Race Report

Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana 2019
FIA F3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Circuit: Barcelona (E), Length: 4.655 km, 11^th/12^th May 2019, Rounds 1 & 2
www.circuitcat.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2019:
Yuki Tsunoda (JAP), Artem Petrov (RUS) and Andreas Estner (D)

Tsunoda strong in Barcelona

The 2019 FIA F3 championship held its inaugural event running as part of the Formula One programme at the Gran Premio de Espana, held on the challenging Barcelona circuit in Spain. Weather conditions were perfect for the event and it was very obvious just how close the competition is within this highly competitive 30 car-strong field.

Race One Qualifying

Friday, 10/05/19, 17.50 – 18.20, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C

Everyone waited anxiously for the beginning of the first free practice of the new season. First on the program was a practise session with the Virtual Safety Car and then the action started. The mostly very experienced drivers were impatient to conquer the track, and our three rookies did their best too, but of course not everything worked out perfectly. Andreas was 25^th, Yuki was 26^th, and Artem was 28^th by the end of the session.
The track was dry for the first qualifying session and conditions were fine, with very close lap times across the whole field, and 17 drivers finishing within a second of the best time.

FIA F3 Championship

Race One (40 Minutes)

Saturday, 12/05/19, 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 21°C

The start of the first race of the season went well. Several laps into the race the DRS system was activated under the same rules as in Formula 1. In the designated zones the car must be within a second of the car in front before it can be released, and you must be close enough to really benefit. Yuki did not get a good start and was now 12^th, while Artem managed a great first lap in which he made up several places to put him 18^th, with Andreas in 26^th. When the DRS was activated, we started to see movement throughout the field. Our drivers did well to hold onto their positions in the face of more experienced drivers. After a Virtual Safety Car phase because of a vehicle stranded in the gravel trap, Yuki managed to move into 10^th place. Despite some initial competition he was able to defend his place until the end of the race. Artem was running well in 17^th, but was taken by surprise by Pulcini at the restart, which meant he crossed the finish line in 18^th place. Andreas took the chequered flag in 25^th. The race was fast paced and it was difficult to overtake, but our rookies had passed their first test successfully, and Yuki had already scored his first F3 point today on his 19^th birthday!

The grid for the second race of the weekend was set by reversing the order of the first eight finishers in the first race, with the rest of the places set according to finishing order in the first race.

FIA F3 Championship

Race Two (40 Minutes)

Sunday, 13/05/18, 10.25, Weather: Sunny, 18°C

Race two started in front of plenty of spectators but the huge field only got as far as the first corner before there was a four-car collision, all four drivers ending up in the gravel trap. Unfortunately, Artem was one of the four for whom the race was already over, which was a real shame. The Safety Car had to be deployed for two laps while the wrecked cars were cleared away. At the restart, Yuki managed to get past Peroni to claim 9^th place, but Peroni wasn’t about to give in without a fight, and with the help of the DRS he managed to slip back past Yuki. Later he made a mistake and Yuki snatched 9^th place for keeps. Yuki drove hard and didn’t give any pursuer a chance to come at him. After a second restart after a brief Safety Car phase Yuki defended his position effectively and came home to a trouble free and very welcome 9^th place, finishing in the top ten for the second time on his F3 debut weekend. Andreas immediately moved up to 22^nd place after the start, but damage to his rear suspension after another driver banged into his rear wheel left him unable to make any further progress. He did a pretty good job to hang onto his place and finish the race, given how badly the car was handling now!

We look forward to the next race on the fast Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France, which will be held in the second half of June.

Championship standings after 2 out of 18 races:

1^st Robert Shwartzman (RUS), 37 points; 2^nd Christian Lundgaard (DK), 24 points; 3^rd Jehan Daruvala (IND), 23 points; 4^th Marcus Armstrong (NZ), 21 points; 5^th Juri Vips (EST), 20 points; 6^th Niko Kari (FIN), 14 points; 10^th Yuki Tsunoda (JPN), 1 Punkt

Yuki Tsunoda (JAP)

Artem Petrov (RUS)

Andreas Estner (D)

© Photo Pellegrini

2019 FIA F3 Championship

For more information:

• www.fiaformula3.com
• www.italiaracing.net