ADAC F4 title-fight can give Edgar an edge as he gets set for F3 debut with Carlin

Carlin Buzz Racing’s Jonny Edgar dominated the vast majority of the 2020 ADAC Formula 4 Championship campaign, beating Jak Crawford to the title, but not before things got a little hairy in the final two races, an experience he says he’s all the better for.

Leading the title race from the start of the season until the final two races, Edgar fell behind Crawford after a 12th place finish in Race 1 of the final round. Dropping to second with two races to go required him to take risks, something he’d not had to do much of in 2020.

“When I was on top, I just had to focus on not crashing and being careful, but because I knew that I had to make up positions, I had to take risks,” said Edgar.

“I think that was quite a good thing because it was something different. ADAC F4 was really good last year and it’s nice to have won a championship already.”

It’s an achievement that Edgar will be bringing with him to Formula 3, with the Red Bull junior set to debut with Carlin in 2021. He’s already begun his pre-season preparations with the two camps, garnering information from Carlin and spending time on the Red Bull simulator at their Milton Keynes base.

The 17-year-old has also been looking to improve himself physically ahead of the step-up to F3, with a particular eye on strengthening the muscles in his neck.

He explained: “I didn't actually have any issues during post-season testing last year, but I have still been working a lot on my neck as I know that it needs to be a lot stronger in F3 because it is so much faster in the high speed.

“The car was way faster around Barcelona than I was used to, about 13 seconds quicker than what I drove last year. You can break a lot harder and later as well, while I found that the downforce made a big difference. There was a lot more power, but that was easier to get used to.

“I was training a lot of Christmas and since the start of the year in order to get ready. I have also been to Red Bull a few times for simulator sessions, which was really helpful because their sim is really close to the actual car, so that has helped me a lot.”