OUR FORMULA 3 ALPINE ACADEMY DRIVERS REFLECT ON THE 2023 SEASON

The FIA Formula 3 Alpine Academy entries competed in the final round of the championship at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit. After a competitive and – at times – trying year Gabriele Minì (Hitech GP), Nikola Tsolov (ART Grand Prix) and Sophia Flörsch (PHM Racing) reflect on their 2023 FIA Formula 3 season.

 

 

GABRIELE MINÌ

 

 

What has been the highlight of your 2023 season?

 

 

My highlight of the 2023 season has to be Monaco. Claiming pole position in Qualifying and then going on to achieve my first Formula 3 win in the Feature Race was pretty special. It was definitely the best weekend of the year for me.

 

 

What was your favourite on track moment of the season?

 

 

My favourite on track moments of the season were probably the comebacks I had in the Sprint Races in Barcelona and Monza. Of course, you prefer when you get a win but coming back from the bottom half of the grid is pretty fun. I also really enjoyed the in-lap after winning in Monaco of course.

 

 

Do you have a favourite circuit that you have visited this season?

 

 

My favourite circuit that I visited this season was probably Australia. It was a nice place to visit, the atmosphere was amazing and also the track itself was very special to race at.

What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome this season?

 

 

The biggest challenge for us this season was to keep consistency. We knew there were lots of quick drivers and even small touches or crashes meant we missed out on the opportunity for a good result which wasn’t easy to deal with. However, I also believe that bar a few races, there were plenty of occasions where we did maximise our full potential and achieved some well-deserved results.

 

What was a major learning curve for yourself and your team this season?

 

 

The team and I learned so much from each other over the course of the season especially as we became more comfortable working together. We were quick from the start and then throughout the season we learned how to collaborate and improve the car even more when we were struggling. The harder races were the ones that made us grow the most and learn how to extract the maximum from the car together.

 

 

Can you give us an overall wrap up of your season?

 

 

It was a good season overall, but we still could have gained so much more. There were times where we didn’t maximise the potential we had. Sometimes we were unlucky with penalties and sometimes there were mistakes which were obviously not ideal because we could have finished much higher in the championship. It is disappointing but these challenges are a part of racing.

NIKOLA TSOLOV

 

 

What has been the highlight of your 2023 season?

 

 

The major highlight of my season was getting my first points. It was exciting for both me and the team because we had been fighting for it the whole season and in the end, we got it in the penultimate round. Another highlight was the final race in Monza where we were fighting with the front runners for the first time. We were looking good to be able to achieve a top five result and we were able to show our progress from the start of the season.

 

What was your favourite on track moment of the season?

 

 

My favourite on track moment of the season was the Feature Race at Silverstone. I started at the back but knew we had a lot of pace in the car so I was able to make a lot of overtakes which made it an exciting race.

 

Do you have a favourite circuit that you have visited this season?

 

 

I really enjoy Spa-Francorchamps so getting to go back and race there again this year was a lot of fun. There were also three new circuits for me this year which I really enjoyed - Albert Park, Monaco, and Monza.

What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome this season?

 

 

The biggest challenge I had to overcome was the lack of milage at each track. On a race weekend you only have one practice session where you would do a small number of laps and then you have to jump straight into Qualifying. When you don’t know a circuit and you’re still getting used to the car, it’s difficult to do that without much testing.

 

 

What was a major learning curve for yourself and your team this season?

 

 

A major learning curve for the team and I this season was overcoming the challenge of having such little mileage. It meant working hard on preparation before the weekend, so that the first push lap we would be on pace. That was what we learned the most over the year, how best to prepare ourselves ahead of a race weekend and how to work together as a team because it was my first season with ART Grand Prix.

 

 

Can you give us an overall wrap up of your season?

 

 

In terms of results this season we weren’t where we wanted or expected to be, but the improvements we made throughout the year were huge. There were so many, and it was a step-by-step process of improving one aspect at a time, so it took a while to show the progress on track but behind the scenes we were constantly working to improve. In the final three rounds we made a huge step forward which I was really happy about, especially because it wasn’t always easy to see that we weren’t improving in terms of results despite all the work everyone in the team was putting in. To score points twice was a good boost for everyone in the team, to see the work finally pay off in some way and also to end the season on a high.

SOPHIA FLÖRSCH

 

 

What has been the highlight of your 2023 season?

 

 

The highlights of my 2023 season was when I finished in the points at Red Bull Ring and Spa-Francorchamps. I started from behind 20th on both occasions, so to finish in the points in those two races was super fun and a big achievement for the team and I.

 

What was your favourite on track moment of the season?

 

 

It is difficult to say just one as there were so many good moments. We made lots of overtakes in some races that I really enjoyed, and also Free Practice in Monaco under wet conditions. I didn’t expect the track would be so fun in the rain.

 

Do you have a favourite circuit that you visited this season?

 

 

All of them are special but my favourite track on the calendar is the Red Bull Ring. To get to race surrounded by the dreamlike mountains of Styria is very special.

What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome this season?

 

 

I guess jumping back into FIA Formula 3 without having a single test day beforehand was the biggest challenge to start with. It was two weeks prior to the first official test days that I found out I would be in F3 again. On top of that, I was racing for a team which was new to the championship and overall, there were many things which needed to be learned first. The team then had to be reorganised, processes rolled out and materials sifted and sorted out. All this is quite complex, especially when the smallest details are decisive. That’s when things tend to go wrong, such as the team’s penalties in Bahrain and Monaco. Also, the championship is very competitive, the teams and the drivers are at a very high level. This means that making progress is definitely hard work, but we tried closing the gap a little bit more in different areas every weekend.

 

What was a major learning curve for yourself and your team this season?

 

 

We never managed to use the tyres 100% in Qualifying. The gap to the top teams was too big. For sure our race craft in the longer runs improved over the season, I think that was the biggest area of improvement which helped us to finish in the points twice.

 

Can you give us an overall wrap up of your season?

 

 

First of all, it was amazing to be back in formulas after a two-year break. Going into the season, I knew it wouldn’t be an easy one, but our goal was to finish in the points at least once and we achieved that. We made good progress, and I was able to show really good race pace and overtaking on different occasions. For me personally, it was a big help to be part of the Alpine Academy and get the support from different people inside the programme to be a better driver. There are many things I learnt and many things I know I need to keep working on to improve.