FIA Formula 3 is back in action this weekend at Imola, nearly two months after the last round in Melbourne Australia and a number of the drivers revealed how they’ve kept sharp during the long break.
After that long break, F3 will now contest two rounds back-to-back at Imola and Monaco, before a nearly month-long break ahead of a European triple header.
Alpine Academy Driver Sophia Floersch said that preparing for this condensed period of the calendar was important during the prolonged gap between Australia and Imola.
“I mean obviously now all the European races are coming and we have them pretty tight together,” she said.
“So obviously you just kind of try to use those two months to prep for all those rounds a little bit to use obviously the time in the sim, spend time in the gym and work with the team to try and prepare as much as you can already for all the European races.”
Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz, adapting to F3 in his rookie season commented on how physical preparation is necessary to compensate for a lack of track time.
“I think the most important is to train as much as possible,” he said.
“We’ve had one test in Barcelona and then it’s not much driving.
“It’s a bit difficult with the testing limit here. But yeah, I worked quite hard off track to get physically fit.
“[I’ve] been on the sim with the team in Switzerland, so yeah, prepped as much as I could for over two months for this round and the next one.”
Aiding Wurz in his preparation as a rookie is the fact that Imola is the first track on the 2024 F3 calendar that he has raced on before.
The young Austrian has experience of the Emilia Romagna circuit in both Formula 4 and the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, which should stand him in good sted ahead of this weekend’s action.
“This track I’ve raced twice before in F4 and in Freca,” he noted.
“It’s a difficult track to get a good flow and really to put the lap together is not easy, but it’s a track I really enjoy and with the downforce of the F3 car it’s fun to drive.
“I think it’s definitely helped, especially tracks like Melbourne that I didn’t know and Bahrain as well.
“Yeah, first track of the season that I know, I think that will give me a bit of an advantage and just a bit more confidence going into this race.
“Just that I know where to go, I know the track, I know the references so feeling more confident for this round and yeah, just ready to go straight from [practice], beyond the limit straight away.
“I think that’s important for F3 to be straight there and I feel confident to do that.”
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