The Hungarian GP was a memorable one for Tuukka Taponen, who scored his first-ever podium of the season. But his eyes are already on the next target, a win in Monza.
The ART Grand Prix driver did not show pace at the start of the weekend in Free Practice. But he shook up the order in Qualifying to land in P3 among the top Championship contenders. In the end, he managed to maintain his position throughout a wet, hectic race to come home in third.
This was a happy feat for Taponen and ART, who have struggled this season with pace in Qualifying. But managing to land a P3 start and convert it into a podium was an exceptional milestone for Taponen and the team.
A long-awaited result for Taponen
Speaking to FIA media, the Ferrari Academy driver shared his thoughts on the upward shift in performance. “Obviously, I need to be happy for that, but I’m not celebrating massively because I knew it’s been there waiting for me”, he said. “And I have had a couple of P4’s this year earlier on, so it’s not a surprise, I would say, but happy to have finally podium on Sunday as well.”
He went on to explain that his experience in the car was actually quite difficult. “I didn’t really have the pace. I managed to hold them behind, but it was never easy,” said the driver. “At some point, I was starting to think that we were going to need to do a pit stop, because it started to be sunny, and I started to see some dry spots on the track”. Adding, “But anyway, slicks were never quicker than the wet tyres. So luckily, the conditions were not as bad as in Spa, and we were able to drive this as a proper wet race.”
The tyre-management hurdle
Taponen continued, elaborating on the lack of surprise toward the result. The pace, he says, has always been there, but the challenge of tyre management, in qualifying particularly, has been their main roadblock.
“We have done a decent job to be able to qualify well, and that helps obviously for the race. The only problem the last couple of weekends has been being able to put the lap in on the last set of tyres in qualifying.“
He further emphasised the significance of tyre management to performance, stating, “The last set of tyres matters so much in this Championship, because you get a better track, you get less fuel, so you always improve the lap time. You also get a better feeling with the car as a driver.”
“So last three weekends, I have not been able to complete that last push, and that’s why the qualifying result has been so bad”, he said, explaining the team’s biggest challenge most recently. “This weekend, I managed to do it, and that P3 is completely where we should be. And again, that’s not a surprise”, he said, adding, “It might look like a surprise because the last few weekends have been very bad, but we know clearly what the issue has been.
On to the next
Needless to say, Taponen and the team will be breathing a sigh of relief after victoriously surmounting their biggest challenge. Moving on to Monza, they will need to do the same to end the season strong.
Taponen explained his strategy going into the last race of the season. His main focus is on track position in Qualifying to capitalise on a slipstream. “We are gonna need to keep in mind Monza is probably going to be a big mess with finding good track position for Qualifying. No one who wants to lead the back and go alone, because if you go alone, it’s just very difficult to get pole position or even a top five.“
Despite achieving a milestone, the driver already has his sights set on a win at the next race. “Winning the Feature Race is our target. Now we had the podium, and we will try and do the job in qualifying again, put the car as high as possible, and then we’ll see on Sunday how it goes.”
