Round 7 Post-Sprint Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 3: Welcome everyone to today's FIA Formula 3 Press Conference following the Sprint Race here in Budapest. Joining us from Campos Racingn and in P3 is Ernesto Rivera. In second place from ART Grand Prix, it's Kanato Le and from Campos again, capturing his second win of the season, it's Théophile Nael. Théophile, congratulations, second win. How does that one feel?

Théophile Nael: Yeah, it feels really good. I mean, obviously starting from P6, this victory is, yeah, feels good. The pace was really good, struggling a bit with the front tyres, some graining, but I think that was the same for the whole field. So yeah, tricky to manage the tyres, but in the end, I think I did it well and I managed to push quite hard the two last laps as well and to create a gap. So yeah, well managed.

FIA Formula 3: Like you were saying, you were able to open a big gap towards the end. The team looked like they gave you a great car for this particular Sprint. That's been a consistent theme with Campos this season. Just talk about the job they've done.

Nael: Yeah, I mean, we set up the car to be in the third chair today, so the plan wasn't to be leading, to be honest, but I mean, from P2, the pace was really good, managed to stay close to Kanato and then I built my overtake. So yeah, extremely happy. Struggling a bit more when I was leading at the beginning with the car, but at the end, the balance was good.

FIA Formula 3: Anything that you learned today that you might be able to take into tomorrow's Feature?

Nael: Yeah, I think a lot. I learned a lot. I mean, obviously the start was really good, so I need to have a look why and try to replicate it for tomorrow. So that would be the main goal. And then tyre saving once again. We had no Safety Car today, but looking at the pace today I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

FIA Formula 3: Well, congratulations on the victory. Kanato, coming to you, a great drive today. Can you take me through your start there? First podium for you as well in Formula 3.

Kanato Le: Yeah, thank you. The start wasn't great. I lost the position into T1, but managed to stay calm and take back the lead into T2. So yeah, I'm quite happy with how the race went. First podium for me in F3, so really happy with that.

FIA Formula 3: We saw the track temperature starting to rise at the beginning of this one and also during the race as well. I mean, how were you able to keep the tyres in check? Was it a challenge?

Le: I think it was a challenge and for sure a challenge for everyone. I was focusing on managing the tyres from the start of the race, like everyone else, I had a bit of front graining and it was a bit hard to drive, but I think it's the same for everyone and you have to learn for tomorrow.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations on the P2. Ernesto, coming to you, a great drive from yourself as well today. A good start too. Can you just take me through that one?

Ernesto Rivera: Yeah, start was quite good, but I was on the outside on turn one, so it was difficult to stay there. I think I lost one position, but then managed to avoid the crash into T2, which was really good. A very tricky race for me. I was struggling a lot with the front tyres and yeah, trying to manage it as best as possible, but towards the end I was really struggling. Had one chance to pass Kanato, but he defended quite good. So yeah, we need to have a look and be better tomorrow.

FIA Formula 3: Can you just take me through that tyre management? Because like I was asking the other guys there, I mean, the temperatures did look like it came up throughout the race. I mean, how challenging was that?

Rivera: Yeah, the balance was understeering since the beginning. And when you have a little bit of understeer, each lap gets a bit worse. And when you grain the tyre, it's so difficult to get it back. So yeah, let's see what we can do for tomorrow, but for sure we can improve a lot.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations on the P3.