Crawford scores third place in late qualifying shootout
Jak Crawford handed PREMA Racing third place in a rain-delayed qualifying session for the FIA Formula 3 Championship at Imola. The American set a late flying lap in the closing moments of a five-minute shootout following a late red flag to grab a second-row spot for the weekend’s Feature Race.
Unfortunately, the red flag situation involved Arthur Leclerc. The Monegasque was in brilliant shape throughout the session, which started with wet tyres on a drying track but was punted out of contention by another car at Rivazza with about five minutes to go. Leclerc eventually classified P21.
British rookie Ollie Bearman ended up in P5 and was a highly competitive contender, showing impressive pace and consistency only at his second FIA F3 event although an impeding penalty will force him to start from P8 tomorrow in Race 1.
#4 ARTHUR LECLERC
“I think we had really good pace in qualifying, we showed that we could always be on top, but unfortunately another car crashed into me in the second-to-last corner and gave our chances for pole away. The aim will be to score points tomorrow, even though from P21, it will be quite hard. However, we won’t give up, and we will keep pushing.”
Qualifying: P21
Fastest lap: 1:43.619
#5 JAK CRAWFORD
“It was a good qualifying, obviously I’m happy with P3. I was quite slow in the first run, but in the second one I made a lot of improvements when it was drying. I had to make a good final lap because the track improved massively. I did quite a good lap, it’s a shame because I think pole was possible, but I’m still really happy with P3. Conditions were really tricky, it was very slippery off-line, and there was only one little dry line. It was a tough session, and in the end you never knew because it was constantly improving.”
Qualifying: P3
Fastest lap: 1’41″296
#6 OLIVER BEARMAN
“We got P5, and I was quite happy in the end. It was a bit of a messy session, and the track was always evolving. I managed to fit right in at the end after the red flag. I think everyone improved, so it was quite an important lap. I think I improved 2.5 seconds, and without that, it would have been a different story. I will start from a good position in the sprint race and in the feature race as well so I’m looking forward to it. It will be the first time in the dry because we didn’t have any dry running in practice, it should be interesting!”
Qualifying: P5
Fastest lap: 1’41″589
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing