Collet wants to ‘lead the team’ during second season with MP Motorsport

18 March 2022

Now in his second season in Formula 3 with MP Motorsport, Caio Collet says he is being looked upon as a leader within the team for the 2022 campaign.

Collet ended his rookie season in the category ninth in the Drivers’ Championship, taking two podium finishes across the year, which came in Barcelona and Le Castellet.

With two new team-mates in Alex Smolyar and Kush Maini for company this year, Collet says that as the team’s longest-serving driver, he will be expected to utilise his experience as the others get used to their new surroudings.

“I’m really happy, they know me really well, I know them quite well, how they work and how they do stuff,” Collet said. “I think they know where I’m quick, where I’m strong, so we can work on that quite easily compared to if I moved teams. I feel really happy here, the atmosphere is great.

Collet finished 13th in Qualifying

“For sure they look at me a bit differently to last year. I need to show the way and lead the team. I think I will need to do that during the season, especially from Round 1 It’s really nice to have this position.”

Collet, who is part of the Alpine Formula 1 academy, has set his sights on competing for this year’s title in Formula 3.

While his performances in the latter half of the 2021 season were consistent, the Brazilian acknowledged that he has to take a step up and fight for race wins and podiums on a consistent basis if he wishes to challenge for the Championship.

“I think we need to be battling for podiums and wins in the Feature Races, for sure,” he said. “If you want to be fighting for the Championship at the end we need to be there every time.

Collet is in his second season of F3 with MP Motorsport

“I think we need to start the season inside the top five, battling for podiums and wins in the Feature Races so we can get as most points as possible.

“I was a bit frustrated last year that all the races I finished P4, P5. We analysed together with the team what I could’ve done better, especially in Qualifying. It was where I didn’t put everything together.

“(We needed) to start a bit further up the grid, especially for the third races. I was always starting the races in P5, P6 which was good, but not enough. This year we are trying to make the step to every time be in the top three.”