Leclerc fights back to victory at Zandvoort
PREMA Racing posted its sixth win of the year today at Circuit Park Zandvoort as FIA Formula 3 racing kicked off today at the famed and challenging Dutch venue.
Starting from row 2 of the reverse grid for race 1, Arthur Leclerc delivered an incredible start, moving to the lead with a daring inside move in turn 1. The 19-year-old Monegasque sustained heavy pressure but eventually secured his second win of the season. In race 2, the Ferrari Driver Academy member was forced to start in P12 of another reversed grid, but kept his cool and sealed all the opportunities he had to take P7.
Dennis Hauger faced tough luck as he went from a points finish to a DNF over the course of the day. The Norwegian took off from P12 in race 1 and steadily moved his way back to the front, eventually securing P7 with an incredible multi-corner move. Hauger seemed set to secure more points with P4 in race 2 but was hit from behind in the latest stages which caused a puncture and a DNF.
Olli Caldwell showed a really positive pace in a double points finish for the British racer. In race 1, he successfully bounced back from a tough qualifying session to round out the top-10, while in race 2 he made the most of his race, ending up in P6.
#1 DENNIS HAUGER
“It is not easy to go around people here, with the track being so tight. In race 1, we made a good step up the field as a team, and I managed to settle down to score some good points. In race 2, we had a great pace, but I had to work for every overtake, and while it was nice, we got no reward. That’s a bit annoying, working our way up so much and then not getting anything out of it. In the end, we didn’t lose much in the championship, it happens, and it was out of my control. We have to look ahead for tomorrow, there are some really good points available. We just have to keep going and send it!”
Qualifying: P1
Starting Grid Race 1: P12
Starting Grid Race 2: P6
Fastest lap: 1:24.580
Race 1: P7
Race 2: DNF
#2 ARTHUR LECLERC
“I’m really happy about the win. It was an intense race with quite a lot of pressure from Sargeant. To be completely honest, I was a bit struggling with the pace and balance, but even if it wasn’t the perfect race, we still got the results. In race 2, it was very hard to overtake, but we gained many positions thanks to the safety-car restart as well. I think our pace was not too bad, it’s just that the track doesn’t offer many passing opportunities especially when you are in the middle of the field.”
Qualifying: P10
Starting Grid Race 1: P3
Starting Grid Race 2: P12
Fastest lap: 1:25.422
Race 1: P1
Race 2: P7
#3 OLLI CALDWELL
“We scored a good result at the end of race 1, recovering some points and a good starting position for race 2. I managed some late moves into turn 1, which was interesting, and I also benefitted from mistakes from others with tyre degradation. Then race 2 has been difficult with the balance of the car. Unfortunately we didn’t quite have the pace we thought we had from race 1 and the others found some pace too. We have to study the data tonight and tomorrow morning and see what we can change for race 3.”
Qualifying: P16
Starting Grid Race 1: P16
Starting Grid Race 2: P3
Fastest lap: 1:25.752
Race 1: P10
Race 2: P6
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing