Round 5 Post Feature Race Thoughts from the Top 3

FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to the Press Conference of the top three finishers for the FIA Formula 3 Championship Feature Race here in Barcelona. In third place we have Leonardo Fornaroli from Trident in second we have Christian Mansell from ART Grand Prix and taking P1 is Arvid Lindblad from PREMA Racing. Arvid Lindblad, winner of the 100th FIA Formula 3 race here in Barcelona, the youngest Feature Race winner and it’s been done in great fashion, how is it from the car?

Arvid Lindblad: It was an enjoyable race. It was quite long to be honest. It was really good, the pace was really strong, we prepared quite well at the test earlier in this year so I knew that we had a strong package both in Qualifying and the race’s. It was just about executing and not making mistakes. I did a good job in qualifying to put myself at the front. Then today I didn’t make any mistakes, I committed to the move on Mansell and made it cleanly. Then I was just focusing on managing in the lead. The car was really good. I held a strong pace and I am super happy to come across the line and win. My second win this year and the youngest Feature Race winner so I am pretty happy with that.

FIA Formula 3: Was there any point during the race, especially when the rain started to appear that you thought this might get a little bit more tricky?

Lindblad: Yeah definitely with the race, even in the middle part of the race I was conscious about the tyres. As we know in F3 there is a lot of degradation so it was about being smart. I could see that I was pulling the gap but I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t pushing too hard and then suffer the consequences in the second half. I was bearing this in mind a lot, trying to manage as best I could. As you said, at the end the rain started falling, but I had done a good job up to that point to build a healthy lead so I could just take it easy and bring it home.

FIA Formula 3: The last time we saw you winning a race was the opening race in Bahrain, it has been some time since. How do you feel your season has been going between Bahrain and your win here in Barcelona?

Lindblad: I think it has been a really positive season. Maybe if you look at the results, it’s not been so clear. For me, every weekend I have done has been a step forwards. Every weekend I have been further up in Qualifying. There was a lot of learning to be done especially on the medium tyre in Melbourne and Imola which is why I was a bit weaker in the Feature Races. My Qualifying has improved and I have been more competitive in the Feature Race so a step forward every weekend. I think having the test here made a big difference in getting more experience and knowledge of the circuit which helped. Now I have to take the learnings from this weekend and all the previous ones to the following races this year to try and keep improving and keep this momentum.

FIA Formula 3: Good job congratulations. Christian to you P2 in today’s race from Pole Position so clearly not the result you were hoping for but still strong points and another podium. How was it from your perspective?

Christian Mansell: It was pretty boring up until I got passed and then pretty boring again but sometimes boring is good in racing. You don’t get too many circumstances where you can say that. I just struggled on the tyre degradation side, tried to push the whole way. It is a bit saddening when you are pushing flat out and the guy ahead is still pulling away. But it is what it is, I am still happy with the 18 points, plus my two points for Pole so 20 points is pretty good for a weekend. That’s positive.

FIA Formula 3: It is very positive but at the same time there is still a lot of work to do on your side and ART’s side. What did you learn today that you can apply to next week in Spielberg?

Mansell: You can take what you want from this but we are on a different tyre for Spielberg. I think at the end of the day the balance will be what the balance will be. I think from looking at the pictures it looked like Lindblad was set up with a bit more understeer than us which protected the rear of the car. I think this was probably the direction to go today obviously it was proven by his pace. Hindsight is a beautiful thing so I am obviously going to think back to what I could have done better. I am sure there are an abundance of things that I could have done better as there always is, even for Arvid, for Leo. It is all about maximizing the package. I think I did do that today so I can be happy, but also I hate finishing second so I am naturally a little bit bummed.

FIA Formula 3: Still some positives, do you feel like the season is going where you hoped it would?

Mansell: Yeah and no, it’s going the way I want it to go on the Hard and the Soft tyres, just not necessarily on the Medium tyre. I think it is still very positive so far, we still have a fair bit to go it is not like it is all said and done. We have a few more races back to back, Austria and Silverstone which are tracks that I like. We will see what that brings. It is very easy to move onto the next weekend for me because it is a back-to-back which I like. I don’t like the gaps, it gives you opportunity to sit on things so I don’t really like that. This back-to-back I quite like.

FIA Formula 3: Well done today, Leo from sixth on the grid to third, it was very eventful how do you feel from the car?

Leonardo Fornaroli: Yeah I am super happy with this results. I managed to have a good start and jump to P5. I knew the race was long and we had to manage everything to have tyres at the end. We were all pushing a lot and I was a bit scared because I was struggling a lot with the rear tyres. But I remained calm and I said, ‘Okay let’s stay in the DRS of the car in front without over pushing it’ because I want to finish the race. With five laps to go Oliver Goethe was very quick behind me so I said, ‘ okay it is time to move forward’. The car in front of me had lost the DRS so I immediately passed him. With three laps to get on the podium I was quite calm because Luke Browning in front of me had no DRS so I knew I could manage everything and study him. I saw he was struggling with the tyres as well, a little more than me. I thought, ‘Okay time to go’. The last two laps were crazy, I had a crazy fight with him and I think we almost collided. Now I will watch the replay. In the last lap I managed to take the podium and I am extremely happy with this result.

FIA Formula 3: You are back in the lead in the Drivers Standings going into Austria what does that mean to you?

Fornaroli: It gives me confidence going to Austria but right now I am not focusing on points because it’s still a long way to go. My main goal is to score as many points as possible like I have been doing until now, without risking too much or destroying all the good things we have been doing until now.

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