“Honestly, it has always taken me a long time to fit into the atmosphere of the teams – because first of all they want to see you. They want to see that you are fast, but they also want to see that you are consistent, not just once, but always.
“Culturally, it’s also a bit different for me than where I grew up. From year to year – I’ve been in Europe for eight years now – I’ve adapted more, but in the beginning it was a bigger difference for me.
“It wasn’t easy because I know I have pure talent, but I lacked a lot of experience and background knowledge from karting and everything.”
Güven cites the example of not knowing the concept of side-slipstreaming, a situation in which the chasing car, by driving alongside the leading car, can divert the airflow, creating additional drag for the leading car and affecting its speed on the straight.
“I guess most drivers know this early in their careers, but I know I was still racing in the Supercup and fighting for the championship. And sometimes after the race I asked myself: ‘Why is this happening on the straight when I’m so fast and the guy just overtook me like he was in a different class?’
“I didn’t know what a side draft was and how it worked because I lacked that background – but luckily I started learning these things with Sascha.”
Sascha refers to Sascha Maassen, the coach responsible for the Porsche Juniors. Güven was part of the program for two seasons after joining in 2020.
“I think that’s the advantage of the junior program. I’ve developed as a driver, not only in terms of driving, but also in terms of feedback, preparation and communication with the teams. I think I’ve come quite far.”
