In Profile: Nikita Bedrin

One third of the rookie trio at Jenzer Motorsport this season, Nikita Bedrin has been getting adjusted to life in Formula 3 and looks to be on the up.

Get to know him a little bit more with some insight into his racing career, from karts all the way up to Formula 3 this season.

WHAT IS YOUR FIRST RACING MEMORY?

“My first racing memory is when I was doing my first race in a proper kart, not a rental kart but in a junior category. It was the last lap, and I was in P3, and I got overtaken at the second last corner and I was really upset after that. I was six years old at the time and I didn’t defend the position, so that’s the memory I have forever. I was really upset after that, and I lost a podium in my first race ever in karting by not defending and not knowing that I had to actually! I’ll remember that for the rest of my life. Now it’s automatic because I’ve been fighting so much in so many races. You do it in every race, defend, overtake, so I’m very used to it now.”

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR RACING STYLE?

“I would say I’m quite aggressive. Also, in the way I handle the car, even in Practice I’m quite aggressive, I have quite an aggressive driving style. It’s not always particularly good but, in most of the cases, it’s good. I have to adjust it a bit in the race runs otherwise the tyres are finished, but also in fighting, I’m quite aggressive. I like to push and sometimes I overpush in the Qualifying runs, but that’s more of a mental thing I would say, but my driving style is aggressive. In past years and in the beginning of this year, I would say I was too aggressive but I’ve learned to calm myself down especially in the races, which has resulted in some good performances.”

WHO IS YOUR RACING HERO?

“To be honest I don’t have one. I really liked Ayrton Senna when I was young, watching clips and highlights. When I was still racing in mini categories when I was younger, my favourite racing driver was Max Verstappen because he was super young and really fast already. But now, I don’t really have a favourite driver or a hero. I would say there are many Formula 1 drivers that are very good, I like many of them but I don’t have a hero.”

READ MORE: Rivals trip up in pursuit of Bortoleto: F3 Weekend Wrap-Up

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST RACING ACHIEVEMENT SO FAR?

“So far, I would say my last year in karting, winning the Super Master Series in the OK Category, that is the biggest achievement so far. I also won rookie Championships in Formula 4, but I didn’t take it as a big deal. And, of course, I would say making it to Formula 3 is a very big achievement. My career hasn’t been easy and it’s been a lot of hard work to get here, so that is quite a good achievement for me.

“In that year in karting, it was quarantine in the beginning of the year, so we missed quite a lot of racing and then with two rounds left in that series, they were all in one week at one track. Everyone was testing the week before and we found something that nobody else found. The type of driving style that worked in those conditions, I was really driving under the limit and saving the tyres which ended up in me being super consistent, more than anyone else in the race. So, I ended up winning two races in a row, I had so much speed for two weeks in a row. It got me the title in the last race, and I didn’t even know I was fighting for it. I was really happy with that.”

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING A RACING DRIVER

“Being able to drive these fast cars. Also you become a bit more famous, when you get to F3, many people have eyes on you and it’s really cool to be around on a Formula 1 weekend. You see the F1 cars, F2 cars and the F3 cars are really fun to drive, you can carry so much speed into the corners. Also the travelling is a cool part but after a while, it gets boring because you travel so much. For a normal person it would be really cool but for us it can get a bit boring with too many flights.”

HOW DO YOU RELAX AWAY FROM RACING?

“Usually when I’m home, I’m usually at school. Otherwise I’m not doing much, I don’t have a sim at home but at the moment, I’m training every day so there’s not a particular way I relax. Just school and training. That’s about it.”

DO YOU HAVE A SECRET TALENT?

“I think I do but I still need to put more into it to make it work because there’s a bit more potential there.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TRACK ON THE F3 CALENDAR?

“I think Melbourne is one of my favourites. Monaco is cool too. They’re probably the coolest tracks we race on. Only having one Practice session made them both very hard so you have to adjust quickly. Maybe even Silverstone but many tracks are new for me.”