Round 3 Post-Feature Race Thoughts from the Top 3

FIA Formula 3: Here are the thoughts of the Top 3 following today’s FIA Formula 3 Feature Race in Barcelona. In third place we have Ugo Ugochukwu from Campos Racing, second is Hiyu Yamakoshi from Van Amersfoort Racing, and taking the win is Théophile Naël also of Campos Racing, Théo you are the FIA Formula 3 race winner. That sounds pretty good right now. 

Théophile Naël: Yes, it sounds really good. Super happy to first win in FIA Formula 3 for me, after a long time. The team deserves it. Last week in Monaco, I was close to grabbing the first place, but anyway, it was good points for the Championship and this weekend we came back even stronger, I guess. Super happy, good points for the team as well.

FIA Formula 3: It was a lights to flag type of win, with a lot of control on your part. You made it look easy, but how hard was it from the car?

Naël: It was quite difficult, to be honest. Hiyu behind was pushing quite hard, so I had to manage my tyres and still keep him out of the DRS. It was quite tough. I was struggling quite a lot at the beginning of the race and then it started to get better and better. I just took it easy at the end of the last two laps to avoid mistakes and finish as the race leader.

FIA Formula 3: After three consecutive pole positions, to finally get that win in the Feature Race without making any mistakes and pretty much just showing what you're made of, how good does that feel and how important is it for the remainder of the season?

Naël: Yeah, I think it's really good because three poles in a row, I guess the first one maybe was lucky, and then I did second and then the third one, so I guess it was deserved. So to finish the job in the Feature Race now was the last goal. I think today we did it.

FIA Formula 3: Next up is Spielberg. What can we expect from you there?

Naël: Well, in testing this year, we have been struggling a bit, but the team last year was really, really strong with the pole position for Nikola so I expect that we can still be fighting at the top.

FIA Formula 3: Thank you congratulations, Hiyu Yamakoshi, P2 in the Feature Race today at Barcelona, your best result to date in Formula 3. A lot of points gained. How pleased are you with that result today?

Hiyu Yamakoshi: I mean, it's decent, this is kind of my second podium. But I have a lot of emotions for this P2, I think more than Monaco P1 actually, in the Sprint Race. I think we did a really nice comeback from Monaco. And I think we had a really good pace from the start of the weekend. So for me, this is really positive for the team as well. Yeah, I think really good results for us.

FIA Formula 3: Let's talk about the race. It all happened at the start. You made a great launch and then you moved up to P2 from third on the grid. Can you tell us about that move and then the rest of the race?

Yamakoshi: Yeah, I think I had a really good launch. We learned quite a lot from yesterday. Yeah, I think I almost overtook Theo in the start in T1. It couldn't work on the limit, but yeah, it's just a P2. But still, we had a good pace in the beginning. We had a lot of pace compared to... I think we had the best pace and we had the fastest lap. We can see we had the best car for me. It's a bit of a mixed feeling, but still, I think for me it's quite tough, but it's a really fun race.

FIA Formula 3: All three VAR cars are in the points today. I don't think there's been a race weekend so far without a VAR driver on the podium. What can you tell us about the current dynamic of the team?

Yamakoshi: I mean, I don't think we had so much progress compared to last year. I saw the report from them and we had a really good pace from last year, but couldn't put everything together on the weekend. Every weekend, at least one driver puts everything together. That's the biggest point for us.

FIA Formula 3: Looking ahead, in two weeks' time, there's Austria where the F3 cars have been testing, in-season testing. What can we expect for you?

Yamakoshi: For me, we had a really good test there. I think we are one of the fastest teams at the test. I don't know what will happen on the race weekend because the temperature and the track conditions will be completely different. But it's a short track like Monaco, always really tight on the top 10, top 12. I mean, actually top 20. So if a driver made one mistake, if the car ran something wrong, we could drop to P20 or P22. So for me, that's the main key. Again, everything put together and keep in top 10 for the time in the qualifying.

FIA Formula 3: Thank you very much. Ugo Ugochukwu, P2 on the starting grid, 3rd at the flag, still another podium finish for you. It's still the lead of the Championship as well. How pleased are you with your overall performance this weekend? 

Ugo Ugochukwu: Yeah, overall it wasn't an easy race.  I think pace was not the best. So yeah, I had Del Pino behind who was very quick. So I had to try to manage him and push quite hard. I fell into P4. I thought maybe the chance of the podium was gone, but I think pace came back a bit more towards the end. I managed to get back onto the podium. So yeah, I think it's a decent weekend. You know, we scored good points today. For sure it was not as fast as previous weekends, I feel. But yeah, overall I think maximised what I could do today. So I'm fairly pleased. 

FIA Formula 3: How difficult was it in the car when the pace was not where you wanted it to be and the podium seemed to be slipping away? 

Ugochukwu: Yeah, of course it wasn't easy. I was trying to push, of course, but at the same time, try to manage my tyres a little bit and stay in the DRS, which I fell out of, which meant I had to push even harder to stay in front. So yeah, that wasn't easy. I think later in the race, I managed to find a bit of pace back and get back into P3. So I just need to see why, we couldn't extract a bit more performance towards the start of the race.

FIA Formula 3: It’s a 1-3 for Campos Racing today. How much confidence did that give you ahead of the next round? 

Ugochukwu: Yeah, for sure. I think the team has done a really good job from the first lap in FP, I think they did a good job all weekend. We are keeping the good momentum that we started the Championship with. So yeah, I think me and the team are really confident going into the next round that we can be competitive and, you know, be fighting for more podiums. Thank you. 

FIA Formula 3: Good job today.