Tag: F3

Piastri leads PREMA one-two in Spielberg F3 Race 1

Spielberg (Austria), 4 July 2020: It was business as usual for PREMA, as the 2019 Champions got off to a near-perfect start in Spielberg, taking a one-two finish thanks to Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant in Race 1 of FIA Formula 3, held before the F1 Austrian GP qualification on Saturday.

Piastri had stunned at the start to steal the lead from third, and played out a controlled race, rarely looking in danger. Only the Campos of Alex Peroni could break up the PREMA party, with the Aussie racer snatching third ahead of Frederik Vesti, and the fastest lap, for his first ever F3 podium.

Having started the weekend so superbly, polesitter Sebastian Fernandez’s race was over before it even began, as a first lap collision with Piastri forced him to retire from the pits.

Clement Novalak will start Race 2 from pole, under the new reverse grid rules. The Frenchman impressed on his maiden appearance to finish 10th, with less than two seconds separating eighth from 11th.

From left: Sargeant, Piastri and Peroni celebrate on the podium. An FIA F3 image

Further back, Igor Fraga caught the eye on his F3 debut. The Brazilian dropped to the back of the grid at the start, but clawed his way up to 16th with a serious of stunning manoeuvres.

As it happened

Anyone expecting a calm start to the Formula 3 season would have been bitterly disappointed, with chaos ensuing right from the off. Sebastian Fernandez stuttered when the lights went out and allowed the Trident of Lirim Zendeli to edge ahead of him from the inside.

Piastri followed the German through down the right and it was that move that provoked a reaction from the Spaniard. Fernandez attempted to reclaim the position from the outside but ran out of room and went spinning into the gravel.

The ART machine was forced into the pits, where the polesitter’s morning ended in retirement. Race control deemed it a racing incident, with no further action required. Piastri got away damage free, with plenty of momentum, and he followed up his move on Fernandez by diving past Zendeli on the outside of Turn 3 for P1.

Another beneficiary of the chaotic start was Peroni. Starting from eighth – on his return to F3 following a horror crash in Monza last year which ended his season early – the Aussie gained a

position as Hughes was forced to start from the pits, having qualified fifth. By the time Piastri took the lead, Peroni had flown to fourth and was hot on the heels of Sargeant in P3.

Despite the Campos in his rear-view mirror, the American’s focus was locked onto Zendeli in P2. When the chance arose, Sargeant made sure he took it. Zendeli was overcautious on the brakes, which allowed both Sargeant and Peroni to dive around the outside of him.

Their battles in behind had allowed Piastri to build a firm 3s lead out in front, as Peroni got within DRS range of Sargeant. The American was just about managing to hold him off, while Piastri stretched his legs.

Further back, the fight for reverse pole was heating up. Under new rules for 2020, the top 10 will all earn points and then be reversed for Race 2. Clement Novalak was the incumbent of that position, but with less than 2s separating eighth from 11th, they continued to fight.

Another PREMA would join the top four, as Vesti darted ahead of Zendeli and set the fastest lap in doing so. The Dane’s move helped to ease the pressure on Sargeant, as he began to tussle with Peroni.

Despite the battles going on, little would change in the closing laps. Piastri fought off concerns about the degradation of his rear tyres to close out a measured drive. The Aussie taking victory on his F3 debut, ahead of his teammate Sargeant, and Peroni.

Fellow debutant Vesti would seal a superb start to 2020 for PREMA with fourth, ahead of Zendeli, who also scored his highest ever finish in F3. Liam Lawson impressed with a drive from 12th to sixth, ahead of David Beckmann, Richard Verschoor, Smolyar and Novalak.

The key quote – Oscar Piastri (PREMA Racing)

“Winning the first race is a great start to the year. It was very scary at Turn 1 at the start and I thought that it was going to be race over 10 seconds into my debut, but thankfully I got through that and made a good move on Lirim [Zendeli] into Turn 3.

“Then, I just controlled it from there. The tyre deg was a bit more than we were expecting and halfway into the race I was struggling a bit with the rears. Logan [Sargeant] was catching me and bringing the train with him, so I had to stay on my toes.

“I couldn’t have started the year any better really and hopefully we can make up a few spots in the reverse grid tomorrow.”

What’s next?

Carlin’s French rookie Novalak will start Race 2 from pole tomorrow at 9.45am local time, with fellow rookie Alex Smolyar and Macau winner Richard Verschoor in behind. Don’t bet against the PREMA’s making up a few positions either, with the Italian’s already in red hot form.

July 4, 2020
Arjun to race back to back in Macau and Shanghai

File photo of Arjun Maini. INDIAinF1.com

Bengaluru, 4 Nov 2019: Ace Indian driver Arjun Maini will be racing in Macau on the weekend from November 15 to 17 and in Shanghai from November 22 to 24.

Arjun, the JK-Tyre backed, Bengaluru-based driver, is returning to the 2019 FIA F3 Macau Grand Prix with Jenzer Motorsport. After two GP3 seasons in 2016 and 2017 with Jenzer where he won the Barcelona sprint race in 2017, Arjun moved up to F2 in 2018 and 2019, and also drove in the complete European Le Mans Series in 2019. He also competed in the 24-hours Le Mans. Arjun Maini, who drove in Macau in 2015 and 2016, is excited to take up this special challenge once more.

