Round 10 Post Sprint Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome back to Monza where it’s time for the press conference with the top three finishers in the morning’s FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race. In third place, we have Martinius Stenshorne for Hitech TGR. In second is Roman Bilinski for Rodin Motorsport and your race winner is Tim Tramnitz for MP Motorsport. Tim, congratulations, your second win of the season. It must be nice to guarantee that trophy to wrap up the year?

Tim Tramnitz: Yeah, for sure, I think that's what we needed after some tough rounds where a few things went wrong and not quite our way. But overall, I think the pace was always there. I mean, of course, it makes it a lot easier if you are in the top 12 after quality. I think we had the opportunity today to win, and we took it. So very happy with that.

FIA Formula 3: You made your way to the front about halfway through that race. Did you have to be tactical at all with the timing of some of the moves? Or was it just take the chance when it came?

Tramnitz: It was a bit more difficult, because I thought at the beginning about tyre saving quite a lot, but it seemed like, because on the Soft tyre, we don't have so much experience. The characteristics of the tracks are very different. So this is pretty much the first time that it's a normal track so we don't have so much data on the Soft tyre. And in the end, it's always a bit of a surprise. And I realised at some point that I can push quite a lot, and then I started pushing. But for sure, the DRS games are always a bit tactical around here.

FIA Formula 3: Well, you’ve got a win under your belt already this weekend and you still have an outside chance of P2 in the Championship. My maths makes it 10 points back from Mari Boya going into tomorrow’s race. Do you just go for it and is that the target?

Tramnitz: It must be the target. I mean, if I want to have a chance to finish second, I have to go for it and I will tomorrow. So I think I was second for quite a long time. Like I said, the last races were a bit tough for us, and we had a lot of experiences which weren't nice. But on the other hand, we also learned a lot of things, and hopefully we can put it all together also tomorrow in the Feature Race.

FIA Formula 3: Well, well done today and good luck for tomorrow as well. Roman, moving on to you now, P2 today and it looked like you had to really fight for it out there.

Roman Bilinski: Yeah, exactly. I mean, P2 from P7 I think was a really good job. Of course, I'd like to get the win, but Tim did a fantastic job, so well done to him, but overall, pretty good points and that's what we need.

FIA Formula 3: You mentioned from P7 getting up to P2, you clearly had the pace to get into the top three quickly as well today. How much were you enjoying the battles out there?

Bilinski: Yeah, definitely. I think it was a really well fought race. I think harsh, but also fair at the same time. So it was good, and really enjoyed it and that's the main thing.

FIA Formula 3: The race pace you've shown today must bode well for tomorrow's race as well, a little bit earlier with the race start for that one, but starting one position higher up, even if you have even higher targets now.

Bilinski: Exactly. And like I said, I'll do the best I can, and we'll see what happens tomorrow. But for sure, we have to look over some things. I think I could have managed the tyres a bit better. Like Tim said, we haven't done so many races at tracks like this with the Soft tyre. So it was one of those where you go into it not really knowing. But overall, I think it was okay.

FIA Formula 3: Well, congratulations, well done today on P2. Martinius, thanks very much for waiting, P3 for you today, but you obviously led early on as well. So just how tough was it for you out there today?

Martinius Stenshorne: Yeah, we had a good start, starting second, I think we did a good lap one. Then Tim had a bit more pace, so he got us, and I was able to stay with him. But then, when I was fighting with Roman, I had to cut the track and I was told to let him by again, then we kind of lost him, and then it was a race for P2.

FIA Formula 3: Just talk us through some of those fights with Roman and how tough it can be to defend round here.

Stenshorne: Yeah, it's not easy, especially if you're the car in front without the DRS. It's quite powerful, so you have to manage well. But unfortunately, he did, and I couldn't get by.

FIA Formula 3: Well, Hungary was a tough weekend for you before the break, results-wise. So how pleased you at least, to kick off this weekend with a podium?

Stenshorne: Yeah, I think we had more potential in Hungary, but some things didn't really go our way. So it's nice to come back for the final round like this and finish the season with a podium and hopefully another one tomorrow.

FIA Formula 3: Good luck with that for tomorrow.