Interview
The phrase ‘consistency is key’ is regularly banded around in Formula 3, but according to Clement Novalak, it’s not “good enough” on its own, with the Trident driver saying that he will need to start scoring poles and wins if he’s to seriously fight for the title.
One of just two drivers to have scored points in every single race so far, Novalak was left lamenting his inability to get the most from his Trident after Race 3, as opposed to celebrating the impressive run.
“(Consistency) is important, but clearly as we are seeing from the standings, it’s not good enough,” said Novalak, who took P5 at the flag after a late move on Frederik Vesti. “You want to be scoring points every race, but you want to be winning races, you want to be putting it on pole and that is the one thing that we haven't done this year.
“I don't want to set myself objectives but that is what we will have to do at the Red Bull Ring to remain competitive. The performance (of the car) today was good enough for the race win, as jack showed, but I picked moves at the wrong places and just didn't capitalise on the material.
“In that sense, I am extremely sorry to the team to have not put in the performance that they deserved. All in all, it feels bad, but at the same time, you have got to feel good that a terrible race is still a P5."
Sitting fourth in the standings, Novalak has less than two weeks to wait until he’s given the chance to put things right in Round 3 at Spielberg, and the Frenchman says he’ll be maximising any time off.
He continued: “It is onwards and upwards for Red Bull Ring. The sour taste that this weekend leaves in my mouth gives me extra motivation for Red Bull Ring, so we will bounce back.
“We have just 10 days off, so more training, a lot of time in the sim, and time analysing this weekend. The extra motivation is not just from this track today, but it was Father’s Day and I don't think I did him proud, so that’s just another boost for Red Bull Ring."