A different location for the finale

Formula 3 was supposed to drive their last round of the season in America, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Due to covid safety, the last round was moved to Sochi where they joined Formula 2 as the support series of Formula 1 that weekend. There was a lot of heavy rain expected on Saturday, so the series moved the first race of the weekend to Friday, late in the afternoon. Just like Formula 2, only 2 races were driven in Sochi, instead of the usual 3 races.

Qualifying

P8 Caio Collet
P12 Victor Martins
P25 Tijmen van der Helm

Race 1

Victor started on pole in Race 1, as he qualified P12 and the top 12 is reversed for the first race. Victor took the lead in the race but had to take the second position after the first turn. Caio was behind him in the 5th position. Caio had to defend in the third lap against Smolyar, which he did perfectly, to keep P5. Tijmen, who started on p25, was driving on P22 with 10 laps to go.

Meanwhile, Victor was being attacked by Hauger for second place. He kept him off for quite a while, but in lap 11, he had to make space for him. In lap 13, Victor came back for a new attack, with Caio right behind him on P4. On the 16th lap, we had a virtual safety car as Tijmens engine blew up. Tijmen parked the car next to the track, so within a lap, all other drivers were back racing. Victor grabbed another podium and finished on P3, Caio finished on P5.

Sochi (RUS), SEP 24 – 27 2021 – Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom. Victor Martins #17 MP Motorsport © 2021 Sebastiaan Rozendaal / Dutch Photo Agency

Race 3

Caio’s last race of the season was done way earlier than any of us wanted. During the opening lap, Smolyar’s car jumped a bit and ended on Caio’s front wing, ending his race very early. Tijmen had a very good start and drove to P21 by the 3rd lap. Victor took 9th place, coming from P12. Tijmen was having a good race, as he was driving on P18 in 5 laps. Victor overtook Hauger for the 8th position and was fighting with Correa for the 7th position. Victor went wide and lost 3 places. Shortly after he had to go wide again, to miss out on a spinning Hauger. This made him drop to P11.

Victor made a nice move in the 17th lap, where he overtook both Correa and Iwasa within one move. Tijmen dropped a bit back to P20, as the fight in the midfield was very close. In the final lap, Tijmen managed to come back to P18. Victor finished on P8.

We’ve had a very good Formula 3 season with all three drivers. Victor was the highest rookie, and Caio the second-highest rookie. Tijmen learned a lot and made a lot of experience, finishing the season on a high note. The team finished fourth in the standings, which is a massive improvement compared to the 2020 season where we finished 6th with 109 points.