2022 Round 9 post-Sprint Race press conference

Thoughts from Colapinto, Bearman and Collet

FIA Formula 3: Many congratulations to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race here at Monza in third place, Caio Collet for MP Motorsport. In second place, Oliver Bearman for PREMA Racing and taking his second Sprint Race win of the season, Franco Colapinto, for Van Amersfoort Racing. Franco, that was a pressure race for you, and it came down to the final corner of the final lap. How much did you enjoy it?

Franco Colapinto: Well, I enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed the first few laps where I could manage to make a little bit of a gap and then of course with so much pressure from behind, I just tried to stay focused and do my job. I tried to keep the tyres in the window which was quite difficult, pushing so much with no DRS during the race, and behind they had a big tow from me. So, I had to push a lot in the corners, and I think we managed quite well. It’s not very often that you see the drivers who start on pole, winning, or at least leading every lap in the race in Monza, and I think we were strong enough to be there. So happy about that. I’m really grateful to the team, they did an amazing job and an amazing effort during the whole year. As a new team starting this year in F3 having two wins in a year at least until the last race, it's really impressive.

FIA Formula 3: As you say, you lead every lap, but were you lucky to be leading into Turn 1? Did we hear you say that you almost stalled at the start?

Colapinto: Yeah, I was really close to stalling; I think I've never been so close. I did quite a few burnouts and the rears were quite warm for the start, and I pressed too aggressively on the clutch maybe, but it was enough to keep the lead and to have a good start.

FIA Formula 3: Alright, many congratulations to you. Well done. Oliver will come to you now. You thought you had one more lap. What might you have done differently had you known that?

Oliver Bearman: Well, I was driving like I had one more lap because I thought the last lap was the penultimate lap. So, I just wanted to get close within half a second so I could pass into Turn 1 and I did that, but then the chequered flag came out, so that was the end.

FIA Formula 3: Now Ollie you started P7. Just how good was your car today?

Bearman: It was amazing. One of the best cars I've had this year. It's really good. I was able to push like hell and have mega pace and no drop-off, so I think that that tells you all you need to know.

FIA Formula 3: And you now move up to third in the Championship standings. There are still six drivers in contention for the title with just one race remaining. Give us your thoughts on tomorrow's race.

Bearman: I think it will be a messy race like today. That's it. I just need to try and stay in the points. I think we had good pace today, so just the same again. No risk, just score those points.

FIA Formula 3: Well, talk us through Turn 1 with Jonny Edgar and Caio.

Bearman: No risk, but I saw the gap and I went for it. I think I broke later than my Qualifying lap, but I left loads of room on the inside because there were three cars so it was tight, but we managed to get through. It was the car. To be honest, it wasn't really me it was just that the car was so good at braking compared to the others. I was always gaining 20 or 30 meters on braking, so it wasn't really an amazing thing I was doing. It was just the car was too good.

FIA Formula 3: Well, look, very well done to you. Caio we will come to you now. You put up a great fight. Just talk us through your race.

Caio Collet: I was playing the long game, to be really honest. I knew it is impossible here in Monza to pull away from the rest, so I was just trying to wait behind Franco for the last few laps. But I waited a bit too much to be really honest. I made a mistake in Parabolica and Jonny got a bit too close, and obviously Ollie as well. So I went back to P4 and then fought back my way to the podium. It's just a small mistake from my side in Parabolica that caused me to be a bit too far from him and I had to defend in Turn 1. I missed out a bit on the win, but of course the podium it’s really nice.

FIA Formula 3: Let's just look at the bigger picture. You've shown tremendous pace during the second half of this season. Just how much has the car improved?

Collet: I wouldn't say the car improved a lot. I think as a team and especially myself, we just we were able to put everything together in a weekend. Obviously not everything, Qualifying yesterday was a bit of a mess for us, but I think the second half was pretty strong. Even though sometimes we didn't have the easiest Qualifying, we were always managing to have good Sprint Races and a few points in the Feature Race. I think we progressed as a team and myself towards the end of the year, which is nice, but I think we missed a lot of opportunities in the first two rounds, especially.

FIA Formula 3: All right, well, look, very well done to you.