A1 Team Lebanon racer Daniel Morad believes the team could target a top-three finish if it can build on its successes from this season.

The 19-year-old joined the team at the start of 2008/09, immediately (and literally) making an impact, finishing seventh despite careering into the tyre barriers in Zandvoort’s Feature race.

He showed pace at other meetings, including qualifying third in the Sepang Feature race and he also looked set to challenge in qualifying in Gauteng before electrical problems struck which demoted him to the back of the grid. However, he still ended the event with his best finish of the year in sixth place.

Should he be selected again to race for the team next season, he believes the squad can build on its performances and could consider fighting towards the sharp end on a regular basis.

Morad told A1GP.com: “In the last three years we haven’t scored points and there has been so much expectation on the team, it’s been tough, especially on someone like me who is new to the series. Being young, it does put a lot of pressure on me but that’s good because I am learning to deal with it all.

“Coming from Formula BMW to this is a big jump in power and class. I effectively missed three steps of the ladder so this year alone I have learnt so much in terms of getting the most out of the car. I wouldn’t want to go in to a series that is uncompetitive and not learn anything, it’s better to get shaken up a bit because it makes you stronger.

“The races are so long that if I were to do it again I would be more conservative. It often looked like that as long as you finished, you would be in the points, especially if you had relatively good pace. We did, we had pace realistically for anywhere from fifth to 10th in the points.

“I learnt a lot this year. From the start of the season I was out of control and got a bad name for myself, but towards the end I calmed down and got in to a rhythm. People started to have respect for me as a driver and thought I had genuine pace. It’s been a big jump from the beginning to the end and it goes to show you that I have learnt a lot. You can see that from the time sheets.

Morad is just two starts away from becoming Lebanon’s most capped driver, having raced in all 14 events of the 2008/09 season.

“If I can get all these rookie mistakes out of the way then we would have a chance at least for the top three in the championship. That would be really realistic, especially with one year under my belt. I know the car and I would know most of the circuits we are going to go to, so it is a big advantage.”

Lebanon finished 17th in 2008/09 with eight points, its best ever championship finish.