Round 1 Post Feature Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 3: Well, good morning everybody, and welcome to today's press conference following F3's Feature Race here in Melbourne. First weekend of the season and on the couch today in third, Taito Kato for ART Grand Prix, in second, Freddie Slater for TRIDENT and the winner of today for Campos Racing, Ugo Ugochukwu. Ugo, I will start with you. This was not an easy race, definitely managing tyres it seemed, but from your end, the start was very lively.

Ugo Ugochukwu: It was a good race overall. It was a bit tight into T1, so I lost out, fell back to P3, but I felt the pace at the beginning was really good. I went for the moves and got into the lead just to try to manage my race from there in clean air. And everything was working pretty well. As you said, tyre management was really crucial. Just trying to manage the tyre as best as possible. But sometimes with the graining, you can lose a lot of lap time, and then it comes back to you. I was always on it with everything. Towards the end, my engineer was keeping me updated on the times. Fred started to get a little bit quick at the end. I knew I had to manage the tyres well and also keep my pace good, just in case I came under attack towards the end. All in all, it's been a perfect start to the season, really. From Friday, I was feeling really good at this track, and we managed to have a really clean weekend and execute everything pretty well.

FIA Formula 3: You mentioned clean air. How vital was it to get to the front as quickly as you did?

Ugochukwu: It was important, of course, but at the same time, I had to make sure I didn't burn through my tyres. So, I was managing both things at once. I felt my pace was good enough to go for the moves without sliding too much. It worked out pretty well at the end.

FIA Formula 3: Yeah, the perfect start. This championship is quite long, and it's very important to be consistent. What's the game plan going forward, and then to keep that consistency?

Ugochukwu: It's definitely a long season ahead. We've had a good start, but we got to keep pushing and keep delivering good results. We're going to just take it race by race, same as we did for this one. Try to maximise every weekend, and then I'm sure we'll be in a good place at the end of the season.

FIA Formula 3: Perfect thank you. In second, Freddie Slater for TRIDENT. This is a pretty impressive opening weekend for the first season for you. Full season in F3.

Freddie Slater: To finish P2 in the Feature Race is very special, especially coming here for the first time. Having to learn everything from scratch basically, and to look at previous years and try and gain all the knowledge I can to make my life easier, because from lap nine onwards, it was a bit of a guessing game for me. I just had to feel what was underneath me. And you saw the pace at the end. I probably had a bit of a different strategy to the Campos drivers. So, it's definitely something to look into for the next few races.

FIA Formula 3: It wasn't straightforward, though. You got embroiled in some good battles on track.

Slater: Too many for my liking. It ruined a bit the race, the rhythm, let's say. There are a lot of people who were fast at different points, people who were fast for five laps and then they dropped off. I just had to keep my cool and keep doing the same thing I was doing before that. And then it meant I had more pace at the end.

FIA Formula 3: Did you have an idea that with the pace you had at the end, there was an opportunity to get Ugo?

Slater: There was an opportunity. I don't know how much more pace Ugo had, but we need to be a little bit faster at the start to be a little bit closer. But it was really positive, the pace at the end and the way I went about the race. But maybe the safety car held us back a little bit, but that's how it goes sometimes.

FIA Formula 3: So what's your main takeaway then from this opening weekend?

Slater: I think it's just that you can get in and be fast, you know, because obviously these boys, some are in their second years now. This is their second year, and to jump into a track I've never been on and just hit the references and drive and be at the front is very crucial for me. I think it's very important the way we went about this weekend, and it's important for the next nine races.

FIA Formula 3: Very good. Taito Kato, in third for ART Grand Prix, also debut year for you in F3. You must be very pleased as well.

Taito Kato: Thank you. It was a really nice race, to be honest. We couldn't drive in the Sprint Race, so I didn't know how much the tyre degradation was during the lap. But we managed it quite well. So this is quite a positive thing for the next round. The car was amazing, the whole race. To be honest, ART is struggling a bit with this circuit, but I think it's quite a good step from last year to this year. So I think it's quite a positive day. Let's keep pushing for the next round.

FIA Formula 3: You came from a little further back on the grid. There was chaos.There were some penalties here and there. How do you keep getting the information from the engineer? What to do, where to push and who to fight with?

Kato: My engineer gave me the information during the last safety car, so before that point, I didn't know which position we were in. And then I asked on the last lap, which position we were, and then the engineer said P3. So I was a bit surprised, and yeah, to be honest, there was a bit of luck for this race. So it’s feeling like a P5 finish for the race. So in the next round, I want to get the P3. It's my job.

FIA Formula 3: So, where do you need to improve to be a podium contender in your head every race?

Kato: I think qualifying is the main thing. Still, P7 is not too bad for both races, but yeah, there is a need for consistency to be in the top five. So we need a tiny bit more improvement in qualifying. I think this place was pretty nice. So let's keep pushing.

FIA Formula 3: And what about Melbourne? Do you like the track

Kato: Yes, I love it.

FIA Formula 3: Good. That's good. Thank you all!