FIA F3 Championship, Spielberg, Race One Report

The Team Trident drivers delivered a convincing performance at the historical Austrian venue. Zendeli and Beckmann started the season with a fifth and a seventh place respectively, while Caldwell ended the race with many positives at the mid of the pack.

The opening race of the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship opener at Red Bull Ring saw the Team Trident drivers run at high levels even though not as much as in qualifying. Starting from the second place on the grid, Lirim Zendeli delivered a great start and cruised to the lead during the opening lap. His race pace was not optimal in its first part but improved throughout the distance. The German racer eventually ended up in P5, two spots in front of fellow countryman Beckmann who scored the same result of qualifying. Beckmann’s race was in line with the one of his team-mate.
Moving on to Caldwell, the talented British prospect started from P25 on the grid and moved back to the top-20 on a racetrack where recovering positions is notably difficult. The three Team Trident drivers will now work with their technical staff to analyse the data collected in Race 1 and will prepare for Race 2 which will go underway tomorrow at 9:45 AM.

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager 
"It was a positive start to the season. We expected a little more from this race and the performance of Zendeli and Beckmann. Especially after Zendeli's good start, we thought we would be more competitive. We lost ground though, especially in the first five or six laps. The race pace of our cars improved in the second phase of the race, but at that point, it was too late to fight back. Caldwell experienced a positive debut and recovered several positions on a track on which it is not easy to fight back."