2022 Round 5 post-Sprint Race press conference

Thoughts from Crawford, Collet & Colapinto

FIA Formula 3: A very warm welcome to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race here at the Red Bull Ring. Finishing in third place Franco Colapinto for Van Amersfoort Racing, in second place, Caio Collet for MP Motorsport and taking his first win in Formula 3, and our winner Jak Crawford for PREMA Racing. Jak, many congratulations on the win. There was a lot of pressure on you at the end from Caio but you held on, just talk us through it.

Jak Crawford: It was a very stressful last couple of laps. At the beginning of a race at the Red Bull Ring, you have to survive. Battles will happen, it's just the nature of the track. Me and Caio had a good battle on the Safety Car restart and I managed to get ahead but I knew I had to push a lot on the next two laps to break the DRS. By the end, I think my engineer told me it was 0.9s, so I almost broke the DRS but I knew once the DRS was enabled, they would be coming fast because the DRS is so powerful here with the three zones. It was just super stressful and I had to really focus on the exits into the straights because I knew they were coming.

FIA Formula 3: Super stressful. But were you able to enjoy it as well?

Crawford: I definitely enjoyed the race, it was super fun. There's so much battling that goes on at the Red Bull Ring and the battle with Caio on the restart was one of the best battles I've had all year. Definitely, definitely enjoyed it.

FIA Formula 3: You're wearing the Red Bull overalls, what was it like to receive the trophy from Helmut Marko on the podium?

Crawford: It was pretty cool. Right after the race, he usually texts me to say congratulations and he said 'This time, I don't have to text you. I can do it in person.' So it's quite cool seeing him up there.

FIA Formula 3: Very well done. Caio coming to you. Talk us through those close battles with Jak?

Caio Collet: I think he did a really good job on the Safety Car restart with his tyres. I was struggling quite a bit and it was where he made the difference in the race. I think it was a really nice battle. I was always on the inside trying to squeeze him a little bit out of the racing line but he did a really good job. Like I said, I think he managed his tyres well on the Safety Car restart he had a little bit more grip. Anyway, it's still a good result. I think at the end of the race, I was pushing quite a bit to catch him but I was just one lap short.

FIA Formula 3: Now this is your second podium of the season. Do you feel that you can use this as a springboard for a better second half of the year?

Collet: I believe so. I think yesterday's Qualifying was a little bit of a mess. At least with a podium today I can reward the team a little bit and also reward myself. So let's see what we can do tomorrow. Maybe get a few points again.

FIA Formula 3: Best of luck with that. Thank you. Franco, coming to you, now it's been a while since that when at Imola. Is there a sense of relief to be back on the podium?

Franco Colapinto: Well, of course, it's always nice to be here again. I had a difficult couple of weekends but we are here on the podium, so I'm really happy about it. The team also did a good job this weekend, we were struggling a little bit with the balance yesterday in Quali and today we went in the other direction quite a lot. The change was quite positive. So, I'm really happy about it. Of course, the pace was there, I was just struggling in the high-speed sector. The last one is key because that is where the DRS zones start. In the end, I'm happy about it, and I'm happy about getting eight points for the Championship which is going to be quite useful as well. Looks like tomorrow it's going to rain a bit so, for sure there will be some opportunities to overtake and get a couple more points.

FIA Formula 3: There was a bit of pressure from Arthur Leclerc in those closing laps. Did he get close to making a pass?

Colapinto: He was quite close. He looked really strong with those front tyres but I was struggling quite a lot with a lot of graining. So he looked strong in the high-speed sections where I was struggling the most. So he was able to close the gap but at least we managed it quite well to keep him behind and still be on the podium.

FIA Formula 3: Okay, well done to all three of you.