Correa's Guest Column: A podium to remember

5 September 2022

There were smiles and tears of joy throughout the whole paddock on Saturday as Juan Manuel Correa brought home his first podium since his return to racing. It marked a major step in the ART Grand Prix driver's road to recovery from the injuries he sustained three years ago.

After a poignant second-place in Zandvoort, Correa was in the driver's seat for our eighth Guest Column of the 2022 season, giving us his thoughts on the emotions behind his trip to the podium and why the season-finale has got him hungry to secure success for him and his ART team.

ONE GOOD POINT - FIRST F3 PODIUM

The best point from the weekend is by far my podium in the Sprint Race. Every podium is nice, but this one is probably my most emotional one ever. Firstly, due to the amount of work and sacrifice it has taken me to be back at this level, but also mainly because the last podium I had before this one, was shared with Anthoine.

ONE BAD POINT - AN ERROR IN PRACTICE

My Free Practice was very tough. I made a mistake in my first push lap and had a spin. After that, I couldn’t get a good feeling with the car and I struggled to get a good baseline for Quali.

WHAT I LEARNED - MY PADDOCK FAMILY

This weekend was a great reminder of what an incredible community we have in the paddock. The congratulations and emotion I saw in other people's eyes after my podium were very very special. We also saw once again that Dutch fans are incredible!

FANS MAY HAVE MISSED - LATE NIGHT SWIM & ARTISTIC SKILLS

I've got a couple of behind the scenes anecdotes. Firstly, I went for a swim in the ocean on Saturday night after my podium, it was freezing!

Also, as I was leaving the track on Saturday, a fan asked me to draw something in a piece of paper cause she wanted to get it tattooed. Crazy! I hope she reconsiders haha. I just drew my signature and a small heart.

WATCH: HIGHLIGHTS: Maloney makes it two Feature Race wins in a row

UP NEXT - MONZA FINALE

I’m very excited for Monza because I love the track. The racing there is action-packed, the fans are incredible, and I love Milano. It’s a bit sad that it’ll be our last race of the season, it has gone by very quickly.

On the sporting side of it, we will push as hard as ever to end the season on a high. For me personally, I’d like to get another podium. And for the team, we’re gonna do everything possible to help Victor win this Championship!