2023 Round 6 Feature Race: Thoughts from the top 3

Thoughts from O'Sullivan, Bortoleto and Collet

FIA Formula 2: Zak O'Sullivan another race win and this time here at the Red Bull Ring and what a way to get it. Does it feel like the best win so far?

Zak O'Sullivan: Well, first of all, I get 15 more points than for my other wins, so it's nice to get a Feature Race win. Qualifying was good but a bit of a struggle in the first run but in the second run we managed to get quite close. Then the pace in the race was quite good, I managed to get to P5 early on and then built my way through to the lead and hold on to it.

FIA Formula 2: Looking at the on-track battles it looked very strategic, waiting for the right time, knowing when to defend and when to attack.

O'Sullivan: This year we have a slightly different tyre compound and it's the first time we've used it apart from Monaco so I think a lot of the strategy was feeling which axel was going and making sure you were either in dirty air or out of dirty air to counteract that. I think I managed quite well to get into the lead and had the balance to maintain the gap to Gabriel behind.

FIA Formula 3: Looking at the season so far, it's not been the start you were hoping does it feel like now something has clicked and now you're on the right path for the next few weeks?

O'Sullivan: I think so, I guess we'll see in Silverstone if the pace continues. I haven't quite gelled so far this year, we've been working very hard behind the scenes to work out what it is. Obviously, this race was very good, I think it might have been a bit of an anomaly due to the tyre degradation but the pace was definitely good. We just need to start qualifying higher up to show what we can do.

FIA Formula 3: Gabriel Bortoleto, P2 in today's race at the Red Bull Ring, back on the podium and you had to fight for it, how are you feeling right now?

Gabriel Bortoleto: I'm feeling good, for sure it's good points for the Championship. P2 is not a bad position to finish the weekend. Yesterday was not an easy race for me so these points are very important. I didn't want to risk too much, in case I crashed and lost this many points. I tried to attack and be aggressive but not so much, we were conservative. I'm happy that we did a P2 and I'm even happier that I'm sharing this podium with Caio. A big thanks to everyone who is following us and supporting us.

FIA Formula 3: Looking at your season so far, a strong start and then very focused racing, getting the points where it mattered. You're back on the podium during the period where we know we're going to have four race weekends in five weeks. Was it important for you to get back on the podium?

Bortoleto: It was very important, me and the team have done a very good job in the break leading up to this weekend to set the car back up to where we should be. Also myself, I think I've gone a good job in the race, it's important to start this month well because it will be the most important month this season.

FIA Formula 3: Next up is Silverstone, what can you tell us about that track and do you think you can continue this good form there?

Bortoleto: It's a track that I've never raced at before, I've done one test there only in the wet, so I have no idea of the dry lines there. I'm looking forward to racing there, it looks really fun and it will be intense like here.

FIA Formula 3: Caio Collet, P3 in today's Feature Race, another podium this weekend and a fantastic race also with lots of action. How was it from the car?

Caio Collet: It was a really tough race, I think I fought all 26 laps including the start where I had an issue in Turn 1 and then I hit safety mode and lost a lot of places in the straight so I had to work my way up back to to the front. In the last few laps, I think the top five were battling quite a lot and it was tough with the tyre management. So I'm really happy that we could manage everything well and the team did a really good job with the car today. I had a great car to fight back through the field and finish on the podium so really happy with that and we'll keep pushing.

FIA Formula 3: When you saw the last lap incident with Franco Colapinto what went through your head?

Collet: I knew that both of them are quite aggressive when they are driving so I just had to play safe and pray that something happened and it did. When I saw them going wide I was there at the right moment to take the podium and every opportunity we need to take it so I was quite happy to finish on the podium.

FIA Formula 3: It's your second podium this season, we know it's not been the ideal season for you so far. Does this mean it's the start of something new?

Collet: Hopefully yes, for the Championship win, it's not realistic but after this weekend it's a great boost for me to fight for Feature Race wins at the next three races here in Europe. I believe that starting strong in this round is really good and let's see what we can do in Silverstone, Budapest and Spa. I'm really looking forward and a double podium weekend is a really good boost for me and the team to keep pushing and fight for wins.