PREMA Racing scores points finishes in tough conditions
PREMA Racing settled for two points finishes in the first two races of the FIA Formula 3 weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. The tough Belgian venue was hit by heavy rain at multiple points during the day.
In race 1, all three drivers continued to deal with some balance issues, and that added more challenges to the changing weather that even forced the officials to delay the start. Arthur Leclerc and Dennis Hauger ended up in the same position they had on the grid. The Monegasque finished in P13, ahead of the Norwegian as they both missed the reverse grid cut for race 2.
Race 2 started late too due to the incidents in F1 qualifying, and with a wet track again, both Leclerc and Hauger showed good improvements. The pairing quickly made it into the points zone on a drying track. Unfortunately, they didn’t go much farther from there, with Hauger nipping Leclerc for P9, as the rain came back and safety cars reduced the chances to make bigger gains.
Starting from P18, Olli Caldwell made an outstanding job in extremely complicated circumstances. The British racer improved his position to P16 in race 1, and then elbowed his way up to P15 in race 2 with a brilliant drive in the middle of the pack.
#1 DENNIS HAUGER
“Race 2 was definitely a step forward compared to the first one. I managed to get up a bit and get a few but important points. Now we need to keep working on what we have to bring it forward for tomorrow.”
Qualifying: P14
Starting Grid Race 1: P14
Starting Grid Race 2: P14
Fastest lap: 2:24.288
Race 1: P14
Race 2: P9
#2 ARTHUR LECLERC
“It was another difficult race as I was struggling to keep the pace, but we made some positive changes from race 1, so we are improving step by step. It’s a bit of a shame for the rain and the late safety car because I think we had more pace to put to use with the track drying. However, it is what it is. We improved, that’s positive, and now we move to race 3.”
Qualifying: P13
Starting Grid Race 1: P13
Starting Grid Race 2: P13
Fastest lap: 2:24.254
Race 1: P13
Race 2: P10
#3 OLLI CALDWELL
“In race 1, we struggled with the pace on the wet, but we made a good step for race 2. With slightly dryer conditions, the car felt much better, and we were able to fight. Unfortunately, we got set back by the safety car and the rain at the end, but we moved in a positive direction, which is good.”
Qualifying: P18
Starting Grid Race 1: P18
Starting Grid Race 2: P16
Fastest lap: 2:25.025
Race 1: P16
Race 2: P15
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing