Photo: Red Bull
Red Bull junior Ernesto Rivera says that his pre-season injury lifted the pressure on him ahead of his maiden FIA Formula 3 campaign.
The Mexican sustained a broken vertebrae racing in the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy which led him to miss out on the opening race weekend of the F3 season in Melbourne.
While the 18-year-old was still in the paddock learning from his Campos Racing teammates, he admits the lack of preparation and training did ease the expectation and pressure ahead of his maiden campaign.
“Obviously the goal is always to win but already missing the first round, it took the pressure off because some of the expectations were lower,” he said.
Having been signed to the Red Bull junior setup in 2024, Rivera is no stranger to the challenging nature of the programme with expectations invariably high on rookie drivers.
“They [Red Bull] didn’t set me a proper target but to be in the top five or top 10 is obviously what they want from me. I think as a rookie the most important thing is that I show speed.
“Maybe the results don’t come as much to be up there, maybe you make a mistake but I think the most important part is to be up there consistently and showing speed.”
Rivera, who currently sits 11th in the championship standings, was quick to praise the support he received both from his academy and his F3 team Campos. “They [Campos and Red Bull] put no pressure on me to do my first race.”
“At the start we were doubting if I could do it and in the end I couldn’t. They were supportive in many ways though and that is the reason why I got to recover for Monaco.”
Rivera’s debut was certainly a baptism of fire around the streets of Monaco. He was not far from the podium in his first feature race, finishing fifth, before following it up with seventh in the following outing in Barcelona.
Austria’s Red Bull Ring was where all Rivera’s work paid off though as he claimed a maiden podium and victory in Saturday’s sprint race. Despite this, he claims only a win in a Sunday feature race will lift any weight currently on his shoulders.
“If it was a feature race win, I would maybe say yes [to a weight being lifted off his shoulders] but I think I have so much more potential than just winning a sprint race.”