Succesful Start to FIA Formula 3 Season for Hitech GP

Silverstone-based FIA Formula 3 European Championship team Hitech GP made its mark on the category during the opening event of the 2016 season at Paul Ricard in France over the weekend, 2nd/3rd April, with podium success for George Russell and Rookie class victory for Ben Barnicoat.

Embarking on its first season in the globe’s premier F3 series, Hitech GP got its campaign off to a superb start with Russell finishing third in round one on Saturday morning, just ahead of Barnicoat in fourth which secured the Racing Steps Foundation driver the Rookie class win on his debut.

Russian 16-year-old Nikita Mazepin also celebrated success on his first weekend in Formula 3 with a hat-trick of Rookie class scores and, notably, an outright points-paying top 10 finish in the third and final contest of the weekend.

“It was a good first weekend for us overall – the highlight being our strong performances in qualifying and race one”, said Hitech GP team owner Oliver Oakes, “As with a typical first event, we did have a mix of highs and lows but I couldn’t be more proud of everyone and how they handled their first weekend. We now look forward to preparing for the next event in Budapest.”

Russell and Barnicoat were very evenly matched in opening qualifying, lapping fourth and fifth fastest respectively, while Mazepin secured 18th position on the grid for his FIA Formula 3 European Championship debut. Barnicoat was also second quickest rookie.

When the lights went out for the first race of the season, on a track damp in places after overnight rain, Russell and Barnicoat climbed into third and fourth after good starts – the latter also grabbing the Rookie class lead – and remained there throughout the 25 lap contest.

Inexperienced car racer Mazepin was edged back a couple of places on a busy opening lap but quickly moved back into 18th position and by lap eight had progressed into 17th place. Just before mid-distance, though, he was edged back to 19th where he stayed to the flag on his series debut.

For round two, Barnicoat was the highest placed Hitech qualifier in seventh and Mazepin started a much improved 12th on the grid. Russell, though, had a huge amount of work to do – having originally secured a front row spot in second qualifying, his times were disallowed when the fuel remaining in his car fell fractionally below the minimum permitted so he was put to the back.

Determined to make as much headway as possible, Russell did just that on the opening lap as he climbed from 21st on the grid into 13th place. He ultimately finished in 11th position, only just missing out on the top 10 on the final tour. Barnicoat fared less well, retirement following a tangle at the first corner, but Mazepin raced particularly well to a top 12 result and fourth best Rookie.

In round three on Sunday morning, Barnicoat started in 11th place rather than sixth as expected, a result of a penalty applied after the race two tangle. Despite dramas at the first corner again, the Briton tagged and forced wide, he recovered to finish 11th and sixth in the Rookie class.

Mazepin started alongside Barnicoat and a racey opening lap laid the foundations for another very strong performance, fifth in the Rookie battle as well as his maiden FIA F3 points finish in the overall top 10. From the back of the grid, Russell delivered a stunning first lap in which he rocketed into 14th position. Unfortunately, though, a pit visit for a new front wing ultimately led to 18th place.

George Russell (Car No.12): “We have a lot of positives to take from the weekend. We had absolutely mega pace throughout, qualifying P4, P2 and P2, just 0.01 seconds off pole in Q2. In race one, we made a good start and got into P3, and ended that way. It was great to get Hitech’s first podium in the championship which I’m sure is the first of many. In races two and three, we had to try and make the best out of a bad situation, starting from last on the grid. We showed great pace in race three, quicker than the leaders on almost every lap which was very positive.”

Ben Barnicoat (Car No.24): “All in all, we have to take the positives from the weekend which there were a lot of. Our pace throughout practice and qualifying was really good and the team did a superb job to give me a good, fast car to deliver some good times in qualifying. Race one went extremely well where I managed to get fourth position from fifth, which I was extremely happy about for my debut race in the series! I can’t thank them [the team] enough for helping me and being as supportive as they were throughout my debut weekend, the same applies for my sponsors the Racing Steps Foundation.”

Nikita Mazepin (Car No.11): “I was very happy with the performance of the car and team, as well as my progress throughout the whole weekend. We started on Thursday with some issues driving-wise, but we managed to fix them as soon as possible. Tricky weather conditions made it even more difficult for my debut event in FIA F3, due to this I didn’t have a very good result in Q1 but I managed to understand what I was doing wrong and managed to be P12 in Q2 and Q3 which I was quite happy with. It was clear to see the team and I were making progress and we managed to get my first F3 points in race three.”

Next stop on the FIA Formula 3 European Championship schedule is a visit to the Hungaroring, near Budapest in Hungary, over the weekend 23rd/24th April.