Bearman captures podium finish for PREMA Racing

PREMA Racing secured another podium finish today at Red Bull Ring, in the Race 1 of the FIA Formula 3 Championship at the Austrian venue. As the track was hit by a heavy downpour, the drivers started with rain tyres with critical visibility especially in the middle of the pack. Ferrari Driver Academy driver Ollie Bearman brought home an extremely positive third place. The 17-year-old Brit added steam to his championship score and continued the positive form experienced by the team.

Running behind him, fellow FDA-supported man Arthur Leclerc maximised his points score in challenging conditions. The Monegasque moved up to P4 and shadowed Bearman in the final part of the day, but the speed differential wasn’t eventually enough to make the move for the 21-year-old Monegasque. 

Jak Crawford had a complicated day due to the starting position and the outside conditions. Moving away from P10 on the rolling start with bad visibility, the 17-year-old American moved his way up but was eventually involved in a touch that dropped him down the order. The Red Bull Junior racer still comes out of the weekend upbeat after scoring his maiden win in Race 1. 

#4 ARTHUR LECLERC

“Average race for me in really difficult conditions, what is really positive is that we have the pace, and we were able to catch the guys in front every time we had the opportunity. I tried to overtake Ollie, but it was really hard because he defended quite well, and I needed more pace to make it stick. After the safety car re-start it was a bit of mess. Someone overtook me during the re-start and I couldn’t try to take any opportunities. Not a great race overall, but still good points for the championship, now onto Budapest.

Qualifying: P4

Starting position race 1: P9

Starting position race 2: P4

Fastest lap: 1:20.069

Race 1: P4

Race 2: P4

#5 JAK CRAWFORD

“It was really wet today, in the first couple of laps it was really impossible to see, which made it difficult to overtake. I managed to make some position at the start and after that, I was just sort of sitting there. Then the safety-car came out and had a good restart. I ran at the outside of two people, and I just got hit on the rear. The pace was very good, and every lap I had in clean air I was close to the fastest lap, but at the end I got shuffled at the back, and that was it.”

Qualifying: P10

Starting position Race 1: P3

Starting position Race 2: P10

Fastest lap: 1’20″351

Race 1: P1

Race 2: P22

#6 OLIVER BEARMAN

“Good race with P3, I’m happy to take another podium in the feature race, good points for the championship, and that made up for the incident yesterday. It was really difficult conditions, super wet especially at the start, and visibility was really poor. It was really tough, but I’m happy to take the podium, and we go to Budapest next.”

Qualifying: P3

Starting position Race 1: P10

Starting position Race 2: P3

Fastest lap: 1’20″058

Race 1: P16

Race 2: P3

Source | Photo: PREMA Racing