Photo: Red Bull
Tim Tramnitz felt “a bit disappointed” to miss out on the podium at Spa-Francorchamps after finishing a hard-fought Formula 3 sprint race in the same fourth position he started it.
The MP Motorsport driver took third place from Trident’s Santiago Ramos on the Kemmel Straight in the opening lap. He came close to overtaking Prema’s Gabriele Mini for second place at Les Combes with three laps to go, but instead lost out to Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon on the final lap. However, he still salvaged fourth place in a frantic last corner battle.
“If I didn’t have the track limits [warning], I would have also tried a bit harder on [Gabriele] Mini,” Tramnitz told Formula Scout in the paddock. “I think he made a mistake a bit in Eau Rouge, so I got the momentum and got next to him. But we were both braking quite on the limit.
“I knew I had three track limits, and there’s not really a discussion about track limits. So even if I would have missed the corner because of something, it would have been a track limit. So a five second penalty straightaway. And so I had to take it a bit easier. So for sure, it made it a bit worse for my race to have the three track limits from quite early on.
“With the track being still a bit wet in Eau Rouge, it was really difficult. La Source was always fine. But then Eau Rouge made a difference. If I was too close, it made it really tough to stay close. And to be a bit further was an advantage. And for sure I think I had like four or five moments in Eau Rouge where I thought there was not really a lot missing to going into the wall. So it was quite on the limit every lap.
“Honestly, I have no idea how I kept fourth place out of this,” he said about emerging on top of a five car battle at the end of the race. “They were all in my gearbox at the exit of turn 15. It was just a matter of when they get past me. But I was really on the limit through the last chicane, and my positioning of the car was quite good.
Tramnitz valued the seven points scored, but was “still a bit disappointed to just miss out on the podium again”. Also, he was not fully pleased with his car balance, which helped him in the beginning but costed him towards the end.
“More downforce would have been an advantage in the race. We expected it to dry a bit quicker. So to go with low downforce was not ideal, but still it saved me a little bit from Ramos at the beginning in the straight. And after, I just got overtaken in the straight by Leon because I didn’t really have any tyres left.”