Andreas Jenzer said: “It’s fantastic to have our race winning driver back for our Macau campaign. We will all be working to achieve a top result!”

Maini said: “I am looking forward to racing in Macau again and to be back with Jenzer Motorsport. It is a challenging circuit especially now with the new generation cars as it will be a challenge for everyone to adapt quickly.”

RLR MSport, with whom Arjun raced the 24 hours of Lemans and also the ELMS season in LMP2, is set to expand its reach to China, South East Asia and Australia with an assault on the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 Am Trophy, in a bid to secure a coveted entry to the 88th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Bolton team will field a sole ORECA 05 Nissan for European Le Mans Series (ELMS) regulars John Farano and Arjun Maini, and New Zealand’s LMP2 debutant Andy Higgins for the duration of the four-part season that takes in some of the greatest racetracks in the Asia-Pacific region.

RLR MSport welcomed Arjun Maini to the fold for its much-anticipated return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the ELMS’s LMP2 class in 2019.

The young Indian was impressive during his maiden season of endurance sportscar racing, transitioning seamlessly from Formula 2 single-seaters to Le Mans Prototypes, and he views the Asian Le Mans Series as an opportunity to continue his development through the winter.

“The idea behind racing in the Asian Le Mans Series is to get as much driving time as possible and to win the AM Trophy to earn an entry to the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Maini. “It would be good to win for John (Farano), who has improved a lot throughout the year, and I feel the class will be fair for the Bronze drivers and give a good reflection of how they’re getting on relative to each other.

“I know the ORECA 05 is a little slower than the 07 we race in the ELMS, so we will have to get our heads around the speed and the grip levels, but I think we will all be fine with that. I’m looking forward to returning to Sepang, as I have experience of the circuit from GP3 and Formula BMW and I really like Malaysia as a country, although I’ve never been to Australia and The Bend looks mega, so I’m expecting that to be a highlight.”

Higgins, meanwhile, is a second-generation racer from Auckland and a stalwart of New Zealand’s historic motor racing scene.

Arjun Maini file photo

The 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series commences at the Shanghai International Circuit in China (22-24 November) before moving on to The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia (10-12 January), and it concludes with back-to-back races at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit (14-15 February) and Thailand’s Chang International Circuit (21-23 February).

RLR MSport Director of Motorsport Operations, Nick Reynolds, said: “The Asian Le Mans Series is growing in size and stature every year, and we believe there’s a lot of value in an entry. It isn’t only the calibre of the field that makes the series attractive, but the fact it’s held during the European winter months makes it a fantastic platform for teams and drivers who wish to stay fresh all year round.

“For John (Farano) and Arjun (Maini), it’s an opportunity to continue developing their skills, albeit in slightly older LMP2 machinery, in a competitive environment with all the variables of a race weekend. Of course, it’s fantastic to have Andy (Higgins) on-board; while he is yet to sample modern LMP2 machinery, he will be an asset. The aim is simple – win the Asian Le Mans Series Am Trophy and secure that automatic entry to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and gather plenty of momentum for the 2020 season.”

November 4, 2019
Jehan is 2nd runner up in FIA F3 Championship

Best season result by an Indian ever

Sochi, Russia : Indian racing sensation, Jehan Daruvala created history at the Russian Grand Prix weekend, by concluding the FIA F3 Championship in third. This is the best championship position ever, by an Indian in an official F1 feeder series.

It was heartbreak however for Jehan, in the last race of the season, when the Indian’s car was unable to start on the formation lap. Jehan who was due to start fourth on the grid, but instead had to start from the pitlane, after his car was pushed off the track.

Thereafter Jehan drove arguably, the best race of the season. He steadily worked his way up, overtaking a car a lap on an average. The highly competitive nature of the FIA F3 championship ensures that even racers at the back, are capable of posting quick laptimes. Yet, Jehan was able to consistently put in laptimes similar to the leaders while overtaking. Unfortunately he pushed too hard and went off track at one point, due to which he was penalised 5 seconds, inspite of giving back the position he gained.

Midway through the race, Jehan was 20^th on track. The higher he climbed the tougher it was for the Indian to overtake. Once Jehan reached twelfth, his tyres were well past their best, due to his pushing right through the race. Jehan had to manage this additional situation and still overtook three cars in the last two laps to eventually finish ninth on track. Estonian racer – Juri Vips won the race, but Jehan was classified as fifteenth due to the 5 second penalty.

Unfortunately for Jehan, his Prema Racing teammate, Marcus Armstrong from New Zealand finished second. Additionally, he also had the fastest lap, which allowed him to leapfrog Jehan’s 13 point margin, to get ahead by a single point.

The Indian star has been consistently quick throughout the season in arguably the most competitive F1 feeder series. Jehan kicked off his season overcoming clutch issues in race 1 and winning race 2, at the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. The former second runner up in the World Karting Championship proved his speed once again by winning the first race of the 2^nd round at the French Grand Prix weekend. He completed a hat-trick of podiums in the very next race.

