We left behind a tough weekend in Jerez. Not the kind of GP to be framed, but one that forces you to grit your teeth, work hard and, in the end, even bring something good home. Results don’t always tell the whole story, and this time they did.

From the very first free practice we had to chase. The bike was nervous, I was struggling to find feeling especially in the time attack. I tried to force it but every time something went wrong: traffic, yellow flags, not ideal conditions. In the end we were very close to getting directly into Q2 – we are talking about a tenth short – but the fact that we were playing it is already a small sign. The work done in the pit was intense, although not everything went in the direction we hoped.

Saturday’s qualifying was painful but I finally made it through Q1. This is never easy. In Q2, 11th place is not the best, but at least it allowed us to get a decent start in the Sprint. And it was in the Sprint that I found a good feeling again. I got a good start, had fun in the tussle and finished eighth . The pace was there, the head too. It was a mini-race that made me realize that, despite everything, we were going in the right direction.

The long race was the real chance to pick up something concrete. Unfortunately, on the second lap I made a mistake in braking at the first corner and ended up long in the gravel. From there on it was an all uphill comeback. The pace was strong but starting practically from scratch is unforgiving.

Finishing 14th after that kind of mistake hurts, no use getting around it. But there’s also a bright side: this time we weren’t far behind because of a lack of rhythm, but only because of an episode. And that changes so much, because it means we can be up there in front.

On Monday, we have testing ahead of us. They will be crucial to understand what we can really improve, especially in qualifying where we still struggle. The goal always remains the same: to grow step by step. Sometimes we succeed right away, sometimes we don’t. But consistency, that, we don’t lack.