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Leclerc crowned F2 Champion, Russell wins GP3 Championship

Writer's picture: Andrew ZarbAndrew Zarb


Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc has won the FIA Formula 2 Championship after winning the Feature Race yesterday in Jerez. It is likely that Leclerc will be in Formula 1 next season with the Sauber F1 team as part of their (Sauber F1 team) engine deal with Ferrari given Leclerc is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.

In an interview, here is what Leclerc said:

Charles Leclerc – FIA Formula 2 Champion. How does that sound? It feels amazing! We’ve had a great season overall, and on the performance side we have always been very, very quick, and the only low on the performance side was the qualy in Monza and that was my fault because I wasn’t good enough in that session. But apart from that I think we have always been on top and this feels really great.

Obviously I’ve had some lows during the season, a few on the racing side but most of all on the personal side obviously, after losing my father. Winning the championship is an amazing way for me to honour him, and actually I would like to dedicate this title for him. I would prefer to not dedicate any other titles in the future. Last year I dedicated to Jules [Bianchi], this year to my father, so hopefully next year I don’t, well, next year maybe it might be a bit more difficult [to win a title], but hopefully I don’t need to dedicate any other titles.

How important has your relationship with the Prema team been? Obviously it’s very important to be in the right team. It’s always something that makes you win the championship – I think we’ve had a really good year, we have worked very hard from winter testing and we focused on ourselves. Winter testing wasn’t how we wanted it to be, we didn’t feel we were quick enough, but then coming to the first race I did quite a step and they did quite a step also and we were very quick from then on. So yeah, it has been an amazing season, there are still three races to go where we need to perform at our best, but it has been a pleasure to work with them.

How difficult was the fight with Oliver Rowland and Artem Markelov? You haven’t had anyone very close for the last few races but you’ve always seemed to be battling Oliver – what’s that been like from your point of view? From my point of view as I always have done in recent years I focussed a lot on myself and on my car and that’s it. To be honest, the competition you always feel it, but I was looking at myself and trying to do the best results all the time. Today is probably the first time I felt that I absolutely had to stay in front of Oliver and yeah, it feels good to win the championship.

When did you believe this title was possible? I think in Barcelona after race one. In Bahrain the qualy, it was a bit unsure whether we had been lucky or if we were very quick because there was a red flag at the wrong moment for the others and everything, so it was a bit difficult to judge, and then in race one it wasn’t really positive because I struggled in managing the tyres and I knew that in F2 obviously tyre management is a very big part of the championship. In race two we won but we did a completely different strategy than the others, so again it was not like we knew we would be on top at the next race. Then arriving to Barcelona it became clear that we had the pace to win the championship and that if we were doing the job correctly we had good chances to win the championship. I had the pole and we won race one in Barcelona without any luck, so yeah it was at that moment that I understood that we had the potential to win the championship.

On the racing side of things, what was the highlight and the lowlight of the season from your point of view? Well the highlight was I would say Baku on the racing side, also given the circumstances to have had two great results like this has been an amazing achievement from the team and I, and I think after that on the low side, there have been quite a bit of lows this year actually: probably in terms of disappointment I would say in Monaco, because obviously I was at home and not to finish the race was definitely heart-breaking.

What is this win going to mean to the team and the people behind you? Well I mean it’s always amazing to win any championship. I think it’s the result of a lot of dedication from all the teams and all the guys that are working here. Obviously my mechanics, the engineers the team managers and everyone around, it’s a result of this. I’m very, very happy with them, they couldn’t have done any better job this year: they have given me the best car out there. As I said there have been quite a few lows but to be honest I think that when you want to be the best with the car you need to be on the limit with everything and I completely understood that, so I think they couldn’t do any better and I can’t thank them enough this year.

Finally, what are your plans for next year Charles? Well actually now I will call my manager because they didn’t want to tell me anything before winning the championship, so I will call him just after to know a bit more now!"

Meanwhile in the GP3 Series, British driver George Russell was crowned champion afte finishing fourth in the Sprint Race (as well as scoring an additional 2 points for setting the fastest lap). Russell is a member of the Mercedes Junior Programme.


In an interview, here is what Russell had to say:

George Russell, GP3 Series Champion. How does that feel?

It feels fantastic! Firstly, I would like to give a massive thank you to everybody at ART Grand Prix: they have been absolutely incredible with all four of us. And then secondly, I would like to thank Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport. They’ve obviously helped me a lot this season, they put their faith in me at the start of the year, and they have developed me into a better driver to get me into this position today.

How important has your personal relationship with ART Grand Prix been for you this campaign?

It has been massively important. It’s helped to have three extremely fast and intelligent teammates. We all got along very well this season and we have all come together after every session to talk with the engineers and to push the team forward. I think it’s quite easy for either of us to say ART had the best car and the reason behind it was that we worked so well as a team. We’ve been able to push in the right direction to give us that car.

How difficult was the title battle with your teammates across the season especially with Jack Aitken?

To be honest, I have not really thought about the title so much: this was the first weekend I ever really thought about it. Even then, like I said yesterday, I came into this event with the same mind-set as always: to try and put it on pole and win Race 1. I could not accomplish that, but my second objective was to try and beat my main rival, which was Jack [Aitken]. I went into the race today knowing what I had to do: I had to beat him by one place and try and get the fastest lap. As we all know, this circuit is extremely difficult to overtake. I saw an opportunity on the first lap into Turn 6 and I took it.

When did you believe you could win this title?

Quite early on to be honest. After Barcelona’s “disappointment” let’s say, we had a test in Budapest between the first and second round. I set myself the goal that I could put it on pole every single race from then until the end of the season. It was almost there: I put it on pole three times. Unfortunately yesterday it did not go to plan, but that was my target. Throughout the season, I felt I had the team around me to be able to do that and win the races we won.

What were the highlights and lowlights of your campaign?

The lowlight was definitely Budapest, when we started second on the grid and we didn’t get to start the race. The highlight was probably…I don’t know. Potentially it was the qualifying session in Spa: I felt like that was a really great performance from all of us in the team. We absolutely dominated the session although we only put it on pole by 3 tenths. I think that was a highlight for me. Obviously, now today is the biggest highlight!

What does this title mean for the team and the people behind you?

I’m sure it means a lot to the team, but they are fairly used to winning this category. At the start of the year, Mercedes set a clear goal for me and that was to go out and win this title no matter how I do it: win every race or finish second in every race as Esteban [Ocon] almost did in 2015. That was a clear objective. I’ve had plenty of messages already from them saying congratulations. I’m sure they’re happy.

How big their part has played in your success as well?

I think they’ve played a big part. Being part of their team and spending time in their debriefs with Lewis [Hamilton] and Valtteri [Bottas], just seeing how they analyse the data and feed back to the team. From that side that really helped me. Also I’ve done four days of F1 testing this season, two in the 2015 car and two in the 2016 car. I’ve picked up a lot about how to use the Pirelli tyres, how to look after the temperatures, as we all know tyre management is quite crucial in GP3, Formula 2 and Formula 1. They’ve helped me a lot…

What are your plans for next season?

At the moment, there is nothing sorted. Obviously, Formula 1 is my clear goal, but I think for next season everything is tight down there unfortunately for me. As we all know this sport is all about performing at the right time. I think it’s most likely going to be Formula 2. That’s what I would like to do. I think it makes more sense to be in the limelight of the F1 team, having the guys around me if I need. And obviously, Formula 2 is a step below Formula 1. I’d say it is most likely, but we’re still in talks with teams at the moment.


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