Interview
Tramnitz keen to fight for more podiums and race wins after positive Barcelona test
MP Motorsport rookie Tim Tramnitz has set out his goals for the remainder of the season after what he called an “intense” three days of in-season testing in Barcelona.
After a strong start to his maiden campaign in Formula 3, that saw him finish third in the Sakhir Feature Race, Tramnitz went without scoring in Round 2 in Melbourne.
The German says the test was a good way for them to “sort out some things” after a “tough” outing at the Albert Park street circuit, as he later talked through their plan of action last week in Barcelona.
TESTING NOTEBOOK: How did each team fare after three days of running in Barcelona?
“Three-day tests are always quite a good amount of time, especially with the open pit lane,” said Tramnitz. “We can do the procedures we want; we have enough time to do everything, and I think first of all it is always good to have some track time.
“I think it’s good for me as a rookie and also for the team to try out a couple of new things and also to understand a bit more of what I need. I think actually the days are always quite intense, especially when you do three race runs in one day.
“It can get a little bit tough to be honest but it's always fun, especially when you go from a used set of tyres on a race run to a new set of tyres. The difference in grip is insane, and you are just really enjoying the tyres you have and the car during the test.
“But on the other side, of course the team has quite a strict plan and quite a structured run plan for the three days to go through all the procedures they want to test.
“So basically, you arrive at the test, you do the run plan the team has planned, and you adapt it a little bit to what you need. For example, if you I think another race run for the driver would be a bit better, then you have time to do this, so this is the really good thing about testing.”
Tramnitz revealed that one of the areas of focus for him and MP in Barcelona was Qualifying. His P7 in Sakhir is his and the team’s only top 10 Qualifying result so far this year, but he says they left testing having made a step in the right direction.
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“I think after Melbourne the main point was the Qualifying pace which we were struggling with,” he explained. “There were a couple of small incidents in the races which cost us some laps to get higher up the field and to have a chance to fight for points but overall, the race pace was good in Melbourne.
“So, the main focus was on Quali runs, especially on the first day to make it a bit realistic to the race weekends, to arrive and do a couple of laps on a used tyre and you have to find a solution straight away for the first sets of new tyres.
“So, to find a good balance in the car and also for me as a driver to quickly adapt, even if the car is not one hundred percent perfect and to give the team good and better feedback than in Melbourne because everything you do on the second and third day is just like a bonus.
“On the real race weekend, you don't have that much time to find out so many things so the first day of testing was very important for us and I think that we managed everything quite well and after the first day we were quite happy that we were in a good range.
“It is always a bit track dependent but also for the team and me it was just important to see roughly where we are. I mean there is still room for improvement, there is always room for improvement, but I think it was a good step in the right direction.”
He will hope to carry those improvements forward to the next set of European tracks that he will have to tackle, starting at an Imola circuit he adores for Round 3 of the 2024 season.
“I am quite excited to start the European season,” Tramnitz added. “Imola is a track I really like, and it is so much fun in the F3 car. It's just corner after corner and there are some special things as well.
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“For example, how you use the kerbs, it’s probably the track where you have to take the most kerbs and these little things make it much more interesting and make it a special track.
“For sure the track time helped as well to just spend time in the car, get to know the car even better and get even more confident and I am just really looking forward to going to Imola and another highlight coming up straight away with Monaco as well, so it's going to be a cool two weeks.”
He later added: “The only track I haven't raced at is Silverstone, but it is a very cool track as well. I kind of like all of the tracks that are coming up. For sure I am excited to see how it will be with the fans as well.
“The triple header will be really intense especially as you are coming a bit closer to the end of the season, but I mean all of the tracks we are going to are special and to finish the season in Monza is probably one of the coolest places to finish the year as well, so I am just really looking forward to it.”
Looking ahead to Monza, Tramnitz was also asked what he would like to have achieved in 2024 when the chequered flag is waved for the final time at the season-ending weekend. He replied: “I would say in Monza I want to be there as the best rookie of the year.
“For sure I think it's important to be very consistent as in the past the Championship was always won by very consistent performances. But of course the target is also to get more podiums and also to see what we do if we have the pace to get a win at certain circuits as well.
“There are always good opportunities with the Sprint Races, there are a lot of things that can happen. Already in Bahrain we showed that the potential for a Feature Race podium is there so why not two places higher. The aim is to fight for podiums and also to get some race wins.”