Jehan eventually capped off the best season ever, by an Indian in an official F1 feeder series, with a total of 7 podiums in addition to two fastest laps and a pole position. Third place overall is a monumental achievement for an Indian. He has qualified in the top four in every round, except for Hungary where he was caught in traffic. The resulting non points scoring races in that round in addition to a DNF at the British Grand Prix weekend, proved to be very costly in terms of points to Jehan. Russian Robert Shwartzman was crowned the 2019 FIA F3 Champion.

“What happened at the start is heart breaking. But I had to focus on the race. I just put my head down and drove an aggressive race. Starting 29th and from the pit lane and finishing 9th on track was good fun. Prema has given me a fantastic car all year. Its just unfortunate that in the last few races I have had a bit of bad luck with DRS issues, a brake issue yesterday and the pit lane start today. These are things beyond anyone’s control. I am happy to have finished 3rd in the championship but disappointed at the same time with the technical issues I had in the last 2 weekends, but that is racing.” said a disappointed Jehan.

September 29, 2019

Vips ends 2019 with lights-to-flag victory in Sochi

Estonian wins ahead of Armstrong, who claims P2 in the Championship

Sochi, 29 Sept 2019: Jüri Vips closed off the FIA Formula 3 season with his third victory of 2019, dominating Race 2 from start-to-finish, with an electric lights-to-flag performance. Drama played out behind him, as Marcus Armstrong ran rampant, rising from seventh to second to secure P2 in the Drivers’ standings. Champion Robert Shwartzman ended the campaign on the podium, with third place.

Temperatures had risen to 20 degrees as the session got underway, following a brief spell of rain in yesterday’s Race 1. Vips was clean off the line to hold on to first, fighting off an attack from Jake Hughes, which never looked like sticking. The Brit was then thrust into the path of Leonardo Pulcini, who began to harry the back of him. Meanwhile, Armstrong had started his chase from seventh, getting ahead of Niko Kari and latching on to the rear of Pedro Piquet.

Having waited patiently, Pulcini made his move on Hughes and lunged down the left of him. As the Briton looked to react, he caught the rear tyre of the Hitech racer and sent him skidding into the gravel. Pulcini managed to get going again, but returned at the back of the field, while Hughes dropped to fourth. The stewards deemed it a racing incident, which needed no further action.

This put Armstrong and Piquet into the battle for first, handing the Kiwi an opportunity to claim second in the Championship, having seen his teammate, Daruvala, stall on the formation lap. The Indian had been forced to start from the pitlane and was sat back in 22^nd.

Sensing his opportunity, he sliced his way past Pedro Piquet and fired off into the distance. P2 wouldn’t be enough though – the PREMA man needed first, or the fastest lap. With Vips nearly 4s ahead, he opted for the latter and roared around the Sochi Autodrom, Qualifying style, to snatch the extra points. By this point, Daruvala had risen as high as 16^th, as he battled to save second in the standings.

Vips continued to flex his muscles out in front, as Shwartzman seized fourth from Hughes to set his sights on ending 2019 with a podium place. He achieved this when Piquet was forced to retire from the race, pulling over onto the tarmac. Second would prove a place to far for the Russian though, as Armstrong and Vips amassed a near 10s lead ahead of him.

The order remained unchanged as they crossed the line, with Vips comfortably claiming a third win of the campaign, ahead of Armstrong in second. Shwartzman completed the podium and was followed by Hughes, Kari and Ye Yifei, who scored his best finish of the year. Richard Verschoor and Liam Lawson completed the top eight.

With the 2019 season concluded, Shwartzman wins the Championship with a total of 212 points, ahead of Armstrong on 158. Daruvala is third with 157, Vips fourth with 141 and Piquet fifth with 98. PREMA Racing end the season with 527 points, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 223, ART Grand Prix on 174, Trident on 134 and HWA RACELAB on 100.

2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship Round 8 – Race 2 provisional classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Juri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
2	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing
3	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing
4	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB
5	Niko Kari	Trident
6	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix
7	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
8	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport
9	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix
10	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing
11	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix
12	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident
13	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
14	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing
15	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing
16	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix
17	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB
18	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport
19	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing
20	David Schumacher	Campos Racing
21	Leong Hon Chio	Jenzer Motorsport
22	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing
23	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB
24	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing
25	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport

	NOT CLASSIFIED

	Pedro Piquet	Trident
	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport
	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing) – 1:55.860 on Lap 15

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing)

September 29, 2019

Shwartzman finishes 2nd, clinches Championship; Daruvala 5th

Robert Shwartman (PREMA Racing), Marcus Armstrong (PREMA), Niko Kari (Trident) on the F3 podium. An F3 image

Sochi, 28 Sept 2019: Robert Shwartzman clinched the maiden FIA Formula 3 Championship title in one of the most intense races of the season, but it was his teammate Marcus Armstrong who won, as the Russian settled for second, refusing to risk his crown.

When Marcus Armstrong told reporters that it would be one of the battles of the season, he wasn’t wrong, as three different drivers exchanged P1 in a race-long battle for first, which was only settled on the final lap.

Niko Kari was deeply immersed into that fight, but would ultimately finish the season as he started it in third place, with his first podium since Round 1 in Barcelona. For all of the plaudits that Shwartzman will deservedly receive in the aftermath, Armstrong sealed his third victory of the campaign and matched the champion’s tally.

