PREMA places three cars in qualifying top-10
PREMA Racing placed its three FIA Formula 3 Championship cars in the top-10 today in qualifying at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The technical Spanish track welcomes the teams and drivers for round 3 of 2022 and qualifying went underway today with most of the drivers using a different strategy compared to usual, featuring three sets of new tyres for a single push lap each. The result was an even closer pack than in the previous events with the top-12 separated by less than four tenths of a second.
Arthur Leclerc secured fifth place earning his best qualifying result of the season so far. The Monegasque, who faced bad luck in his previous qualifying efforts, was followed by fellow Ferrari Driver Academy man Ollie Bearman, who continued to impress in his debut F3 season. Red Bull Junior Jak Crawford ended up P9 due to a late traffic issue. However, with the reversal of the top-12 positions for tomorrow’s Race 1, he will have plenty of chances to rebound.
#4 - Arthur Leclerc
"I'm quite happy with the top-5 as it's my best qualifying result so far. I struggled a bit to find the right balance with the car all qualifying. I think I could have done better on my side as well but we are working and I am confident the race will be better as we have a great race pace."
#5 - Jak Crawford
"It was an okay session, I did good in the first two runs and I felt good with the car, just needed some clear space. In the end, another driver made a mistake in the last push in front of me, he didn't back off and I was stuck behind him in sector 3 which cost me two and a half tenths. It could have been a lot better, but I'm still in the top-10 so it's OK."
#6 - Ollie Bearman
"Not a bad qualy, it was P6 in the end, quite happy with that. It's really close, the top-10 is super close. I'm also quite happy to be within the reverse grid, I will be starting P7 tomorrow. I struggled a little bit with the car especially with the different tyre compound compared to practice this morning. It was a step for me with the different grip and with the track getting a lot hotter. Overall I'm quite satisfied but there's still more to come."