Mortara left sleepless by pressure

After a troubled season in GP2 this year, the Italian opted to step back down to Formula 3 for the blue-riband Macau Grand Prix in a bid to show the world he had lost none of his talent.

But well aware that it was a make-or-break time for him, as anything less than victory would have been a let down, he confessed after his hard-earned win about how much the success meant to him.

"I was so stressed all the weekend - starting from Thursday," said Mortara, who had missed out on victory last year. "I was so, so stressed as I knew this race could have saved a little bit this season, and in a way also my career. So I knew I had to do the job, and I was really pushing so hard.

"I wanted it so much that I was not sleeping at night because I was only thinking about winning this Macau Grand Prix.

When I was behind my team-mate Jean-Karl [Vernay] I was pushing so hard because I didn't want to lose another time. That was all I was thinking about - that I was not going to finish second like last year behind [Keisuke] Kunimoto. I thought I just had to win this race, even if I have to fly or do something like that - I would win."

Mortara hopes that his Macau triumph, which means he now follows in the footsteps of former winner Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard, will help him land a competitive race drive somewhere next year.

"I came here, and everybody was thinking: 'yeah, this guy is lost after a season like this [in GP2], he will not be competitive'. And I was sure, deep inside me, that I could do it.

"I knew that they made a big step with the engine and with the car, and I am still linked with Signature so I knew what they have done for an entire year. We came here, did the job, with a 1-2, and it was an incredible weekend."

Mortara has admitted that his future is far from settled, as he does not yet have a budget for another attempt at GP2.

"Like I say, it is all about money. With the economic crisis, and I am not the son of a billionaire, it is difficult. Every driver will say the same thing about their ambitions - it is to go in Formula 1 and win in F1.

"But for the moment there are no plans for next season. Before coming here, I was really zero because nobody was taking the time to understand what happened this year.

"You drive okay, but when you drive a bad season or have ups and downs - and I crashed a lot - then nobody takes the time to understand why the driver is going from good results to bad results in a small amount of time. Nobody was searching for me, and I hope this victory will open me some ways for the future."