An old school night race: Cian Shields on his Dream Race Weekend

22 November 2024

Cian Shields' rookie Formula 3 season is over but we still have a couple of tasks heading his way before the year’s end.

We recently sat down with the Glaswegian and asked him to design his perfect race weekend. He is the latest to take us to one of the oldest tracks on the calendar but with a modern twist.

WHERE WOULD YOU HOLD THE RACE?

“I'd probably say at Spa. I really like the track and every time I've been there it's been enjoyable and we've been pretty quick so it's a good place to go.”

Spa in the day and in the night: Nikola Tsolov’s Dream Race Weekend

WHEN WOULD THE RACE BE HELD?

“I'd probably say around April time. It's not too hot yet but there’s a decent chance of it being warm. But it's not got the summer heat yet, so it would be perfect.”

DAY OR NIGHT RACE?

“A night race would be cool. I've never done one but I'd like to do one.”

Shields' dream weekend involves a night race at Spa

WET OR DRY RACE?

“I'd say a dry race, yeah let’s keep it at a dry race.”

WHAT WOULD THE TRACK LOOK LIKE?

“I'd probably bring, I think they call it the No name corner, the left hander, I'd probably bring it back to the old style one rather than the new one that's a bit tighter. I tested on it once, it's only one corner but it would be a little different.”

WHAT TYRES WOULD YOU BRING?

“For Qualifying I'd say the Mediums but for the race I'd say Hards. The old Supersoft tyres would be fast round there but probably not for the race.”

WHICH CELEBRITIES WOULD YOU INVITE AS GUESTS?

“This is a hard question. From football probably Cristiano Ronaldo maybe I'd also get Odell Beckham Jr, the NFL player, I'd probably invite him. I'd probably also take an actor like Brad Pitt.”

Shields would try to bring the Mediums and Hards to the track

WHICH ARTISTS WOULD PLAY ACROSS THE WEEKEND?

“I quite like a bit of rap music so probably 50 Cent, that would be quite cool. I saw that Stormzy was at Silverstone and I heard that was pretty good. I saw some videos of it, it looked pretty cool but I might still pick 50 Cent.”

WHAT WOULD THE PODIUM AND TROPHIES BE LIKE?

“A normal podium just like what it was at Silverstone, I thought it was pretty cool at the corner of the building. Trophy wise, I'd probably pick something cool. The ones from Budapest in F1 before were quite cool, the Mosaic ones, I saw Esteban Ocon's Instagram, I thought they were quite cool.”

WOULD YOU INCLUDE ANYTHING ELSE?

“I'd probably say if it's an F3 race weekend maybe give us the F1 style Q1, Q2, and Q3 in Qualifying, that would be pretty good. Apart from that, not much else.”