Photo: Red Bull
Attacking early and playing “the long game” were the two strategies in FIA Formula 3’s sprint race at Imola, and the former proved more effective.
The overtake that decided who won came on lap three of 18, as Tim Tramnitz powered past MP Motorsport’s team-mate Bruno del Pino when the DRS became available for the first time.
Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov watched the pair closely in the race’s second half, and had hoped their early attacking would work against them late on.
“I would have gone a bit more aggressive in the beginning,” Tsolov told media when asked what he could have done differently. “I took the long game approach, and that compromised me from being able to make up in the beginning. But other than that, I think later on, management etc., I managed to adapt quite quickly and the pace was there towards the end.”
The problem was the top two were also on management mode by then and had good pace, so could keep Tsolov at bay. For Tramnitz, getting his overtake done early felt critical.
“The situation or the opportunity [to take the lead] might only be there very early on in the race, so I just pushed from the start,” he said.
“Didn’t really think about tyre saving at that point, just tried to push on and push Bruno a little bit. And then it paid off very well. As soon as the DRS was enabled, I was quite close to him. I would say that was my plan.
“But in reality, it’s always a bit different and you’re not sure if it can play out like this. Going on the main straight before the move, I honestly didn’t really think that it’s already possible to overtake him, but the DRS was very powerful, and then I just thought ‘okay, the chance might not be there later, so just go for it’.”
While del Pino could have dwelled on losing the win, it was his first F3 podium and he conceded that the DRS effect was too strong for him to stay ahead when he was leading early on. He felt grateful for the laps behind the safety car mid-race as he “managed to cool down a bit the tyres”, enabling him to minimise degradation and match Tramnitz’s and Tsolov’s pace after.
However, Tramnitz said “on this track you actually have to work for the tyres to keep them alive, and keep the heat and the temperature in” them during safety car periods. He also wished to have done his “overtake at the start” so he could have “tried a shot for the fastest lap” and then switched to tyre-saving earlier.
“The safety cars didn’t help me as much. I had the strategy to play the long game and try to make up places in the end, looking at last year’s races,” rued Tsolov. “I started pushing a bit late on in the race, [when] it wasn’t possible to overtake.”