Race Report
Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana 2019
FIA F3 CHAMPIONSHIP
Circuit: Barcelona (E), Length: 4.655 km, 11th/12th 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 25th, Yuki was 26th, and Artem was 28th 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.
| Race One Grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Robert Shwartzman (RUS) | Prema | 1:31.975 |
| 2nd | Christian Lundgaard (DAN) | ART | 1:32.083 |
| 3rd | Marcus Armstrong (NZL) | Prema | 1:32.427 |
| 10th | Yuki Tsunoda (JAP) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:32.875 |
| 26th | Artem Petrov (RUS) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:33.714 |
| 27th | Andreas Estner (D) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:33.962 |
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 12th, while Artem managed a great first lap in which he made up several places to put him 18th, with Andreas in 26th. 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 10th place. Despite some initial competition he was able to defend his place until the end of the race. Artem was running well in 17th, but was taken by surprise by Pulcini at the restart, which meant he crossed the finish line in 18th place. Andreas took the chequered flag in 25th. 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 19th 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.
| Results Race One | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Robert Shwartzman (RUS) | Prema | 37:42.312 | |
| 2nd | Christian Lundgaard (DAN) | ART | Gap | 2.529 |
| 3rd | Marcus Armstrong (NZL) | Prema | Gap | 3.426 |
| 10th | Yuki Tsunoda (JAP) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 18th | Artem Petrov (RUS) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 25th | Andreas Estner (D) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Christian Lundgaard (DK) in 1:35.209 | ||||
| Race Two Grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Niko Kari (FIN) | Trident | |
| 2nd | Jehan Daruvala (IND) | Prema | |
| 3rd | Juri Vips (EST) | Hitec | |
| 4th | Max Fewtrell (GB) | ART | |
| 5th | David Beckmann (D) | ART | |
| 6th | Marcus Armstrong (NZL) | Prema | |
| 10th | Yuki Tsunoda (JAP) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 18th | Artem Petrov (RUS) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 25th | Andreas Estner (D) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
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 9th 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 9th 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 9th place, finishing in the top ten for the second time on his F3 debut weekend. Andreas immediately moved up to 22nd 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.
| Results Race Two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jehan Daruvala (IND) | Prema | 40:29.021 | |
| 2nd | Juri Vips (EST) | Hitech | Gap | 2.121 |
| 3rd | Niko Kari (FIN) | Trident | Gap | 3.742 |
| 9th | Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 22nd | Andreas Estner (D) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| DNF: | Artem Petrov (RUS) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Jehan Daruvala (IND) in 1:34.711 | ||||
Championship standings after 2 out of 18 races:
1st Robert Shwartzman (RUS), 37 points; 2nd Christian Lundgaard (DK), 24 points; 3rd Jehan Daruvala (IND), 23 points; 4th Marcus Armstrong (NZ), 21 points; 5th Juri Vips (EST), 20 points; 6th Niko Kari (FIN), 14 points; 10th Yuki Tsunoda (JPN), 1 Punkt
Yuki Tsunoda (JAP)
Artem Petrov (RUS)
Andreas Estner (D)
© Photo Pellegrini
2019 FIA F3 Championship
| 10/11/12 Mai | 2019 Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana | Catalunya (E) |
| 21/22/23 Juni | 2019 Formula 1 French Grand Prix | Le Castellet (F) |
| 28/29/30 Juni | 2019 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix | RedBull Ring (A) |
| 12/13/14 Juli | 2019 Formula 1 British Grand Prix | Silverstone (GB) |
| 2/3/4 August | 2019 Formula 1 Ing Magyar Nagydij | Hungaroring (HU) |
| 30/31 Aug, 1 September | 2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps (B) |
| 6/7/8 September | 2019 Formula 1 Gran Premio d’Italia | Monza (I) |
| 27/28/29 September | 2019 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix | Sochi (RUS) |
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