However, Shwartzman has led the title charge for the majority of the year and knew that finishing ahead of rival Jehan Daruvala would be enough, and the Indian slumped to fifth, after a sluggish start. With his PREMA teammate struggling, this left the Russian needing to drive a conservative race, and he done so like a champion, with minimal risk, and maximum gain.

Dark clouds lingered above the Sochi Autodrom, as rain threatened to spice up a contest that ultimately wouldn’t need it. While Shwartzman got off the line cleanly, Daruvala struggled, slipping as far as sixth by the end of the first turn. This allowed Armstrong a shot at his fellow Ferrari F1 junior and he made light work of the Russian, nipping by after the first corner.

Having taken the lead, Armstrong was the first to discover drops of rain in the latter parts of the track and warned his PREMA team. Further back, Bent Viscaal spun off at Turn 4, which brought out a virtual safety car. With this, Devlin DeFrancesco and Trident made the risk of switching to the wets, but the rain dried up and they were forced to swiftly revert back.

Shortly after going green again, Leong Hon Chio spun off track at the same corner and plunged into the barriers, this time bringing out a safety car. When the SC returned, Jüri Vips caught the back of Christian Lundgaard. The Dane was able to recover and continue, but Vips was slapped with a 10 second penalty for causing the collision.

Armstrong held on to the lead at the restart, but Kari attacked the back of Shwartzman and eventually dived ahead of the Russian. Having passed one PREMA, the Finn knew his Trident had the pace and began to harry Armstrong, which set in motion a lap-long tussle.

The Trident racer dived down the inside of Armstrong at Turn 2 and took the inside line on the third corner, narrowly edging ahead off the Kiwi at full throttle as the track began to straighten out again. The Kiwi was pushed back and opted to attack the Finn on the next tour of the circuit, at the first corner. Armstrong sent it down the side of Kari, but missed the turn, which allowed Shwartzman and Leonardo Pulcini to take advantage and steal second and third.

Having dropped to third, Shwartzman was now in contention for the race win once again and forced himself ahead of Kari, lunging past him in a DRS enthused move. With five laps to go, Kari was once again at the mercy of Armstrong, who had already regained third from Pulcini. The Kwi made no mistake with his overtake this time, making it stick on the second turn.

The two PREMAs headed into the final lap in first and second, on course for their third one-two of the campaign. Shwartzman looked set to cap off an incredible season with a fourth victory, but his teammate had other ideas and showed no mercy.

With nothing to lose, Armstrong made a daring lunge at Turn 2 and hauled himself back into the race lead, giving Shwartzman no chance of a reply. Both were euphoric when they crossed the line, as Shwartzman hailed his team, thanking them for an incredible, but tough, season.

Kari completed the podium, with Pulcini and Daruvala completing the top five, ahead of Pedro Piquet, Jake Hughes and Vips. Raoul Hyman secured his first points of the season with ninth place, ahead of Richard Verschoor.

The champion now leads the Drivers’ Championship with 202 points, ahead of Daruvala on 157 and Armstrong on 144, who cannot be caught. Vips is fourth on 126 and Piquet is fifth on 98 points. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing are first with 503, Hitech Grand Prix are second with 204 and ART Grand Prix third on 174. Trident are fourth with 128 and HWA RACELAB fifth with 92.

Vips will start on pole positon in Race 2 tomorrow, which begins at 9.55am (local time).

2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship Round 8 – Race 1 provisional classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing
2	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing
3	Niko Kari	Trident
4	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix
5	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing
6	Pedro Piquet	Trident
7	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB
8	Juri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
9	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
10	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
11	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix
12	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport
13	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix
14	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix
15	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing
16	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing
19	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB
17	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport
18	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport
20	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing
21	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing
22	David Schumacher	Campos Racing
23	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident
24	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport
25	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing

	NOT CLASSIFIED

	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
	Leong Hon Chio	Jenzer Motorsport
	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB
	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Jake Hughes (HWA RACELAB) – 1:55.513 on Lap 10

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Jake Hughes (HWA RACELAB)

September 28, 2019

Jehan Daruvala heads to final round with outside chance: F3

File photo of Jehan Daruvala from Prema Racing

Sochi, 26 Sept 2019: The Formula 3 championship is set to reach its exciting conclusion in the eighth and final round of the 2019 season as the paddock heads east to Sochi.

Championship leader Robert Shwartzman was the man to catch in Monza’s practice session last time out, as he has been all season long. The Prema man was denied a front row start after qualifying however when Christian Lundgaard put his ART machine on the pole alongside Marcus Armstrong before a number of penalties rewrote the starting grid. The rapid Russian would simply not give up though and took his first race victory since Round 2 after starting 10^th. Maximum points in Race 2 would have crowned Shwartzman, but while it was not to be there was still plenty of joy on the podium’s top step. Yuki Tsunoda produced an incredible display to earn both him and Jenzer Motorsport a first win of the season.

Shwartzman (180 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 33 points over teammate Jehan Daruvala (147), the only man that could stop him clinching the championship, but 16 more points in Sochi would give Shwartzman an unassailable lead in the title fight. Hitech Grand Prix’s Jüri Vips (122) is third, with Armstrong (119) three points behind him. There was no sign of Team champions PREMA (446) slowing down, as they further extended their lead over Hitech (188) in second place. ART Grand Prix (174) are third.

