Bruno’s Take Round 8

FIA Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel looks back over another weekend of excellent racing and picks out his key topics from Round 8 in Sochi. He discusses Robert Shwartzman’s title win, PREMA Racing’s dominance and looks ahead to the 2020 campaign.

Robert’s Reign

Robert Shwartzman said so himself: he had huge pressure on his young shoulders to seal the title on home soil. Even if he was leading in the standings, his rivals came from his own team, and surely, that must have added even more pressure. But, he was able to take the crown after Race 1, much to his and Ferrari’s delight. He has been on top of things all season long, even if he lost the lead briefly in Silverstone. He is a complete driver: fast, consistent, and he knows how to fight for positions on track. He is a very deserving Champion, and I’m really looking forward to seeing him fight for more glory next year.

Congratulations Robert!

Prema Racing 1-2-3

Once again, I would like to highlight the tremendous achievement from PREMA Racing this year. The Italian team have dominated through and through in our inaugural season, finishing 1-2-3 in the Drivers’ Championship as well. For sure, the rest of the grid will be looking for a rematch in 2020, starting with Hitech Grand Prix and ART Grand Prix, who have finished second and third this season.

A Thrilling Season

When the first FIA Formula 3 season started, I was quite curious to see how racing with thirty drivers would turn out. That’s a very large grid, which is quite impressive, and on it, we saw many great, up-and-coming talents. Throughout the eight rounds, we saw some amazing, edge-of-your-seat racing that led to six teams taking at least one win, and seven outfits claiming at least one podium. We saw countless clean and fair on-track battles, thanks to a car that allows the drivers to race closely and fight for positions. It’s only the beginning!

Coming Next

Now that the 2019 season is done, we’re looking at 2020. We announced the calendar a couple of weeks ago and it will be quite exciting to open the season at the Bahrain International Circuit. We will also have another new venue as we will go to Zandvoort in the Netherlands. We’ve added one round compared to 2019, but we will once again conclude the campaign at the Sochi Autodrom. We are still working on the testing calendar, but I hope we will be able to reveal it in the near future. I’m now looking forward to seeing which drivers will be signed by the teams. It should be another competitive year.