2020 Round 6 post-Race 1 press conference

THOUGHTS FROM HUGHES, LAWSON AND SARGEANT

FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to the press conference with the top three finishers in Race 1 of this weekend's FIA Formula 3 Championship round here in Spain. We are joined by race winner Jake Hughes for HWA RACELAB, in second place is Liam Lawson for Hitech Grand Prix, and third is Logan Sargeant for PREMA Racing. Jake, your first win of the season and it was set up by a beautiful move on Logan early in the race. Just talk us through that.

Jake Hughes: I had a decent start and was able to keep P2. The lights weren't on for very long, so I nearly missed that. In the first two or three laps I felt quite comfortable - obviously, we had an early safety car. I thought if I had an opportunity to get past Logan, I would try to do it. I was confident that the pace was good, but the clear air for the tyre wear would be really important. I tried to make that happen, and yeah, managed to pull it off around the outside of Turn 1.

FIA Formula 3: It wasn't long after that we had the second safety car, so you had the restart to deal with. Did that concern you at all, or did you feel like you had the pace to control the race today?

Jake: To be honest, I felt I had the pace but under the safety car I felt like we were going slower than normal. I don't know if the other guys felt that, but I had a lot of rubber pick up on the tyre. I had a huge vibration on the restart, so I was a bit concerned about that. Once we started going it went away on the first lap and I managed to get the fastest lap on the next tour around. Credit to the team. The car was amazing, so I'm really happy.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations today. Liam, moving on to you. After a tough fight you pulled an almost carbon copy of Jake's move on Logan. Did you see that move unfold before you and know that it was possible?

Liam Lawson: Yeah, I guess. Obviously, Jake's move was nice. Congrats to him on his win. For me, it took me a while. We had good speed midway to the end of the race. We definitely weren't as quick at the start. I was really struggling a little bit there. The move on Logan at the end... He had a lot less tyre life than I did, so it wasn't too difficult. Still, second place in the race is a good result. It would have been nice to try and get the move done earlier, and maybe we'd have had a shot at catching Jake.

FIA Formula 3: It's still, as you say, strong points for second, and it's getting ahead of Logan. Did it feel all the more important because of the championship picture as well?

Liam: Yeah, I think so. It's important that we finish in front of these guys championship-wise. But, obviously, we're still quite a way behind so we've got to be careful not to look too closely at that.

FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Logan, moving on to you. A bit of a repeat of the first race at Silverstone - going from pole to third. How was that race from your perspective?

Logan Sargeant: I wouldn't really say it was a repeat of Silverstone. I think they were two completely different issues. Today I just didn't have the outright pace. I didn't feel good in the car. I was struggling in many different ways, but these days happen and we're going to look at it. Like I did in Silverstone, I'll come back better tomorrow.

FIA Formula 3: You certainly did that in Silverstone. When you were fighting with these guys, with those moves at Turn 1, did you have the championship picture in mind to keep it clean?

Logan: I was always going to keep it clean. Those are big points to throw away, and points tomorrow. To be honest, I knew my tyres were struggling. They had more grip and at the end of the day I couldn't really fight it too hard.

FIA Formula 3: Still, well done today. Jake, just returning to you. You said yesterday that the championship target felt a little bit out of reach. After today's win, and the fastest lap, do you still hold that view?

Jake: Yeah. These guys... we seem to be up here together quite a lot at the moment, so it's not like I'm gaining massive points today. But, for sure, for my own championship tally it's crucial. I still think top five is the realistic view, and anything above that would be a bonus. The car is performing quite well at the moment, so let's see.