Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
FIA Formula 3 drivers will return to action this week for a two-day test at the Red Bull Ring, 10 weeks since the season-opening races in Melbourne.
Amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, the second round of the season was cancelled alongside the Bahrain Grand Prix that it was set to support. Along with that came the cancellation of the in-season test which was also scheduled to be held at the Sakhir circuit.
The Red Bull Ring test on Wednesday and Thursday this week offers drivers vital track time ahead of the next event in Monaco in June, and they have highlighted its importance heading into a two-month period which will feature six rounds.
“It has been a bit boring because I haven’t touched the car since Melbourne,” said Van Amersfoort Racing driver Bruno Del Pino – who won the season-opening sprint race in Australia – to the F3 website. “I’ve just been training to put myself in a good situation heading into the European campaign.
“For me, it is very, very important because I haven’t done a test, and I haven’t touched a car since Melbourne. So, going into Monaco straight without testing will be basically like an impossible.
“But because I have the chance to drive in Austria, I’m just going to make full use to try and get back into the rhythm, trying to push to the limit in Monaco. Once the season restarts in Monaco, a whole bunch of rounds then come.
“Trying to do the job from Monaco onwards will be about trying to keep a rhythm, to be consistent. Because we have basically the entire calendar compressed into two months, it’s very important that we can maximise everything and just be on a good rhythm, try not to make mistakes and try and maximise the points every weekend.”
Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin echoed his competitors words, saying: “It’s just like the season’s restarting again.”
“It will definitely be key, because Monaco’s going to be difficult. Jumping into the car that we haven’t been in in a long time just to go straight into Monaco will be difficult.
“So these two days will be good to get the cobwebs off – it’ll be a good start to get ready for Monaco.
“After Monaco, we have so many races in a row, it’s just going to be going from nothing to a lot. The adrenaline will be used a lot. It’ll be physically demanding. You just have to prepare for these moments. You have to be mentally ready, physically ready. As drivers, we’re ready for these moments.”
Campos Racing started the season strongly in Melbourne with Ugo Ugochukwu claiming victory in the feature race ahead of Freddie Slater, after Theophile Nael had topped qualifying.
“Red Bull Ring will be quite interesting and quite important for us,” said Nael. “It will be a really important test. I think Red Bull Ring is a good track to test as well. It will be a good wake-up test.”
One driver who won’t be able to take advantage of the test is Christian Ho, who has a clashing academic commitment and will be replaced in his Rodin Motorsport entry by Gino Trappa, who is racing in Eurocup-3 with Hitech this year.