Round 11 Post Qualifying 2 Press Conference

FIA Formula 3: Welcome everyone to today's FIA Formula 3 press conference following Qualifying Session 2 here in Madrid. Joining us in P3 from Rodin Motorsport is Pedro Clerot. In second place, from Campos Racing, is Ugo Ugochukwu, and from MP Motorsport, capturing his second pole position of the season, is Tuukka Taponen. Congratulations, Tuukka. How does that one feel?

Tuukka Taponen: Yeah, it feels good. P3 in Q1 and P1 in the second qualifying. To be honest, I felt better with the driving in Q1, but luckily it was enough in Q2 to secure pole position. I am super happy to start on pole for Sunday's race.

FIA Formula 3: Can you take me through that pole-winning lap? How much commitment did it take from you?

Taponen: Yeah, I was one tenth off before starting the last push, and I was fifth or sixth. It was very tight there. We have been struggling the whole week in sector one, so it was just trying to minimise the time lost there and then do a good rest of the lap, which I did. It was a good lap at the end.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations on that pole position. Ugo, coming to you next, congratulations. You have set yourself up well for a run at this championship. How good was the car for you today?

Ugo Ugochukwu: Yeah, for sure, it was a positive day for us. Two good qualifying sessions are exactly what we needed. I think we executed everything well, with no mistakes, and I got the lap in when we needed it. I am pretty happy overall and pretty happy with my lap. I think I maximised it to the limit. Some of the others were quite quick today, so P4 and P2, we will take it. I think we can look forward to the races and maximise our points.

FIA Formula 3: Moving on to the races, what is the mindset heading in? Is it the championship?

Ugochukwu: Yeah, for sure. I think two clean, or three clean races would be nice, picking up the points along the way. But we will see how the race unfolds. These are going to be the first races here in Madrid, so we do not fully know what to expect on the racing side. We will see if on Sunday we have an opportunity to go for the win. It would be nice to get another one under our belt. But overall, of course, points are the main thing. It is no secret that is what is going to get us the championship.

FIA Formula 3: And just your thoughts on the circuit. Do you have a favourite corner?

Ugochukwu: I would have to say Turns 10 and 11, before Monumental, the fast chicane. That is a super-tricky corner, and you can gain quite a bit of time when you are on the limit. We were quite quick through sector two, so maybe I am a little bit biased as well.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations on P2. Pedro, coming to you, congratulations on P3. Can you take me through your final push run and what happened in the last corner?

Pedro Clerot: Yeah, I felt comfortable throughout the qualifying session, and I knew I had done a really good sector one by that time. I think that was our strong point, and I was chasing that feeling the whole day. I finally managed to do it on the last push of qualifying. I knew I was P2 at that time, less than a tenth behind Ugo, so I just committed for the whole lap. I was losing a bit of grip throughout the lap. On the previous lap, I think I was already quite sideways in the last sector. I just lost the rear of the car. Fortunately, by then it was the end of the session, so we did not really get affected. I think we would have been in the fight for pole with that lap, but I am just happy to be at the front again. We showed really good speed. We showed that we were up there in both qualifying sessions. It was a bit of a sad end, but I am happy that we could deliver when it mattered.

FIA Formula 3: Did you notice any track evolution through the session?

Clerot: For sure. We went, I think, almost a second quicker than Q1. Obviously, Q1 was a little bit messier. At least, I got fewer push laps in Q1. Q2 was a bit cleaner on my side and the driving felt a little bit better. But for sure, there was some track evolution since free practice today. We saw a big change in the times, so it was a bit different for us after two F1 sessions and two F2 sessions. It was the first time for us. I think we managed to do everything well today, and the results paid off.