2023 Round 7 Feature Race: Thoughts from the top 3

Thoughts from Goethe, Fornaroli and Martí

FIA Formula 3: Oliver Goethe, congratulations. Race winner here at Silverstone, first F3 race win. How are you feeling right now?

Oliver Goethe: I’m so happy, it’s been a strong weekend overall. Yesterday was a tricky race but anyway, this was the main race, and this is the one that counted. I saved the tyres for the first half of the race, and I managed to attack Leo. After, it started to rain a bit and the Safety Car came out with three laps in the wet and I was just trying my best to bring it home and I did. I’m over the moon.

FIA Formula 3: Let’s talk about the start because Leonardo made a good start and behind, you were involved in a good fight. How was it from the car?

Goethe: Yeah the actual start was average I would say, I didn’t gain or lose a position into Turn 1. Then Pepe was right behind me and Leo was defending into Turn 3 so I went on the outside and tried to brake late to try and keep my position, but then I locked the front right tyre, went a bit wide and that put me under pressure from Pepe behind, who passed me at the next corner. But I got annoyed and quickly got him back. From there on I was just managing the tyres and attacking Leo at the end.

FIA Formula 3: It’s a 1-2 for Trident, first win for you. How important was today in terms of fighting for the Championship in the Teams’ Standings?

Goethe: Yeah it’s super important. We had an amazing Qualifying, the team did an amazing job, we were one, two and five so it gave us chances to get many points and we delivered. It’s great for the Teams’ Championship and also for me.

FIA Formula 3: Looking ahead to Budapest, what can we expect from you there?

Goethe: After this weekend, I’m confident the pace will be strong. Last year I drove in Budapest so I have a little bit of experience there already and I think the pace will be strong. I’ll just try to repeat what I did here.

FIA Formula 3: Well done today, we’ll see you in Budapest. Leonardo, coming to you. P2 today in the Silverstone Feature Race from pole position. It’s a podium and good points, but maybe starting from pole, finishing P2 is a little bit frustrating for you?

Leonardo Fornaroli: Yeah it was a good race, very tricky. I started from pole and the first part of the race was very good, I was just trying to manage the tyres because Ollie was in DRS the whole race. I started to degrade the rears a bit and then Ollie, with the DRS, he managed to pass me and then pull away. Then the Safety Car came out and it started to rain with two laps to go so it was very difficult. I was just trying to bring the car home without taking any risks. We managed it and did a 1-2 which is very important for the Teams’ Championship and I’m quite happy with today. Of course, I wanted the win but congratulations to Ollie, he did a great race.

FIA Formula 3: You mentioned it started to rain, how difficult was it from the car to keep it on the track and also making sure you were defending your position at the same time?

Fornaroli: It was not extremely difficult because I’ve already experienced these conditions. Of course I wanted to try and overtake Ollie but it was maybe a bit too risky. At the same time, I had to defend from Martí behind me. I managed to finish P2 without taking any risks and in difficult conditions, it was very easy to do a mistake and lose the race. I’m happy with that.

FIA Formula 3: Overall, it’s a very positive weekend for you and Trident. How much of a confidence boost is this weekend for the remainder of the 2023 season?

Fornaroli: I did my first pole position here, I was feeling very very comfortable with the track and the car. I think pole and P2 gives me a lot of confidence that will be very important for the remaining part of the season.

FIA Formula 3: A very well done, congratulations on your weekend. Pepe Martí, P3 in today’s Feature Race. It’s another podium and strong points in the Championship, but it wasn’t easy out there. How was it from the car?

Josep María Martí: Yeah it wasn’t easy. I think we did a really good race. From the outside, I don’t know how it looked but on the inside, I was struggling a little bit with tyres especially on the front axle. That was costing me quite a lot of time, especially in the Maggotts and Becketts section, and Paul Aron was able to get alongside me going into Stowe, which was quite bad from inside the car. But really happy to get P3. When the rain came, I was quite worried because it was quite damp. It’s a really good result for the Championship and really happy with P3. I think in the last laps, I think I could’ve gone much faster than what the two guys in front were doing but I was taking it quite easy, I had quite a big gap to Paul behind so I was just trying to get home and on the last lap, I had a really close moment with Leo but I didn’t want to take risks so I just played it safe. Really happy to take P3 and 15 points.

FIA Formula 3: Overall, a great weekend for you here at Silverstone. How important is it knowing that there are only three rounds left in the Championship? Gabriel Bortoleto looks very consistent, does it mean you’re still in the game and aiming for that title?

Martí: You’re always in the game until you’re not. That’s what I always try to remember. Last year, you had guys who were 50 points behind with four Rounds to go and then second and third in the Championship by the slimmest of margins. You never know. The Championship is very competitive and as you see here, all of a sudden you have two guys from Trident who maybe haven’t had such a good season as Gabriel so far, but they turned up the heat for this Round and they were the most competitive of all. It’s great to see the competitiveness and awesome to be able to fight with them at the front and take good points.

FIA Formula 3: Next up is Budapest. What can we expect from you there?

Martí: It’s a track that’s very nice to drive. The strengths of the car change around and we’re going to a medium-speed track so you never know. From a track point, we’re going to suffer a lot with deg so that’ll be a struggle but I think we can expect the same from this weekend, good pace and keep adding points to our count and try to get that Vice-Championship under tight lock and we’ll be there. We just have to keep doing our job.

FIA Formula 3: Well congratulations to you, very well done.