Montreal, Quebec – His 2015 professional racing debut included turning laps during a wet qualifying session on a tricky race track with a new tire, new team and 38 cars around him. Despite the challenges, Max Mällinen underscored his outright pace as part of the F1600 support races during the Formula 1 weekend in Montreal.
“Even with the first session being qualy in the heavy rain, I felt as though I adapted quite quickly to the Canadian Toyo tires and overall, had no troubles jumping back into the seat” said Mällinen. His ride for the weekend was yet another variant of the F1600 car Mällinen has raced with much success, including multiple U.S. SCCA Majors victories in 2014 leading to a scholarship opportunity to race in Australia.
Strapping in as part of a three-car Exclusive Autosport assault on one of most iconic Formula F races to take place each year, track time was limited for the 17-year-old with the cars rolling out immediately for Friday qualifying.
His first time back in a car since November, Mällinen qualified eighth in the rain.
“I had ran the track on a simulator, mentally, and with my engineer previous to the first lap, but never in the rain. That changed things. But with a change of line, throttle and brake points on the track, I was began to turn quick laps early into the session” Mällinen added.
A day later, the field would take the green flag in dry conditions, meaning it would be Mällinen’s first time on the Toyo Tires in the dry. He wouldn’t see the checkered flag, with the right rear of his No. 91 Spectrum/Honda making contact with the wall early in the race.
“It was simply me trying to carry too much speed into a corner I didn’t truly know yet. But I learned from it and was prepared to fight back on Sunday”
With Sunday morning’s race set on fast lap times from Saturday’s, Mällinen was still 16th on the grid based on his two completed laps in the prior race.
This race wouldn’t go green all the way, with other drivers causing crashes on the start and in return, an extended safety car period – thus limiting any opportunity to advance.
Yet, despite the limited green-flag running, Mällinen passed five cars, finishing 11th to complete his double-header weekend, with the Sunday morning race being run in relatively full grand-stands around Montreal’s world-class Formula 1 circuit.
“Although they weren’t the results I was looking for, I’m quite happy with the weekend as a whole. It was a new experience for me as a driver, with extremely limited track time and multiple new aspects such as the team and tires. Because of that, I feel accomplished with the weekend and am excited about the rest of the season.” Mällinen said.