The Sochi Autodrom hosts the final round of the championship. The circuit combines high-speed and low-speed sections and the teams and drivers will need to maximise Pirelli’s soft compound tyres to succeed. The fact that the final round will be the title decider, despite such a remarkable season, is a testament to just how incredible the maiden FIA Formula 3 Championship has been!

Warm-Up // Robert Shwartzman – PREMA Racing

“I’ve never raced in Sochi before but it’s my home race so it’s definitely really important to me. I’ve never raced at this level in my home country, so it’s an honour to be there. It is also the final round of the season, which will be interesting. I’m really looking forward to it and I think it is going to be a great weekend.

“As a driver, I’m not worried about having never driven on a new circuit. It happens a lot. We will do simulator work before the weekend so we can learn more about the track and prepare myself before getting behind the wheel. We will also watch videos of races there from last year, learn some stuff that way, and prepare as best we can.

“I have already learned the circuit is a ‘mid-to-fast’ track. There are medium-speed corners, more like 90-degree turns, but then it also has quite a long straight so it will be interesting to see what happens when it comes to overtaking. It’s not a bad track at all, a decent race circuit, and it looks nice. I can’t wait to race on it for real.

“It will be the first time I’ve raced in front of my home crowd in such a way. I raced karts in Russia before but that was some time ago and this is another level. I’m looking forward to seeing the Russian fans and it will be nice to see all the flags and feel the support. There’s understandably a lot of talk about winning the championship on home soil, but as a driver, I will do what I always do. My target is the same as usual – to win every weekend if that’s possible. After that we will see where we end up.”

Mario Isola, Pirelli Head of F1 and Car Racing

“Russia started off as a very smooth track when it was first built, but over the years the surface has matured to offer more grip. The surface is still quite smooth, which means that together with the track layout, Sochi is not especially demanding on tyres. As a result in Formula 3 the drivers should be able to push hard as they fight for the title after a thrilling season.”

Season Stats

33 The gap between championship leader Robert Shwartzman (180 points) and second-placed Jehan Daruvala (147) at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

9 Yuki Tsunoda became the ninth different driver to take taste victory this season after his Race 2 win in Monza.

20 The combined number of times PREMA Racing’s Shwartzman, Daruvala and Marcus Armstrong have stood on the podium this season.

3 ART Grand Prix’s Christian Lundgaard has more front row starts than any other driver this season.

Noteworthy

Macanese racer Leong “Charles” Hon Chio will drive Jenzer Motorsport’s Car 15 in Russia, replacing Giorgio Carrara. David Schumacher, son of former F1-racer Ralf, joins Campos Racing in place of Alex Peroni who continues to recover from his accident in Monza.

If the gap between Robert Shwartzman and Jehan Daruvala is at least 18 points after Race 1, Shwartzman will win the Drivers’ Championship.

Between them, PREMA Racing trio Shwartzman (3), Daruvala (2) and Marcus Armstrong (2) have secured half of all race victories this season (seven wins from a possible 14).

Armstrong has led more laps (54) than any other driver on the grid this season. Christian Lundgaard is second with 45 laps led.

After setting the fastest time in qualifying during the last round, Lundgaard became the first driver this season to have more than one pole position to his name.

Twelve different drivers have stood on the podium this season, including eight different winners.

If either Teppei Natori, Felipe Drugovich or Logan Sargeant lead a lap for Carlin Buzz Racing this weekend, every team will have led at least one lap this season.

Hitech Grand Prix’s Leonardo Pulcini has taken points from 10 consecutive races, the longest current streak in the championship.

Data (IST) all Indian times

Friday

Free Practice: 10:50 – 11:35

Qualifying: 15:30 – 16:00

Press conference: 16:30

Saturday

Race 1: 12:45 (20 laps)

Press conference: 13:45

Sunday

Race 2: 12:25 (20 laps)

September 26, 2019

Terrific Tsunoda soars to first F3 win in Monza: F3

Jenzer driver tops Race 2 podium ahead of Lawson and Hughes

From left: 2nd placed Liam, winner Yuki and 3rd-placed Jake. An FIA F3 image

Monza, 8 Sept 2019: Yuki Tsunoda completed his remarkable upturn of form in Monza, with his, and his team’s first ever win in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. The Jenzer Motorsport driver romped to a third podium in as many races, after a lengthy battle with Jake Hughes, which ended in him finishing ahead of Liam Lawson in second and the HWA RACELAB driver in third.

The Japanese driver’s victory marked a successful weekend for Honda Dream drivers, matching his F2 counterpart Nobuharu Matsushita, who won in yesterday’s Feature Race. The feat earns him his seventh points’ finish in a row, having scored just two of them in the first seven of the campaign.

The track was damp from overnight showers and the cars started against a shower of spray, but this didn’t stop Jake Hughes from bolting off the line, as the HWA RACELAB man lunged down the left of polesitter Fabio Scherer and into the lead. Behind him, Tsunoda had started his march from sixth and leapt to third at the first turn.

The Japenese driver pulled off a similar move for second on the next tour of the track. He had Hughes in his sights, but the duo both went wide at Turn 4 as they battled with the greasy track surface. They then collided at the following corner, as Tsunoda’s front wing scraped the back of Hughes’ rear tyre, but luckily they avoided any damage.

