F3 kicked off at one of its most prestigious stages: Melbourne’s Albert Park

The FIA Formula 3 Championship kicked off at one of its most prestigious stages, Melbourne’s Albert Park, which has become a regular fixture on the series’ calendar. In the first qualifying session of the ten rounds scheduled this year, the Trident Motorsport drivers stood out, taking the front row with Rafael Câmara and Noha Strømsted, while Charlie Wurz set the sixth fastest time. Due to the inversion of the top twelve qualifying positions on the starting grid for the Sprint Race, Wurz, Strømsted and Câmara started from the seventh, eleventh, and twelfth starting positions respectively in the shorter race.

At the start of the Sprint Race, Wurz was hit by a rival and immediately forced to retire. Câmara’s race also lasted just a few laps. The Brazilian too was involved in a collision that froze the race with the intervention of the safety car. The Sprint Race also proved to be frustrating for Strømsted, who was forced to retire in the final stages with a damaged front wing.

Câmara and Strømsted will have the chance to make up for it in the Feature Race, where they will start from the front row. Wurz also has a very good chance of doing well, starting from the third row of the grid. The Trident Motorsport drivers will now analyse today’s events with the technical staff in the usual preparation work for the Feature Race, scheduled for tomorrow at 9:00 local time, GMT+10, which will close the first round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship on the Melbourne circuit.

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager, commented: “Today was clearly not our day. Our three drivers were all involved in collisions, which occurred in the context of a very heated race and were unable to finish the Sprint Race. After a good qualifying session, this race full of incidents and safety cars was not very satisfying for Trident Motorsport. Now we need to concentrate fully on the work of preparing for tomorrow’s Feature Race, the main race of the weekend”.