Post Qualifying Press Conference Round 2

FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to the Press Conference for the Top 3 qualifiers for this weekend’s FIA Formula 3 Feature Race here in Australia. In third place we have Dino Beganovic from PREMA Racing, in second we have Gabriele Minì also from PREMA Racing and taking pole position is Leonardo Fornaroli from Trident. Leo, congratulations, your second pole position in Formula 3, how good was your lap, because the gaps were so tight?

Leonardo Fornaroli: It feels amazing to be on pole here in Melbourne. It was a very tricky Qualifying, the track is very difficult being a street circuit. I was on it every single lap. The two laps before the last one were not so good so I knew there was not much in it. My final lap was of course a good lap, without taking any stupid risks. I am very happy.

FIA Formula 3: You were second during the red flag delay. Did you think your best chance had gone at that point?

Fornaroli: No, I knew I had one last chance on the last push. Of course, I was very stressed because you know you have only one lap. I just did a clean lap without taking any silly risks and we managed to put it on pole.

FIA Formula 3: How difficult was that final run to find a bit of space, there was a lot a traffic and there wasn’t a lot of time left on the clock.

Fornaroli: I didn’t have too many cars in front but from T12 to T13, I was almost going with the clutch. We were going very slow. I knew that that wasn’t good for the tyres. It was very difficult, but we managed it quite well.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations, well done today. Gabriele coming to you, one place higher on the grid than the opening round in Bahrain. You were so close to pole position. How do you feel with second?

Gabriele Minì: Of course it’s still a good place to start. We know that at the beginning of the Championship the key is to be consistent. Of course, if you are P1 you are happier, but in the end, I think in FP we showed good pace, in Quali we have been in the Top 2. In the first run we were second, then we managed to do P1. Going into the last lap, the track is going to improve, you have less fuel in the car and everybody else improves since we didn’t have too many laps this morning. In the end we managed it quite well. A bit like Leo, we all had to stop at the last corner, we were a bit further back. I think all of the guys were basically stopped on the last corner. Personally, I was on the clutch, rolling at like five kilometres. It is never ideal for the tyres. Even though you try to push, you know that you are not at the maximum of the grip. After seeing that my first sector was not great, I knew that I had to take some more risks. I tried that, it wasn’t enough, but I am still pretty happy with P2.

FIA Formula 3: It was quite an eventful Qualifying session for you, you were right behind Sami (Meguetounif) for that crash that bought out the red flag, just talk us through that from your perspective as you came around the final corner.

Minì: I was going into the final corner, I think I was not very far from him, maybe 2 or 3 seconds. Of course, he was already at the end of the corner when I started it. All you can see at first is the smoke and the pieces of the car. It is a dangerous situation, for me I had improved quite a lot on the previous corners, because of that I still managed to improve my overall lap time. Of course, I had to lift, and I lost quite a bit on the main straight. Not ideal of course but the good thing is that Sami is okay and didn’t hurt himself. I still managed to keep going after that.

FIA Formula 3: You mentioned consistency as well, you got solid points on the board in Bahrain, is that the target again this weekend?

Minì: As I said, of course what you want to try and do for a Championship, to fight for it you need to always be there, always get some points, get something. We are starting in P2 so we can try and gain bigger points. We know that anything can happen, and in Bahrain many things happened. What we have to do is work as hard as possible in the Sprint, try to gain a few places. Every place matters, every point. We want to try to be there and attack in the Feature Race too.

FIA Formula 3: Thank you very much. Dino, coming to you. Third on the grid this weekend, were the Top 2 out of reach today?

Dino Beganovic: I don’t think so in terms of the pace of the car. I mean Gabriele showed he was really close to pole so it was definitely possible, but I didn’t make it easy. Before the last run I was in a really bad spot, P14. I just needed to put it together, put a clean lap on the board. I am happy to be here in P3. It is a good starting position for Sunday and for the Sprint Race also. I think there was definitely something left out there. I am still happy to be P3.

FIA Formula 3: It was a frustrating weekend for you in Bahrain, after putting it on pole position. How important is it for you to get some points on the board over the next two days? Beganovic: I think it’s definitely important. Like Gabriele mentioned, in a Championship if you want to contend for the title you need to be consistent. You always need to be there. We take many positives from Bahrain, the speed that we had in the races and in Qualifying with the Pole Position. It was not a negative weekend at all, although we only scored the 2 points for the pole. We just have to put our head down now. We have 18 races to go in the Championship, so it is still very long, and we got off on the right foot for this weekend already. I am happy with this.

FIA Formula 3: Formula 3 hasn’t been to Melbourne many times but you guys all have experience from last year, what are you expecting from tomorrow’s race in terms of how it might pan out. Is it just stay out of trouble, or will you be attacking?

Beganovic: We can attack, there are 4 DRS zones here so there are lots of opportunities to race and overtake. This is very good, that’s why I like this circuit quite a lot. Also, we have a good race car so I look forward to it.

FIA Formula 3: Great stuff, thank you very much, Leo turning back to you. You were in the points twice here last year and now on Pole, is this a track you really enjoy driving on?

Fornaroli: Yes, it’s one of my favourite tracks of course I really like it.

FIA Formula 3: Short and sweet, thanks Leo.