Federation Internationale de l'Automobile

Preview

The Imola Race Pack

21 April 2022
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The FIA Formula 3 Championship resumes this weekend at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, after a thrilling season opener in Sakhir, Bahrain last month, and two sessions of in-season testing at the Circuito de Jerez Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in preparation for the start of the European season.

WHAT TO EXPECT

It was two second-years, Victor Martins and Arthur Leclerc, who took charge in the opening round of the 2022 campaign last month in Sakhir, Bahrain. The Frenchman claimed a resounding victory in the opening Feature Race of the season. Meanwhile, the Monegasque delivered two remarkable drives from 13th on the grid, ultimately netting second in the Feature Race.

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With the duo sat neck and neck at the top of the championship and having both seen success at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in their junior single-seater careers, expect the pair to be on the hunt for podiums and wins this weekend.

As rookies go, there are high hopes for Leclerc’s PREMA teammate Oliver Bearman, who finished in the points in both races in the opening round, ART Grand Prix’s Grégoire Saucy, who claimed a maiden podium in Sakhir, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Franco Colapinto, who nabbed the first pole of the season.

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FROM THE GRID – Arthur Leclerc, PREMA Racing

“I am really looking forward to racing at Imola this year, it's a great track. I really love the layout, it's quite narrow. I would say it's quite tricky in Qualifying, and it will also be tricky in races to overtake. It's also not far from Ferrari, and I spend most of my time with them in the Ferrari Driver Academy so I think it will feel like home.

“It's a high-speed track and quite tight so I think it will be really interesting in Qualifying because to put a lap together will not be easy. In terms of overtaking, like I said it's really narrow so it will be hard to follow and there's not much possibility in the line you take. If you are behind, you cannot really explore outside or inside lines so I think the main straight will be the main place to overtake.

“I think the right tyres will suffer quite a lot at Imola, but let's see. I did a Formula Regional race there and the degradation with the front tyres was quite big so we will have to see how the Formula 3 car reacts. I'm open to every challenge we might get!”

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TYRE TALK For the second round of the season Formula 3 will use the yellow-walled medium compound tyre.

Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport Director

“We are pleased to welcome the FIA Formula 3 Championship to Imola for the first time. Many of the drivers will have raced there in lower categories and we are sure they will enjoy the varied demands offered up by this old-school Italian circuit. We have selected the P Zero Yellow medium compound – the middle tyre in the Formula 3 range – and this will be the first chance the teams have had to run it this year, providing another additional factor to the weekend. The 2022 rear tyres have been designed to degrade faster, which should shift the balance towards oversteer and make the car more challenging to drive, so managing the rubber effectively could be key”.

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LAST TIME OUT – IN-SEASON TESTING

The grid picked back up where they left off, after two days of in-season testing in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain two weeks ago, venturing north to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last week for another 12 hours of track time.

ART Grand Prix rookie Grégoire Saucy topped a sunny first morning of testing in Barcelona, to go quickest overall on day one. The Swiss driver saw off Van Amersfoort Racing’s Franco Colapinto and his ART teammate Victor Martins by 0.155s and 0.244s respectively.

In the afternoon it was MP Motorsport’s Alexander Smolyar who went quickest in a long-run and data gathering focused session, clocking in a 1:33.342 to finish the session ahead of his teammate Caio Collet and Trident’s Roman Stanek.

Second-year Alpine Academy member Collet showed his experience in a Qualifying session on the morning of day two, to set the quickest time of the test overall with a 1:31.507. The Brazilian racer finished ahead of teammate Smolyar, and Colapinto.

The final session of the test saw Jenzer Motorsport’s William Alatalo top an afternoon stint once again concentrated on race runs. The Finnish driver finished ahead of Campos Racing rookie Josep María Martí and PREMA Racing’s Leclerc.

KEY STATS

  • Three rookie drivers, Isack Hadjar, Grégoire Saucy and Oliver Bearman, stood on the podium in the opening round of the 2022 campaign. Hadjar also collected his maiden win in the Sprint Race.
  • Eight rookies collected points in Sakhir, with PREMA Racing’s Bearman the highest placed first-year driver after two races with a total of 17 points.
  • After his win in the opening round, Victor Martins now has a total of seven F3 podiums, just three shy of the existing record shared by Robert Shwartzman, Dennis Hauger and Logan Sargeant who all collected 10 career podiums.
  • Five drivers finished in the points in both races at Sakhir, including three returning drivers and two rookies.
  • Nine teams scored points in the first round at Bahrain International Circuit, including Van Amersfoort Racing, who collected 12 points at their debut weekend in the third tier.
  • The 4.909 KM long Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is the second of two new tracks on this year’s Formula 3 calendar.
  • Imola is the third Italian track to feature on a modern Formula 3 calendar, after Autodromo Nazionale Monza and Mugello Circuit.

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