Arthur Pic rebounded from a disappointing GP2 Series curtain-raiser to tally a top ten double and his first points finish of the 2016 campaign with a gritty effort around the tortuous streets of Monaco this weekend (May 26-28).
After showing well with the fourth-quickest lap time in free practice for Italian outfit Rapax Team, an under-the-weather Pic wound up 11th amongst the 22 high-calibre contenders at the end of a closely-fought qualifying session in the FIA’s official Formula 1 feeder series.
Beginning the Feature Race on the super-soft Pirelli tyres, the Frenchman conceded some early ground before diving for the pits on lap eight to switch to the more durable soft-compound rubber. The stop relegated him to the foot of the top 20, but in an encounter that was disrupted by several Virtual Safety Car periods to clear up crashed cars, he maturely stayed out of trouble to flash across the finish line in 11th – a position that would subsequently become tenth following a penalty ahead.
Buoyed by his first points score of the season, Pic immediately advanced a spot to ninth in Saturday’s shorter Sprint Race. Showcasing his raw speed by posting a new fastest lap, he set his sights on a multi-car squabble over sixth comprising of Friday’s podium-finishers Norman Nato, Oliver Rowland and Artem Markelov.
Pic was the quickest on the track again midway through, pulling well away from the pack behind as he hassled Markelov for the final points-paying position. Despite reducing the gap to less than half-a-second with two laps remaining, he was unable to find a way past around a tight-and-twisty street circuit at which overtaking is all-but impossible.
“It was a complicated weekend,” reflected Pic. “I picked up a stomach bug on Wednesday that left me feeling weak at times, although I don’t think that massively affected my driving. We were on the pace in practice, but between then and qualifying, we didn’t find the extra grip that others did – whilst everybody else improved by about a second, we were struggling to gain even three tenths.
“Unfortunately, in Monaco, the story is always the same – if you don’t start on the front two or three rows of the grid, you’re in for a long race and with the number of Virtual Safety Cars there were, I don’t think we were on the optimum strategy on Friday. Even if our speed was not phenomenal, we had nothing to be ashamed of compared to those who finished in the top six or seven – it was just that we started further back. Although it obviously isn’t enough, to score our first point of the season was a positive.
“On Saturday, I had quite a good start and tried to take the points for fastest lap. I held it for a while so our pace was a bit better, but in Monaco you simply cannot overtake which meant that having been ninth on lap one, we were still ninth at the end of the race!
“Baku is next, and it’s a brand new track for everybody. From what we have seen, it looks quite spectacular with a long main straight and a very tight section in the old town, so I am looking forward to it and will do some simulator work in preparation. The season is long, and I don’t think it will be like last year when one driver ran away with the championship. It will be far more open, so if we score big points in Baku, we will soon be back in the mix.”
