Interview
Bruno Del Pino acknowledges the graduation to Formula 3 in 2025 is a “big step” in his career but he is thrilled to be doing it with MP Motorsport, a team with which he has a great history.
The 18-year-old first drove for the Dutch outfit in 2023 and since then they have enjoyed a strong partnership, with 2024 proving to be incredibly successful.
Del Pino achieved eight podiums, which included three victories on his way to finishing third in this year’s Eurocup-3 season, and as he prepares to take the next step in his career, he is pleased to be doing it in familiar surroundings.
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“Obviously, I am feeling amazing,” said del Pino. “It’s a big step in my racing career and doing it with MP Motorsport is obviously the best thing.
“I've been with them for two years so I kind of know the work ethic, I know the staff and I drove with them in the post-season tests and I think I did quite a good job there.
“Obviously, there are things to improve heading towards the start of the season but driving with MP is going to give me so much confidence, as is the new car, which is going to make everyone start from a baseline more or less.
“Obviously I am looking forward to it, I am going to work hard to bring the best results possible and obviously enjoy it as much as possible.”
As Del Pino mentioned he got his first taste of F3 machinery at the post-season tests in Jerez and Barcelona. The Spaniard completed 291 laps across the four days and found a few things to be very different to what he had become used too.
“Well obviously, Jerez was my first touch of an F3 car so it was a bit more difficult than Barcelona,” he explained. “What I felt different was a car that is much faster, with better brakes and aerodynamics.
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“Also, a car that in Qualifying is out, one push and the tyres are done. So, it's a completely different thing to Eurocup which is a tyre you can push for many laps.
“Obviously also in race pace in an F3 car, you need to be around five, six seconds slower than a normal quali run so it can last all race. So, that's a thing I struggled with a bit more over a performance run.”
Del Pino also spoke in detail about a 19-lap race simulation run he did on the final afternoon of running in Barcelona, with tyre preservation a key area of focus for him heading into the winter
He continued: “If you do for example two push laps where you're faster than the guy in front by one second but then after that you are three seconds slower, you need to look at different braking shapes, throttle application, or racing lines.
“So, it's a different thing compared to Eurocup, and I am going to work on that in the simulator and in pre-season testing as much as possible to be ready for the first round.”
What will help Del Pino is having an experienced teammate in Tim Tramnitz around, with the Spaniard keen to learn as much as possible from the German driver.
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He also plans to spend as much time in the simulator and with the engineers this winter, while also taking care of himself physically to be ready to race in 2025.
“There’s no specific plan now,” he concluded. “We will see what the team will send me but I am looking forward to doing some sim work, some meetings with the team, watching over data and stuff, and also things related to the car, like the race runs.
“Flying to Holland to do the sim will be the most important thing as well as maintaining myself to be physically and mentally ready for the start of the season.”