Thoughts of the Top Three post Round 7 Feature Race

FIA Formula 3: Arvid you’re the race winner of the Feature Race here at home in Silverstone after having won the Sprint Race yesterday. It’s the first time an F3 driver has won all the races of a race weekend, how are you feeling right now?

Arvid Lindblad: I am over the moon, I don’t think I have been this happy in a long time. The race was so crazy, I don’t really have any words to describe it. It was changing a lot. I think slicks and wets changed between being the best tyre five or six different times during that race. It was so strange, we had a massive advantage at one point and then it was so sketchy and it was just about surviving and staying on track. As soon as the Safety Car came in at the end, I had a massive delta and were able to pass all the wet runners. Obviously with Callum’s penalty I was able to take the win. To do the double here at Silverstone, at home is crazy and something I could never even dream of.

FIA Formula 3: At what point did you realise that, with all the ups and downs of the race, that you could win this?

Lindblad: I backed myself and the tyre pretty early on. Already from when we mounted the wets on the grid, I didn’t think it was the right call but I was told there was a lot of rain coming so we stuck with it. Then at the end of the formation lap, I told my engineer that there was barely any rain and it was not doing anything to the track so we took a risk to box. Then on the slicks I new almost immediately that I was quicker than the wet runners, even when it was drizzly. We had quite a few Safety Car interventions which I think helped us out a lot because when the track was at its wettest we basically didn’t lose any time. I think there was one point in the middle where it was pretty sketchy. We went from P1 and P3 Callum and I down to like P20. During that phase it was about staying on track, even at that point when I was in P20 I still thought it was the right tyre because we had seen so far this week that the track is drying so fast. I knew as soon as it stopped it would change very quickly which was exactly what happened.

FIA Formula 3: When were you informed that Callum had a ten second time penalty and did that change your driving at all?

Lindblad: I think I was told with about 3 laps to go. It definitely calmed me down a bit. The mentality shift when from attacking Callum to just keeping it clean and tidy enough that Gabriele Minì didn’t pass me. I obviously still wanted to win on track but with the conditions it still wasn’t very dry and I didn’t want to take much risk. The last two laps I was just trying to be tidy and I was quite happy to finish second and take the opportunity

FIA Formula 3: You finish the triple header in the best way possible with two wins at home, there is a one week break and then it is back to business in Budapest, what can we expect from you there?

Lindblad: I don’t know, I think we will see. I haven’t been to Budapest before, I haven’t driven the track. I think it will be a challenging weekend. We will see what happens. There’s a lot of things that will be different from this weekend, a lot of things for me to still learn. I think there was a lot of luck on our side this week that helped. Not so much yesterday but more so today. Obviously a win will be amazing but I am not expecting that.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations, Gabriele to you P2 today, it’s been a crazy one, how happy are you with that result today?

Gabriele Minì: I am really really happy, even though I missed out on the win by not even a second it’s still amazing. Considering I qualified P14 going home with 18 points is something you could never expect.

FIA Formula 3: On the starting grid, did you discuss with the team as to the strategy you wanted or did you just rely on their expertise for the best choice?

Minì: We immediately switched from wets when there was not a lot of rain. We had an issue with the radio so I could not really tell the team what I thought in that moment. Luckily, I think that was what saved us, it started working just one minute before starting so it was just perfect. I slowed down quite a lot after the Safety Car line and then we decided at the very last moment to box. So I still had space to turn the car into the box. We lost a bit of time in the pits as Arvid was in front of me so I lost a lot of my track position. But in the end, we stayed on the slicks, we stuck too it and as Arvid said even though when it was raining we knew that I just needed a tiny bit less and we would go much quicker. In the end, it’s a crazy race and you have to pick a side. I think we went for the right one.

FIA Formula 3: How difficult was it out there with so much overtaking, cars were going everywhere, how is it from the car?

Minì: It’s quite hard because at one point in the race you are so much quicker that even if you wanted to switch back you are so much quicker that you might break your wing without even realising. I think doing a race like this is never easy. Also there were some sketchy parts in the middle of the race and I am not really sure what happened. When it started raining a bit more we just had to stay on track and survive. We knew we were going to drop to last but it was the way to go. We had to stick to it. In the end we did that. After surviving in those laps we just ended up being so much quicker.

FIA Formula 3: Luke Browning and Leo Fornaroli didn’t score as many points as you, that means the title fight is getting tighter and tighter going into the final rounds of the Championship. What do you think will be key to beating them going into the final rounds?

Minì: We need to once again work as hard as we can. The pace has never been an issue, we showed it today and we showed it in Qualifying even though we basically didn’t do the second run. I trust the team to give me a competitive car each weekend. I think we just have to keep working and the result we will see.

FIA Formula 3: Good job, Callum Voisin P3 in today's Feature Race here at Silverstone, at home for you a first F3 podium from seventh on the grid and what a way to get it. You were the only driver at the front that decided to start on the slick tyres, so how is it from the car?

Callum Voisin: I mean it was definitely a gamble but I guess the other teams must have given their drivers more information because for me they just said it was this kind of rain and that was about it. Obviously it did rain a little bit halfway through the race which was closer than what I would have wanted but it dried up very quickly. I think having so many wet runners drying up the track for us really helped. I think if there were more slick runners then it would have been much more difficult. I am still happy with the pace, I managed to fend off two PREMA cars who are fighting for the Championship so not too bad of a day in the office. I still moved up positions so I can't be too displeased.

FIA Formula 3: You stuck to your guns with the slick tyres, we saw quite a lot of drivers deciding to go back and change tyres. How confident were you at the worst moment of the rain that you were taking the right decision?

Voisin: Thankfully for us the Safety Car was quite long. I think that actually kind of helped us because at the start we can’t get any temperature in because it was so slippery everywhere. Then it started to dry up especially offline, towards the end of the Safety Car you could get a little bit more temperature in. The first two laps or so were a bit tricky but then it quickly dried up. Everybody was on the dry lines and drying up the track for us, so I think they did us a favour really.

FIA Formula 3: You received a 10-second penalty for that overtaking manoeuvre on Max Esterson, can you describe it from your perspective?

Voisin: I went down running around the outside at Turn 3 and I mean I was ahead of the apex when he pushed me off wide into the exit of the kerb. To me there was nothing really. I didn't even know what the team were on about when they said I got a 10-second penalty. It's very disappointing for sure because I think that's just racing and I would have overtaken him at that corner whatever happened considering I was on the slick’s compared to the wets he had. It is disappointing, at the end of the day because I want to win, I always want to win, that's why I'm here. Rules are rules the team will try and see what we can do but it is still a podium at least.

FIA Formula 3: Yes it's still a podium at home, your first home race in Formula three, it's the first podium for Rodin this season.

Voisin: Yes for sure it was the first win for about five seconds until I got the news.

FIA Formula 3: But it's still a good thing for you and the team, it's been an up and down challenging season for you, going forward what will this moment do for the rest of this season for you and Rodin?

Voisin: I think it will be brilliant, now we definitely have got the confidence. We can be in the mix week in week out. I think this definitely gives me a big confidence boost. When these two guys were coming up behind me with five laps to go I thought it was going to be tricky but we held on just fine. It's not going to be easy but I think we've got a good shot at staying in the Top Ten week in, week out now so a nice haul of points for the team.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations to everyone, well done today.