Interview
Bilinski praises ‘fantastic’ Rodin after stellar final round in Monza
Roman Bilinski was full of praise for his Rodin Motorsport as the season came to an end in Monza, a weekend where he also claimed his first victory in the Championship.
Starting seventh in the Sprint Race, the Polish driver made his way up to P2, before a 10-second post-race time penalty for Tim Tramnitz promoted him to P1.
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On Sunday, starting in sixth, Bilinski was not able to make the same progress through the field as he had done the day before, but he still banked a solid haul of points in P7. Speaking afterwards, he reflected on a special weekend.
“Overall, I think a solid weekend to end F3 this year,” said Bilinski. “I think to get a win yesterday is pretty fantastic and also, I had to work on it from seventh on the grid, so it wasn't an easy one, but I think I showed and proved a lot of things in the race, which is good.
“It has been great working with the team this year, they are all fantastic people, I have learned so much from them and it has just been an incredible time. I have had so many laughs and jokes with the mechanics, engineers, my teammates, so I just can't thank them all enough.”
Both races saw plenty of action with overtakes aplenty, collisions occurring, Safety Car restarts needing to be managed and with the drivers also having to make sure their tyres got to the end of both races, while trying to stay within DRS range of the cars ahead.
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So how was it to manage? Well, for Bilinski it’s about knowing who your opponent is and what they like to do.
“You just steer around corners and hope,” he joked. “It's all calculated. You kind of have a good idea of drivers, how they defend and how they overtake beforehand, and you just manage it in the moment. You try to plan moves before and then you do your best.”
Looking back on the season, Bilinski ends the year 11th in the Drivers' Championship on 65 points, and with three podiums to his name. While he did not always get the results he wanted, the 21-year-old says he will look back on his campaign fondly.
“I think overall where we are in the Championship is nowhere near where we deserved to be,” he said. “I have had a lot of things go wrong, out of my control, like in Spa, the race getting cancelled when I am starting on the second row.
“But it is what is. I also think the people who need to know where I should be, they know. I think as long as I keep learning, keep improving and doing my best, that's important.”