F3 Qualifying at Sakhir - Confidence Boost for Some, Challenges for Others

Written by Trisha Lynnette

Formula 3 qualifying took place on Friday at 16:00 PM Bahrain time. With Rafael Câmara taking pole position for Trident, followed by Callum Voisin of Rodin Motorsport and Trident teammate Charlie Wurz, here is a brief recap on the qualifying for Round 2 in Sakhir.

Image Credit: Formula 3 (X)

The day began with all cars on track, warming up their tires before starting the flying lap. Gerrard Xie of Hitech TGR is one of the first to start their flying lap, and has a good start with great tire temperatures and speed. However at turn 8, Xie has a big lockup and hence loses his speed in the middle sector. He also loses a bit of time in Turn 9 and the tight Turn 10. 

In the meantime Martinius Stenshorne of Hitech TGR gets a good lead in the first sector compared to his teammate Xie. Ugo Ugochukwu and Noel León of Prema Racing also have a good first sector. Stenshorne also goes back to the pits for a tire change. 

Callum Voisin tops the table earning himself provisional pole, followed by his Rodin Motorsport teammate Louis Sharp. Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport has a good first and middle sector however he oversteers at Turn 13 diminishing his speed. However even after that blunder, he snatches the provisional pole from Voisin. Ugo becomes second on the table just a few tenths of a second behind Giusti. 

Voisin exceeds track limits in his new flying lap and also has a small lockup. Most of the drivers who have finished a good flying lap enter the pits for a tyre change. James Wharton of ART Grand Prix however takes provisional pole before Christian Ho of DAMS Lucas Oil Racing  takes the position. In the end of the first quarter of qualifying - Nikola Tsolov of Campos Racing is the fastest and earns provisional pole before moving to the pits. 

Image Credit: Formula 3 (X)

All the drivers enter the pits to get tyre changes and stats before heading out on the track.  Voisin, León and Theophile Naël of VAR lost their lap times due to exceeding track limits. This mainly occurred due to the circuit extending the gravel trap. This means that drivers virtually lose time and can also get their entire lap time erased. Most of the drivers are also seen locking up in Turn 4 and Turn 13.

Giusti lined up a very good lap after a very smooth application of throttle in his flying lap. He also strategically stays on the left to reduce the distance from the start and ensures he is within track limits. He displays a very crucial level of confidence with the car and power application. This leads to him earning provisional pole. Camara also moves to second a tenth and a half away from Giusti.

However this glory is short- lived as Voisin takes away the provisional pole. Tuukka Taponen of ART Grand Prix takes fourth before Tsolov overtakes the driver. Inthraphuvasak comes to 9th place after a big lockup in the middle sector. Tsolov also locked up in Turn 10 and Javier Sagrera of AIX Racing went wide at Turn 7. Sharp, Mari Boya of Campos and Sagrera’s lap times were deleted due to track limits.

All teams enter the pit before the third and final round for qualifying. The table is set with Voisin at provisional pole followed by Giusti. 

Sagrera went wide at turn 7. Sharp and Boya deleted lap times. All teams enter the pit for a third lap for quali once again. Sagrera has his time deleted and falls to 29th mainly because of turn 13 or turn 4. 

While all the drivers move back on track with just a few seconds difference, Roman Bilinski of Rodin Motorsport is still in the pits. A clip of the engineers pushing Bilinski’s car is shown, highlighting the difficulty they must have faced with the car. However the stewards note this and review the pit lane infringement.

With 2 minutes left the flyings laps begin. First on board we have Rafael Câmara who has a brilliant flying lap with no lock ups in Turn 9 or Turn 10. While he went green in the first sector, he got purple in the middle and final sector. Bruno Del Pino of MP motorsport in the meantime takes provisional pole before it is snatched by Câmara.

Image Credit: Formula 3 (X)

Voisin takes second, Charlie Wurz of Trident takes third. Giusti falls down to ninth, and new entrant Freddie Slater of AIX Racing goes P10. Ho takes P4 for Lucas DAMS Oil Racing, followed by Del Pino, Taponen, Noah Strømsted of Trident, Tsolov, Giusti, Slater, Stenshorne and Joshua Dufek of Hitech TGR. 

This order will be reversed for the Sprint race, which means Dufek, Stenshorne and Slater take the front row for today’s sprint. 

Qualifying plays a very important role as it sets the pace for the race weekend. Earning first row for the race brings in added confidence, knowing that you have done a good job and can bring it home on the main day. But is there any pressure that is brought by it? Or does it just bring confidence?

“The front row means you’ve clearly done a good job. So for me it’s just confidence.” Voisin answered, brushing upon how a good qualifying really gives that boost of confidence for him.

“Sometimes you’re never going to win always, so even if you’re finishing P2 or P3 for a long championship like this, you just want to have the points home and then be consistent. That is what can help you to win the championship. I think it’s good and gives some confidence.” answered Câmara, mentioning how the approach to a race always is the same regardless of a good qualifying. 

“I think it’s positive. I mean, a big part of the job is qualifying in F3 with such a big grid and getting that out of the way is important with a good result. And then the race pace in testing was very strong so that gives you more confidence.” answered Wurz, highlighting how the pressure is more positive than negative.

We are set for the Sprint Race on Saturday at 13:15 P.M. Bahrain Time where we will see Dufek lead the pack for this race. 

Make sure to catch the sprint live and if you can’t, don’t worry! Head back over to DIVEBOMB for all the action you might’ve missed.