Round 5 Post Sprint Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to the Press Conference of the top three finishers for the FIA Formula 3 Championship Sprint Race here in Barcelona. In third place we have Oliver Goethe from Campos Racing, in second we have Alex Dunne from MP Motorsport and taking P1 for the first time is Mari Boya from Campos Racing. Congratulations your first win and a Spanish driver winning for a Spanish team at the Spanish Grand Prix, just how special is that?

Mari Boya: Yeah I am so proud of the job that the team did this week and to get the podium with Oliver. I am super happy to win my first race in F3 at my home track. It is also my first win in Barcelona, I have been on the podium many times before but it is my first time winning so it is really special. Having a lot a friends and family here it makes it even better. I will focus on tomorrow but today is really special for me.

FIA Formula 3: We saw lots of signs for you in the grandstands, the key moment of course was the two Tridents coming together, what went through your mind when you found yourself in the lead and you knew the win was possible?

Boya: This week the track has been changing a lot. I saw them pushing super hard at the beginning, maybe they wanted to get out of the DRS. I think especially Sami Meguetounif was quite aggressive. They went out of the race so it was better for me clearly. I don’t know how the end of the race would have ended up for them as I think they were pushing a bit too much. Let’s see tomorrow, a longer race and maybe without as many Safety Cars the degradation can play another game. Today I am really happy and the car was really good.

FIA Formula 3: It was not easy, you were under pressure for a lot of the race, Alex had a look into Turn 1 late on. How hard was it to keep him behind?

Boya: To be honest I didn’t expect to be defending because every time I thought I had the race under control. There was one lap were maybe he was looking for the tyres and he decided to push a bit more. As I wasn’t looking too much behind, when I saw in the mirror I thought he was closer than ever. So when he nearly got me I decided to push a bit more. The last laps, I was much better. Let’s see tomorrow, I think we still have extra speed but today was good.

FIA Formula 3: Very good, congratulations. Alex P2 for you and your first podium in F3. So nearly a win with that move at Turn 1. How do you view this result?

Alex Dunne: For sure P2 is not bad. I think in the beginning of the year it has been a bit tricky, to finally get a decent result that I feel we should have had earlier on in the season is nice. I think as a team this weekend we have struggled a little bit. So I felt that I maximised on what was possible. I think the pace was strong. I felt that at the beginning I had good pace, and I was trying to look after my tyres. Then towards the end Mari picked it up and I started to struggle a little bit more. I think I managed it pretty well and I am happy with P2.

FIA Formula 3: Talk us through that moment where you did get to attack into Turn 1. Did you think it was going to be your place or were you surprised that you got that close?

Dunne: Over the entire race it was the closest I had been and I thought I may never get the chance to be this close again so I have to give it a go at least. After that I wasn’t able to pull a move off so I decided to chill again. I thought that if I kept on trying and trying I would have eventually killed my tyres. So I decided to chill and look after them in P2.

FIA Formula 3: In that sense, with the late Safety Car did you see that as an opportunity if there was a restart to have a go or did it stop you having a chance?

Dunne: I think it both helped and didn’t help. Of course a Safety Car, if you feel like you have an advantage with the tyre degradation it resets everybody and brings everybody back down because the tyres get a chance to cool. So in that sense it doesn’t help but it brings you closer at the restart. If you can manage to keep temperature in the tyres and stay close in the last few corners then you have another opportunity. I think in some ways it helps and in some ways it doesn’t.

FIA Formula 3: Well done on your first podium in F3. Oliver your fifth podium in F3 and from eighth on the grid, you must be pretty happy with that result.

Oliver Goethe: Definitely, really happy, the form has been pretty good in the last couple of rounds. Especially in Imola, this was a similar race. I had a really good start. I managed to make a few positions in the first lap and of course there was the incident with the Tridents that put me in P3. The rest of the race I was just trying to keep up with these two. I managed to stay in my position. For me it is a very decent result for sure.

FIA Formula 3: With Gabriele Minì and Luke Browning not scoring today you make up some good ground in the Standings. Does that feel like a bit of a bonus given where you were starting today?

Goethe: Yeah for sure. The goal is to get the most points possible. Of course if the people in front of me in the Championship are not scoring points then that is definitely better for me. This is a good step forward but tomorrow is where most of the points are. I am starting in a good position so I will be looking to have a good start again and then aim for another podium.

FIA Formula 3: What is possible do you think tomorrow, starting from fifth, given what you have learned today. Was there key information you picked up from today’s running?

Goethe: For sure but everyone picked up good information. We will see what happens. The grip was really good in the first lap for me so I think I can maybe make some moves there. Like I have been doing recently. Then it’s all about tyre management. If there is no Safety Cars, plus with a few extra laps in the Feature Race. It is definitely important to look after the tyres, that can play a big part in the race. We will see.

FIA Formula 3: Great stuff, thanks very much all.