Single-seater returnee Richie Stanaway believes he is still well-placed for a GP3 title tilt despite admitting he currently lacks points leader Alex Lynn’s pace.
Red Bull protege Lynn has won both the non-reverse-grid races from pole so far this year, but having failed to score in the two Sunday races, he only has a 13-point lead over Jimmy Eriksson.
Stanaway is third in the standings, a further four points adrift, having scored in every race to date and taken two podium finishes.
He took fourth and third in last weekend’s two Austrian Grand Prix Formula 1 support races.
“I think with a fourth and a third place finish it’s not a disaster as we don’t have the pace,” said Stanaway.
“I think we’ve minimised the damage from not being quite quick enough.
“One-lap pace for qualifying is OK and we have the potential for being top three on qualifying pace.
“But we certainly don’t have the race pace.
“In Barcelona I was 10 seconds off in race one to Lynn so we need to work pretty hard before Silverstone and figure that out.”
Stanaway says the tendency for GP3 to come down to final-round deciders left him optimistic.
Last year’s champion Daniil Kvyat, who used his GP3 triumph as the springboard to a Toro Rosso F1 race seat, was only ninth in the standings after the opening four rounds of 2013, while ’11 champion and fellow current F1 star Valtteri Bottas was only 10th in the points at that season’s halfway point.
“It’s a long championship and as you see with GP3, the guy who wins the series is not always dominant from the first race,” said Stanaway.
“So I’m not really stressed. I’m sure we will figure it out and our time will come.
“I think we are scoring pretty good points taking all this into consideration so when we get better hopefully we’ll capitalise through the last two thirds of the series.”
Former Lotus F1 team junior Stanaway spent last season in sportscars with the factory Aston Martin team, and is continuing to dovetail his GP3 campaign with Aston GT outings this year.
