McLaren star Hughes explains mindset shift with new "achievable" goal on radar
McLaren's Jake Hughes has confessed a race win could be possible in his debut season after shifting his goals for the year.
The English star arrived on the grid as a main driver for the first time this season, as the sport shifts to its Gen3 era, and has quickly made his mark in a new-look team. McLaren took over the Mercedes EQ outfit and have looked to pick up where they left off with some impressive finishes despite the mass changes.
Hughes has led the team well, registering his first pole position in just his third race in Saudi Arabia as well as coming home with two top five finishes. The 28-year-old is far from a household name on the grid, but firmly believes he belongs amongst the sport's elite with a race win now on his radar.
He told Mirror Sport: "I do (think a win is possible), just from a sheer belief point of view and how we operate as a team. In our previous team it was very successful and now we're in different goalposts as a customer team, but from a glass half full point of view - there's so much potential that we don't know with the Gen 3 car.
"If there's any team that can unearth that quicker than others, our team is right at the top of that list so I have the confidence we can go out and achieve that (a win)."
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Hughes also added: "I'm a very confident guy in general. I wouldn't have been saying what I was saying before the season started if I didn't feel like I belonged here and was good enough for this level. Obviously the initial part of the season has, to an extent, backed that up.
The McLaren star has already taken his first pole and is now eyeing a race win"The level here is extremely high - I'm confident that I'm on that level, if not above it - but I was sort of in the back of my mind if I could score solid points in the opening races then that would be a solid start, but to be qualifying where I am and to have two top fives has potentially moved my mindset a little bit into what could be achievable."
Hughes had never taken part in a Formula E race prior to this season. The switch to Gen3, which has also seen a new race format introduced, has forced the field to adapt to new variables, but the McLaren star dismissed any notion that rookies have an advantage over the established stars, irrespective of the changes.
He claimed: "For all the years to come in as a rookie, with the reset, Gen 3 is the best time to come in - the experienced guys have something to learn too. But I keep saying that any mention of it being an advantage for rookies is just not a thing - it is just less of a disadvantage. There is no advantage a rookie would have in Formula E over an experienced driver."
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