2021 Round 2 post-Race 1 press conference

Thoughts from Smolyar, Martins and Williams

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations to the top three finishers for Race 1 of the FIA Formula 3 Championship here at Paul Ricard, in third place Calan Williams for Jenzer Motorsport, in second place Victor Martins for MP Motorsport and taking his second victory of the season our winner Alexander Smolyar for ART Grand Prix. Alex, that was a tremendous race and a brilliant performance by you. How satisfying is it to win a race like that?

Alexander Smolyar: Yes, especially on the last lap. I was actually a bit annoyed in the middle of the race that I was stuck behind the guys. I knew that I had a good pace and then I saw that Victor catching. As I was passing everyone, he was passing them as well. I knew that he had a bit more pace, so it was a few laps to go and I said I will push as much as I can. Then Victor passed me, and I saw the slipstream with the DRS on the straight was massive and that if I stayed within half a second it would be pretty much done for me. That's what I did, I didn't try to overtake before the last lap, even when it was possible. When I saw the gap on the straight, I knew that I could pass quite easily and then I would just have to defend my position for Sector 3.

FIA Formula 3: As you say, you judged it to perfection what were your expectations coming into the race?

Smolyar: I was not sure I was going to win. I was hoping to fight for the podium, definitely. I think our race pace was really good. Qualifying yesterday didn't work too well, so in the middle of the race when I saw I was much quicker than the guys in front I was not actually expecting that. I saw it was possible to win and I was pushing for it.

FIA Formula 3: And how did the tyres hold up for the whole race?

Smolyar: The last five laps it wasn't so good for the rear tyres, so I was trying to manage it well. In the end they will get wear anyway, it's 20 laps so it's quite a long race, but I think on tyre management it was also not bad.

FIA Formula 3: Well done Alex. Victor coming to you, it was a brilliant race by you as well, P10 to P2. Can you start by describing your emotions?

Victor Martins: It's just incredible, with all the fans, I was seeing all of them and it was like don't look just stay focused and go for the win at the end. I wasn't expecting anything, or to come back like this with a possibility to win the race after starting 10th. I was just aiming for top six or top five. I knew we were going to have a good pace; we worked a lot since Barcelona on the race pace. I saw some opportunities and I went for it straight away without really thinking about the tyres, I just pushed. I saw Alex had really great pace also and was overtaking everyone and I said lets go. At the end I saw myself P3, P2 and then P1 and I said let's not make a mistake but with the slip stream on the back straight it's just something crazy. I didn't get the win today but it's just a matter of time. I'm really proud to be on the podium after starting P10.

FIA Formula 3: You say you've taken a big step since the opening round of the Championship in Barcelona. Where in particular is your car better now?

Martins: I worked a lot on myself, I didn't make the small mistakes I made in Barcelona which is really critical for the races. I just tried to stay focused, looking front not looking behind or defending. I just wanted to attack and to not think to much about the tyres because even if you take care of them you can sometimes not recover it at the end. I went for it and the car was just amazing, we discussed the car a lot in Barcelona and they did what they needed to do to give me a great car today. I felt awesome from lap 1 to the end so I'm really grateful for that today.

FIA Formula 3: Finally, which was the best overtake today?

Martins: I think round the outside of Turn 12, honestly, I don't remember all of them because there were quite a lot, but round the outside of Turn 12 and also, I did one in De Beausset. Actually, in the entry of the corner I wasn't going to go for it, and when I saw the little gap I said lets go because I was feeling comfortable with the car. I will say all of them, it was a really good race.

FIA Formula 3: Well done Victor. Calan, well done to you as well, your first points and first podium of the season. So many positives for you to take from the race today?

Calan Williams: Yeah 100%. Really happy with how it went and also really happy for the team. It's their first podium, my first podium, our first podium of the year. My plan for the race was to go in with a cool head and do what I could, finish well in Race 1 and set myself up well for Race 2. There's no need to take any unnecessary risks in this race and compromise the whole weekend. I'm really happy to come away with P3 and for the team it's an incredible result.

FIA Formula 3: Was it frustrating for you because you made a great start but couldn't break the DRS train?

Williams: No, I was just focused on myself and doing what I could do. I didn't want to push too hard at the start, I learnt from watching the races from two years ago here that tyre degradation is an issue if you push too hard in the first few laps. Especially because we didn't have any VSCs or SCs in the middle of the race, we had one on lap one, but nothing in the middle of the race to give to give the tyres a break. I knew I had to manage the tyres, especially with how tight the group was because the top we were all together. If my tyes went off at the end of the race I would have been a long way back so I'm happy with how I managed the tyres and I wasn't too concerned with the DRS train, I knew I just needed to focus on myself and do what I could do.

FIA Formula: Well done to all three of you.