Former leader Scherer was struggling to keep Lawson at bay behind him, as the Kiwi eyed his second podium of the season. Less than a second separated the Swiss driver in third, with Leonardo Pulcini in sixth. Space opened up down the side of Scherer and the Red Bull F1 junior took a tow and slipstreamed down the right of him.

Hughes and Tsunoda had begun to pull away from those behind them, collecting a 3s gap, but the battle between the two remained on-going. The Jenzer driver got close enough to gain the advantage of DRS and flashed past the Brit for the lead.

Hughes fought back and went side-by-side with Tsunoda around the outside of Parabolica, but the Japanese driver out-braked him and retained P1. Their drawn out fight for first handed Lawson a shot at P2 and the MP Motorsport man began to attack the back of Hughes. The duo went side-by-side down the pit straight, and with the aid of DRS, and the inside line, the Kiwi completed the move and made it stick at Turn 1.

Tsunoda ran home cleanly at the chequered flag and was followed by Lawson and Hughes in the top three, as Richard Verschoor and Pedro Piquet completed the front five. The final points’ positions went to Pulcini, Scherer and Robert Shwartzman.

The Russian’s P8 finish hands him an extra point in the Championship and marginally stretches his lead to 33 points, ahead of Jehan Daruvala on 147 points. Jüri Vips remains third on 122 and Marcus Armstrong on 119. In the Teams’ standings, Champions PREMA Racing lead with 446, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 188, ART Grand Prix on 174, Trident on 105 and HWA RACELAB on 84.

Shwartzman holds the cards heading into the season finale, at his home race in Sochi, Russia, at the end of September.

2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship Round 7 – Race 2 provisional classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport
2	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport
3	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB
4	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
5	Pedro Piquet	Trident
6	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix
7	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
8	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing
9	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix
10	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing
11	Juri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
12	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing
13	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing
14	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing
15	Niko Kari	Trident
16	Devlin Defrancesco	Trident
17	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
18	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
19	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix
20	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport
21	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix
22	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB
23	Giorgio Carrara	Jenzer Motorsport
24	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport
25	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing
26	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing
27	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB
28	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix
29	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix) – 1:48.890 on Lap 20

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport) – 1:49.580 on Lap 22

September 8, 2019

It was very frustrating without DRS, because the car was good: Jehan Daruvala

Thoughts from Shwartzman, Armstrong and Daruvala

Robert Shwartzman, winner, flanked by Marcus Armstrong,, left and Jehan
Daruvala 3rd, All three are from PREMA Racing. An F3 image

FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to today’s FIA Formula 3 press conference following the opening race here at Monza. We are joined by the top three finishers from Race 1. Your race winner Robert Shwartzman from PREMA Racing, in second place Marcus Armstrong from PREMA Racing and in third place Jehan Daruvala from PREMA Racing. Robert, you promised some attacking manoeuvres coming up through the field yesterday, you certainly delivered. How was your charge through the field?

Robert Shwartzman: It’s been really fun. I enjoyed it a lot. All three of us did really nice manoeuvres when overtaking. At the beginning I was behind Marcus, and actually Marcus was getting past the field and I was trying to stay with him and pass who he had passed. There was some nice manoeuvres, some tricky ones, especially at Lesmo 2 when I made the move on Max [Fewtrell]. It was quite tight but everything was fair and nice. Basically then Marcus was leading and I was second. We had good pace so I knew that we could get a gap, and then the safety car came out for the first time. After the restart my target was just not to make any stupid mistakes in Turn 1, just to continue, and Marcus had a good restart and a gap so I didn’t have any chance to attack. I just stayed behind and after two laps, when the DRS was enabled, he let me pass in order to work together to build a bigger gap. I got by and my target was simply not to make any mistakes and continue pushing. For three or four laps I was in front and then the second safety car came out. I heard that the driver was fine, which is obviously really important. It looks really big. The first lap that I passed I didn’t even realise where the car was, it was just debris on the track and nothing else. Only after some time did I realise the car was actually on the fence. I got told it was quite big so I’m happy that the driver is okay.

FIA Formula 3: A first win for you since Paul Ricard, a big boost for your title hopes going into the final few races of the season. How much of a breakthrough does this feel?

Robert: It felt like quite a long time, definitely. We were quite close, like P2 or P3, but yeah something was missing but today I felt that the car was really good. We had the pace to win and all three of us were just doing our jobs to get the win. Everything was fair and nice, so that’s the thing. I’m really happy that I won today. It was really tight. I had a lot of pressure from my teammates, it was hard, but today I’m happy that finally I got the win.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations. Marcus moving on to you now. Could you talk us through your race and the battle you had with Robert for the lead?

Marcus Armstrong: It was an exciting race. The first lap I don’t know where I finished, maybe third, so that was pretty exciting and everything sort of went to plan. For whatever reason Christian [Lundgaard] wasn’t leading the race so that was a bit of a surprise because he was very quick yesterday. I don’t actually remember how I overtook them, there was so much action in that race I can’t quite remember it. The pace was pretty good because we got to the lead and pulled out quite a reasonable gap over [Richard] Verschoor. Then there was the safety car and Robert was behind me. It wasn’t easy because I obviously know that Robert is switched on and I had to surprise him a little bit, which I think I did. I managed to lead again for the first two laps after that before the DRS was activated. I felt as though I was destroying my tyres out in front, having to push so hard to break Robert, so I decided to let him go and just follow in his slipstream, use DRS and try and attack in the last few laps. People didn’t get to see what should have been a good last lap battle, but obviously we’re thankful that [Alex] Peroni is okay.

