The FIA Formula 3 teams got their first taste of the brand new F3 2019 car at a shakedown on the Magny-Cours circuit in France. Only one car per team was used, with the main effort on learning how to operate the new machine.
The conditions were sunny, but with cold temperatures as the pitlane opened. PREMA Racing were first to hit the track at 9am local time with Marcus Armstrong behind the wheel, closely followed by Carlin Buzz Racing’s Logan Sargeant.
Within the opening ten minutes, all cars had successfully completed their installation laps. At the end of the four hour session, ART Grand Prix topped the rest of the pack with the highest number of laps achieved (46). A total of 328 laps had been covered by all ten cars on Pirelli Soft tyres.
Everyone enjoyed a one hour break before getting back to business. Although Fabio Scherer remained on duty at the wheel of his Sauber Junior Team by Charouz car, new faces joined the session in the other nine teams. In fact, a total of 23 drivers got their first taste of the F3 2019 today.
At the chequered flag, the teams completed a total of 307 laps – with PREMA Racing ending the three hour session with the most laps covered (39). This resulted in 635 laps achieved today and totalled 2,801 kilometres of running.
The FIA Formula 3 paddock will gather next at Circuit Paul Ricard in France on March 20-21 for the first official pre-season test session.
FIA Formula 3 Technical Director Didier Perrin commented: “I am very pleased with how the shakedown went today. The feedback from the teams has been positive, and more importantly, the feedback from the drivers seems to show that the car is well-balanced and that it seems to be delivering some good downforce level and that it is pleasant to drive.”
Complete entry list
David Beckmann ART Grand Prix
Maximilian Fewtrell ART Grand Prix
Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix
Sebastian Fernandez Campos Racing
Alex Peroni Campos Racing
Alessio Deledda Campos Racing
Logan Sargeant Carlin Buzz Racing
Felipe Drugovich Carlin Buzz Racing
Fabio Scherer Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
Leonardo Pulcini Hitech Grand Prix
Jüri Vips Hitech Grand Prix
Keyvan Andres HWA RACELAB
Bent Viscaal HWA RACE LAB
Yuki Tsunoda Jenzer Motorsport
Artem Petrov Jenzer Motorsport
Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport
Simo Laaksonen MP Motorsport
Marcus Armstrong PREMA Racing
Jehan Daruvala PREMA Racing
Robert Schwartzman PREMA Racing
Niko Kari Trident
Pedro Piquet Trident
Devlin DeFrancesco Trident
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