2023 Round 5 post-Qualifying press conference

Thoughts from Martí, Barnard and Colapinto

FIA Formula 3: Many congratulations to the top three qualifiers for the FIA Formula 3 Feature Race in Barcelona. In third place, Franco Colapinto for MP Motorsport, in second place, Taylor Barnard for Jenzer Motorsport and taking his first pole in FIA Formula 3, our polesitter, Josep María Martí, for Campos Racing. Wow, your first pole Pepe, how does it feel?

Josep María Martí: It feels great, obviously to take my first pole at home is such a great feeling! Especially to do it in the way we did, we only had one push in Free Practice so we were kind of going into the unknown in Qualifying. To do like that, working our way up, we did a decent first run got into P1 in the second run and pulled a great lap at the end.

FIA Formula 3: How difficult was the session, it's quite a short lap here, was traffic a problem?

Martí: Between me and my engineer on the radio, we were quite active during the warm-up and I actually didn't have traffic at all during the three laps but in the warm-up, it was quite terrible. I think 30 of us were in one sector so slowing down was quite crazy and especially getting the position ready for the push lap.

FIA Formula 3: A couple of Sprint Race wins for the year, all eyes on the Feature Race win. What are going to be the big challenges for you on Sunday?

Martí: I think the biggest challenge for us is the start. Pace wise, I wouldn't say I'm not concerned because that's really arrogant but I think that our pace, especially in testing was our strength in the race sim. Not that much in Qualifying, but we always seem to have a much stronger car in racing. I'm not that nervous, it's just a matter of doing everything the way we have to do it and getting a good start and trying to pull away.

FIA Formula 3: Best of luck with that. Taylor coming to you now, very quick in practice and your best-ever Qualifying result in FIA Formula 3. Talk us through it.

Taylor Barnard: Same as Pepe it was really crazy with all the traffic, every time we started the push in T10 and T12. In the end, I managed to do the lap in the last lap, like everyone and I ended up in P2.

FIA Formula 3: How much did the track improve during the session? Barnard: It improved by about one second, but I think it's because everyone gained a bit more confidence with every set of tyres. It was the same for me I gained a lot of confidence from the second to the third set so I think that helped me put a lap time in.

FIA Formula 3: Tell us a little bit about your development with this F3 car, how different is it from the F4 car you were driving last year?

Barnard: Of course, it's very different. The downforce is completely different, F4 doesn't really have downforce so coming to a Formula 3 car is completely different, crazy to drive and it's super fun as well. Trying to put a Qualifying lap in around here is really fun.

FIA Formula 3: Very well done to you. Franco coming to you now it was very close at the end, talk us through that final run.

Franco Colapinto: It's always positive to be in the top three and be able to score good points during the weekend and after some tricky qualifying sessions during the last few races it's great to give a good result to the team and be up there to score good points. Happy about that, happy about the pace of the car. The pace is looking strong, and for the races, I think our pace is stronger than in the quali so we are hoping to have a decent race. I think tomorrow the degradation is going to be big so hopefully some opportunities to overtake and get a few more points.

FIA Formula 3: Can you sum up your season so far, because it seems to me you've had a fair bit of back luck?

Colapinto: To me too, but of course, sometimes you don't get everything right and other teams do. Australia was really unlucky but I guess we already messed up a bit from Qualifying, we had the pace to be up there in the last run and I didn't do a lap on my second set of tyres so that was part of how the weekend finished we didn't score points after a win in the Sprint Race. It was just an unlucky weekend, we didn't have the best of starts, but it's a really long way to go and we are looking to get all those points back in these coming races.

FIA Formula 3: Are you confident that you can challenge Pepe for the win in the Feature Race?

Colapinto: We will try, as we've seen it's a tricky track to overtake but we will see how it goes. I think the start is really important here as well.