FIA Formula 3: It was a very significant result for PREMA as well, to get a one, two, three finish at a home race. Does this result just prove how good this team has been this season?

Marcus: Absolutely, especially here at Monza in front of all the team. A lot of people have come over from Grisignano to watch the race this morning. It was cool to see everyone under the podium, and also to have Guillaume [Capietto] on the podium with us was special. As I said on the radio, I’m very grateful to be a part of such a fantastic, well-organised team, and I think us finishing in the top three is almost our way of giving back [laughs].

FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Jehan moving on to you now. P3, but obviously the safety car at the end did end any hopes of a tight scrap between the three of you. How did you approach your race and how did you feel it went?

Jehan Daruvala: I think it was similar to the other guys. My start was really good and I got into a decent position behind Rob. My main problem in the race was that I didn’t have DRS the whole time, so it was very frustrating for me because the car was good and I felt I had the pace to also fight with the guys for the win. It was frustrating. I was fighting cars with DRS around me and I didn’t have it. I was using a lot of my tyres in the middle sector to try and break the DRS of the cars behind. At the end, when they were fighting, I got really close but on the straights I just couldn’t keep up. That was a bit disappointing for me, but again, to come third at Monza with no DRS is a really good result.

FIA Formula 3: Slipstream here is so important, and the DRS is so powerful, does it feel like damage limitation, in a way, to still get a podium finish?

Jehan: Like I said, I’m not really concerned with the result, I’m just upset that I didn’t have the chance to fight with the guys for the lead. I was just sat there hoping for something to happen, but I’d rather have been in the scrap for the lead.

FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Robert, moving back to you now. You started P8 today and fought through for the victory, I imagine you’ll want to repeat that tomorrow?

Robert: Sure. Tomorrow is also going to be an interesting race. I’m not sure about the weather because before it was said that there may be rain, but from the free practice I’m quite confident with the car we have and how everything is going, even in the rain. Whatever happens we’re going to fight, as today, and surely try just to collect some more points for the weekend.

September 7, 2019
Monza podium for Jehan: F3

Jehan Daruvala with the trophy for third place in Race 1 on Saturday. Photo by James Gasperotti

Monza, Italy: Jehan Daruvala was left frustrated inspite of a podium in race 1 of the seventh round of the FIA F3 Championship, but at the same time won the hearts of thousands around the circuit and around the world. Racing at the 5.793km, historic high speed circuit of Monza, also known as the ‘Temple of Speed’, the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix support event, saw Jehan climb from tenth to second, only to suffer issues denying the Indian a potential race win. Electronics issues disabled Jehan’s DRS, in turn preventing him from gaining top speed on the two vital long straights.

A bizarre qualifying session saw 17 racers, including all three racers in Jehan’s Prema Racing Team, receiving penalties. With only 5 minutes for the session to end and Jehan had set his fastest laptime in Sector 1 and the quickest sector 2 of any racer on the grid. It looked certain that Jehan would have claimed provisional pole, but over ten cars had slowed down in the last sector. Jehan had to abort his lap for the second time, due to numerous cars moving slowly on the racing line. Race control found the situation too dangerous and stopped the session prematurely.

Jehan Daruvala in action during Race 1 at Monza. Photo by James Gasperotti

Christian Lundgaard topped the session, while Jehan was in fourth. Officials reviewed the session till late into the night and handed a 10-place penalty to all three racers in Jehan’s team, for being too slow on their out lap. It was unfortunate for them, because they did not impede other racers but infact had suffered themselves. However, with a total 17 racers receiving penalties, Jehan would start the race from tenth.

As the lights went out, Jehan made a good start and overtook Brazilian racer, Piquet. Two cars tangled in front and Jehan moved upto seventh. He soon overtook British Racer Max Fewtrell to climb to sixth. Up ahead the leaders tangled and German racer Zandeli fell down the order. Jehan quickly went passed Lundgaard into fourth and then, the safety car was deployed. It was during the safety car period that Jehan’s radio messages were broadcast, about Jehan being furious that his DRS (Drag Reduction System) was not working. The DRS is crucial in Monza due to the long straights and the inability to use DRS is a severe handicap while fighting a bunch of cars. The failure was not linked to the team in any way and Jehan would just have to work with the disadvantage.

Jehan drove brilliantly once the safety car pulled into the pits. Third place Richard Verschoor was also driving well, but the Indian pulled off a phenomenal move around the outside of the Dutchman, going around the first corner. Jehan managed to make the move stick and then began to pull away, in third.

Jehan had excellent pace, but unfortunately without DRS, he was clearly disadvantaged and unable to challenge the leaders for the race win. He tried to close in as much as possible, but the safety car was deployed a second time due to another crash. The race ended behind the safety car but Marcus Armstrong in second received a penalty, promoting Jehan to second while Russian, Robert Shwartzman won the race.

