Arteixo (La Coruña), December 12 (EFE) of course”, for his return to Japan with the SuperGT.
At 31, the Benicassim driver discovered kartcross in the “Cathedral” of autocross, the José Ramón Losada de Arteixo circuit, in La Coruña, where he spoke to EFE “stuck in the mud, enjoying a different weekend.
It was his baptism on the lands of La Coruña, where he shared the stage with Álex Palou, IndyCar champion 2021 and McLaren reserve in F1 next year.
At Arteixo, his goal was to have a “good time” and “discover” a new experience after not being able to participate in 2021.
“They invited me last year, but I was in Australia and I couldn’t come. They invited me again this year and I said, ‘here’ I’m coming”, a- he confessed to EFE.
Said and done, he showed up at Arteixo and was one of the early risers to get behind the wheel of his car as soon as possible in a season in which he returned to F2 fleetingly but successfully, with a spectacular return to Austria. this lifted him to third on the podium, although he later experienced other problems.
“In F2, I did a few races, but very well, especially the first one. Then I had a bit more problems, but overall I felt pretty good,” he said.
In total, he contested six races for Campos Racing after also competing in the Japanese Super GT with an Audi R8. In 2023, we see it in the Asian country.
“Most likely I will go back to Japan to try to have a good season,” he said, referring to future challenges in a sport in which “seats” in Formula 1, 2 or Indy “are very expensive”.
“You have to try to do it well and find a good place to be,” said the man from Castellón, who drove in Formula 1 for Marussia in 2015 after being a reserve for Caterham a year earlier. He doesn’t miss this stage too much: “If I had a competition car, yes, but if not, no. In the end, you have to have a good car to be in front.”
A car like the one driven by Madrid’s Carlos Sainz, who won his first Formula 1 victory this season.
“Carlos has a car to fight for the podium in every race. He was unlucky this year, but he had good results, especially in qualifying,” he said.
Mehri predicted that in 2023 the battle will again be between Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, and felt that the German team “will be stronger” than in the campaign which has just ended, dominated by Dutchman Max Verstappen .
The grid for motorsport’s premier class has undergone changes such as that of Fernando Alonso, who will drive for Aston Martin after finishing his career at Alpine. He does not see the double Formula 1 champion still fighting to get on the podium in his new stage.
“It will take them a bit of time to reach the level because the car will be a bit far from the favourites. I don’t have a lot of uncertainty with Fernando, people assume that, but I already know what’s there. Obviously people expect him to make podiums, but the most realistic thing is to see him behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari,” Merhi said.
For him, “Aston Martin’s goal must be the fourth team, that’s why Fernando went there.”
At one of our metros in Palou en Arteixo, Mehri explained that the barcelonés “hizo una muy buena práctica libre y un buen trabajo” para McLaren esta temporada, lo que le ha servido para ser probador de l’equipo el próximo año, un rol que el valenciano vivió years ago.
Carlos Alberto Fernandez