Lynn hoping to be in F1 frame

31 July 2015 03:31

Alex Lynn is hoping his maiden feature race win in GP2 has come at the perfect time to land him a Formula One seat in 2016.

The 21-year-old Briton won in Hungary on Sunday as he continues to impress in his maiden season in the sport, with the Williams development driver now a definite contender for an F1 drive next year.

Racing for DAMS, Lynn won from pole at the Hungaroring and - with the sport now entering its mid-season break - he hopes to be in the forefront of the minds of those making decisions on their driver line-ups, with a seat at Williams a possibility if current incumbent Valtteri Bottas signs for Ferrari.

"Short term the win is obviously a great way to go in to the summer break," he told Press Association Sport.

"We delivered the promise I think we have been intending to show for quite some time. That is a big coup going into the break and hopefully it will be a good springboard going into the rest of the season.

"Long-term it was a big statement from me in my first year in GP2 to get my first feature race win, it is not an easy thing to do and hopefully the powers that be will see that.

"It has been well-documented what is potentially going on with the driver market so at the end of the day I have put my name in the hat with that win in Hungary, it was good timing for that kind of thing.

"The driver market seems to open up in the summer break so I think it will definitely put me in the frame. It was perfect timing really."

Claire Williams, the deputy team principal of Williams, has said Lynn possesses all the ingredients needed to make it to F1 - but the 2014 GP3 champion is taking nothing for granted.

"It is obviously a great honour hearing someone like Claire say nice things about me," he said.

"It is important to keep my feet on the ground and keep delivering - at the end of the day that is the only thing that is going to get me into a Formula One car."

The F1 race in Hungary was undoubtedly one of the most entertaining in recent years and, with 21-year-old Daniil Kvyat becoming the second-youngest driver ever to stand on an F1 podium and 17-year-old Max Verstappen taking fourth place, Lynn wants to be part of the new breed of Formula One talent.

"The next generation are coming," he added.

"That is sport in general but the old guard always moves on and the young guns always come on. It is happening in Formula One and hopefully it will carry on to be honest.

"Formula One is always in need of excitement and coupled with some crazy young drivers coming in and some new rules spices things up and gives people something to talk about. That is what the sport is about, a lot of excitement, and hopefully it can get to that stage."

Source: PA