on the backfoot for the rest of the weekend. That said, we still took away valuable lessons from the weekend and I think despite some of the setbacks we have so many positives to take away… with a bit of luck, the weekend could have turned out very differently. A cliché which sounds straight out of the racing driver book of excuses, but it’s true.
Driving the new car has been an amazing experience. It's a nice jump forward from the previous generation, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the improvements. Racing so close to home was a special highlight for me because I was able to have my family there and it made such a difference to see so many New Zealand flags and fans in the crowd.
Being on a similar time zone to everyone who has supported me over the years from Rodin Cars was great. I’ve had such unwavering support from David and the Rodin team, I genuinely feel like part of the family. Having both David and Emma trackside with me for the first round felt great too. Absolutely none of my achievements would be possible without them and I’m in such a special position of chasing my dream to become an F1 World Champion because of them.
Oh and don’t even get me started on how cool that fan zone was. Yeah, the whole weekend was pretty awesome to be honest!
And now we gear up for round two! In all honesty, preparations remain the same as they have always been regardless of the championship that I’m competing in – sim, gym, sim, gym; the foundations of a good season. I’ve been working with my engineer and picking apart everything we possibly can from the opening race weekend but also from our pre-season testing where we were particularly promising. I really think we’re in a good place to maximise the performance of the car, we know we have a good base line that we’re working with and in general, as a team, we are working so well together. Full steam ahead."
