PREMA has highly-competitive qualifying performance in Austria
PREMA Racing had a positive run in qualifying for the Austrian round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship at Spielberg.
The session was conditioned by two red-flag stoppages, one of which interrupted the drivers while completing their second run, and by heavy traffic, especially with cars slowing down to prepare for their flying laps.
Rookie Ollie Bearman eventually finished as the best-placed PREMA driver in P3, beating team-mate and fellow Ferrari Driver Academy member Arthur Leclerc. Both the British and the Monegasque will have good starting positions for both races.
Jak Crawford ended up 10th overall and will have a shot from row 2 in tomorrow’s Sprint Race. The American Red Bull Junior driver was among the most impacted by the disruptions but made progress throughout the session.
#4 ARTHUR LECLERC
“Not really happy about qualifying in terms of results, but on the other hand, I’m really really happy about the pace because we definitely had the pace to fight for pole. We were a bit unlucky with the red flag because we were in a really good lap, taking into account that the first one was not amazing because of the chaos in the warmup lap. There are plenty of things to do starting from P4, but we just got a bit unlucky with the red flag.”
Qualifying: P4
Fastest lap: 1:20.069
#5 JAK CRAWFORD
“It was a disappointing session, I was not the best in the first run I just struggled with the car a bit. Then for the second run, we made a bit of a change and for sure it was better. Unfortunately, there was a red flag in the end when I was improving a lot on my lap. It’s a shame because I don’t know where I would’ve been. At least, happy to be in the top-10 at least and fighting in the sprint race and in the feature race as well.”
Qualifying: P10
Fastest lap: 1’20″351
#6 OLIVER BEARMAN
“I’m quite happy with P3 in qualifying, it’s the second time I really felt I could fight for pole and I’m quite disappointed not to finish the second run because I was on for a good lap on the second timed run. It was a bit of a mess with the traffic and everything, so I’m happy to come away with P3 and I hope to improve tomorrow for the races.”
Qualifying: P3
Fastest lap: 1’20″058
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing