Thursday, 11 April 2024

This week, the 2023/24 F1 Sim Racing World Championship continued in Sweden. Debrief with our McLaren Shadow drivers Lucas Blakeley and Wilson Hughes, and Team Manager, Joel Chapman, after Round 4 and 5.

Critical info

You can catch up on all the action via the .

Round 4 – Silverstone Circuit

Round 5 – Circuit Spa-Francorchamps

“Day two was mixed for me. Qualifying was a bit tricky, I missed out on Q2 by four-thousandths of a second at Silverstone, which was a tough one but made it through for Spa despite struggling a little bit.

“Going into the races, we played a team game at Silverstone, so I did what I could to help Lucas by defending and trying to protect him from other cars. We gave it our best shot and although it didn’t quite play out how we wanted it to, I’m pleased we tried. For Spa, we decided to start on the Hards which worked very well as the race came to us with the fresh Mediums, it was a shame to just miss out on points when we were so close. It was great to see Lucas up there in P2 as well.

“I’m handing over to Dani for tomorrow’s races. I’m finishing my racing of Event 2 with two sets of points from four races, so I’m happy.”

Round 4 – Silverstone Circuit

Round 5 – Circuit Spa-Francorchamps

“Day two was mixed for me. Qualifying was a bit tricky, I missed out on Q2 by four-thousandths of a second at Silverstone, which was a tough one but made it through for Spa despite struggling a little bit.

“Going into the races, we played a team game at Silverstone, so I did what I could to help Lucas by defending and trying to protect him from other cars. We gave it our best shot and although it didn’t quite play out how we wanted it to, I’m pleased we tried. For Spa, we decided to start on the Hards which worked very well as the race came to us with the fresh Mediums, it was a shame to just miss out on points when we were so close. It was great to see Lucas up there in P2 as well.

“I’m handing over to Dani for tomorrow’s races. I’m finishing my racing of Event 2 with two sets of points from four races, so I’m happy.”

Joel Chapman, Team Manager, McLaren Racing, said:

“We walk away from day two with a podium and a good haul of points, something we can be really pleased with. Qualifying was a mixed bag across the team, Lucas made it into Q3 in both, securing good positions for the race. Wilson performed well and narrowly missed out on Q2 at Silverstone.

“We went with a bold strategy for Silverstone, where Wilson was an ultimate team player. We realised it was going to be difficult for him to get through the field, so he focused on protecting Lucas. A few things didn’t go Lucas’ way, which was unfortunate, but we’re still happy to have secured points in that race.

“Spa was a great race for us. Lucas moved up positions brilliantly, doing a fantastic job and overtaking at exactly the right times. The engineers got the strategy spot on for both drivers, evident in Lucas fighting for the win right until the end. It was a shame to just miss out on points with Wilson, but he can be proud of what he’s done.

“We now look to tomorrow for the final two circuits of the event. Dani will be joining Lucas and we’re all looking forward to seeing what they can do. We hope to leave the event in a strong position in the Constructors’ Championship.”