Interview
‘One of the most fun races’ – Clerot delighted with comeback drive to P8 in Melbourne Feature
Pedro Clerot was delighted with his and Rodin Motorsport’s efforts in Melbourne after he came through the field to score his first FIA Formula 3 points in Sunday’s Feature Race.
The Brazilian driver’s weekend got off to a nice start in Free Practice when he was seventh fastest, but a brake issue in Qualifying left him down the order in P19.
After finishing 14th in the shortened Sprint, Clerot made up more ground in the Feature Race, taking the chequered flag in P8, and giving him his first four points in F3.
“It was a fun race,” said Clerot. “I knew we had very good pace, unfortunately we had a couple of issues in Qualifying that put us on the back foot for the races. I don't think our time was really representative, we had a really good Free Practice, we were P7.
“Starting from P19 in the Sprint we finished P14 with good pace in those few laps. Today in the Feature I knew that if we had a proper race we could come forward. I think we did a very good job, I think for my first race managing the degradation was quite good.
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“I think I dealt with everything quite maturely and I was very happy to end up in the points. It was a very good race, it was very fun. I told my engineer it was one of the most fun races I've had in my career, so I'm very happy.”
When asked how he was able to manage everything, from tyre degradation to making overtakes, Clerot revealed he had some help from AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides – who finished seventh – during the race.
“It was quite nice because yesterday we had a little bit of a taste for today,” he said. “It wasn't obviously a lot because we were starting to have degradation and then we had the Red Flag.
“I didn't really know what to expect today, but I think I dealt with everything quite maturely. We had a good opening lap and then I knew once we settled the pace I could come forward.
“Brad and I were actually helping each other out to go forward. So I'm very, very happy. I think as a first weekend, I learned a lot.”
Speaking further about what he learned, Clerot said it was not just about the racing side of things, but also all the systems that he had never had to manage in previous categories.
“I got a lot of grips with the car but also with everything that goes on within the race,” he explained. “So like with DRS, with the Virtual Safety Car, the Safety Car, with everything that we have to do.
“It's a little bit more complicated than FREC for sure, but I'm just very happy that we can end up the weekend with some good points.”
Lastly, Clerot paid tribute to Rodin. It is the 19-year-old’s first season racing with the team, and after a strong winter of preparation, he is happy with how their first weekend together went, but knows they have a lot more they can show.
“We had a good programme of testing together,” he said. “We knew that we were going to do some good work together, but coming into the weekend, I was not expecting much.
“I was just trying to focus on my job and I think that we as a team had a really good package. Like I said, it was a shame we couldn't really put it together in qualifying. We had a brake issue, but I am really, really happy to be working with the team.
“They are a wonderful group of people to work with. My engineer and my coach, we are doing really good, and to be fair, I have felt quite comfortable with the team since day one.
“I’m just very happy that in the first weekend, we can already put the car up there and show that we have potential.
“We're P8 in the championship. I know there's a long way to go, but to start like this is always really good. It just gives me more confidence that once we put qualifying in there, we will be able to fight for top positions and score points every weekend.”