“The race was a lot of fun, starting P10 and finishing P2 with such a good result for the team. It was very frustrating for me, not having DRS so I couldn’t really battle for the lead, and I really wanted to, I know we had the pace. Second is good but I’m a little upset for not having the opportunity to fight for the win.”

Shwartzman’s victory and Jehan’s second place inpsite of his issues, mean the Russian was able to pull further away from Jehan in the Championship. Jehan remains in second after earning his seventh podium of the season. Jehan will start seventh for Race 2 tomorrow, due to the reverse grid regulations.

September 7, 2019

Shwartzman back to his scintillating best in Monza Race 1; Jehan Daruvala finishes 3rd

Russian wins for the first time since Round 2, ahead of teammates Armstrong and Daruvala

Robert Shwartzman, winner, flanked by Marcus Armstrong,, left and Jehan
Daruvala 3rd, All three are from PREMA Racing. An F3 image

Monza, 7 Sept 2019: Championship leader Robert Shwartzman won for the first time since Le Castellet to edge closer to the FIA Formula 3 Drivers’ title. The Russian racer had to battle off his teammates for the victory, finishing at the peak of a PREMA 1-2-3, with Marcus Armstrong in Second and Jehan Daruvala third. The race finished under safety car as Alex Peroni of Campos Racing survived a huge crash and walked out safely before being taken for regular medical checks.

The race started in contrasting settings to yesterday’s wet Qualifying session, with bright conditions overlooking a warm 19-degree Italian heat. Following a spat of post Qualifying penalties, it was Lirim Zendeli who backed up Christian Lundgaard on the front row, followed by Richard Verschoor.

The polesitter was in the middle of a three-man brawl for first off the line, having seen the duo behind him make thundering starts. The Dane managed to eventually fend off Verschoor, but Zendeli flew past him coming out of the first turn.

Armstrong had bolted off the line himself, rising from seventh to fourth, ahead of Max Fewtrell, and he was soon honing in on Verschoor, who he swiftly swapped positions with, while setting the fastest lap.

Delight turned to despair for Zendeli – who had taken the lead following arguably the race start of his career to date. Zendeli and Lundgaard came together and the German skidded off track – he was left with a puncture, which ended his race. Meanwhile, the Danish driver suffered front wing damage, which forced him into the pits and left him at the back of the field.

This handed Armstrong the race lead and a chance to make it three wins from four, which would thrust him into second in the Championship. With Verschoor desperately clinging onto second, ahead of fellow PREMA duo Shwartzman and Daruvala, the Kiwi was able to build up a steady lead at the front.

The Indian lost significant ground in his tussle with Shwartzman and Verschoor, when he was forced wide in his attempts to wrestle third from his Russian teammate. This allowed the Championship leader an opportunity to pounce on P2 and he powerfully sent it down the side of the Dutchman.

Having come within 12 points of Shwartzman in Round 5, Jüri Vips struggled in Spa last time out and wasn’t faring much better in Monza. The Estonian clumped the back of Keyvan Andres and was flung off track and into the wall. He attempted to get going again, but the damage to his front right tyre was too great and he was forced to retire, which brought out a safety car.

Verschoor lost two places upon the restart, with Daruvala and Yuki Tsunoda both lunging ahead down the pit straight. Meanwhile, Armstrong’s lead at the front had been sliced to just 0.5s.

The sight of Shwartzman arrowing in on his teammate for P1 brought back memories of Spielberg, when the duo collided in the same scenario. There would be no repeat this time around and Shwartzman cleanly dispatched off the Kiwi to take the race lead, displaying the maturity he has gained from that episode in Round 3.

The race would finish under the safety car, when Alex Peroni took flight on the sausage curb. The Campos driver was able to leave his car safely, before being taken by the medical car for the usual checks.

This allowed Shwartzman to run home unopposed in first, ahead of Armstrong and Daruvala. Tsunoda and Verschoor completed the top five, ahead of Pedro Piquet, Jake Hughes, Liam Lawson, Fabio Scherer and Logan Sargeant.

Having also claimed the fastest lap, the Russian’s win hands him a 35 point lead in the Drivers’ Championship, with three races remaining. Daruvala remains second with 144 and Armstrong is third with 137. Vips, on 122, and Lundgaard, on 97, complete the top five. Teams’ Champions PREMA Racing are first on 460 points, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 183 and ART Grand Prix on 174. Trident, 97, and HWA RACELAB, 72, complete the top five.

Lawson will start on reverse pole in Race 2 tomorrow at 9.30am local time.

FIA Formula 3 Championship Round 7 – Race 1 provisional classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing
2	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing
3	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing
4	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport
5	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
6	Pedro Piquet	Trident
7	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB
8	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport
9	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
10	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing
11	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing
12	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix
13	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing
14	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident
15	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix
16	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix
17	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
18	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB
19	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing
20	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB
21	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport
22	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport
23	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing

	NOT CLASSIFIED

	Alex Peroni	Campos Racing
	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix
	Juri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
	Niko Kari	Trident
	Giorgio Carrara	Jenzer Motorsport
	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Robert Shwartzman (PREMA Racing) – 1:40.020 on Lap 17

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Robert Shwartzman (PREMA Racing)

September 7, 2019