Lindblad wins Sprint & Tramnitz 3rd in Bahrain F3 Feature
After T1 I already moved up from P7 to P3. Then again it was all about tyre saving
Written by Peter Clifford | Layout: Oliver Schran
4 min readPublished on
Ultra close racing started the F3 season around the Sakhir circuit and Arvid Lindblad drove superbly to come out on top of an extremely intense Sprint race on Friday. Fellow Red Bull Junior Tim Tramnitz started his F3 title attack with an excellent 3rd in the Feature after taking good points for 5th in the first race.
Oliver Goethe overcame poor grid positions to score 9th and 10th places with Kacper Sztuka 20th and 28th.
Tim Tramnitz on fire in both races
“I think that after the test we already felt quite confident for the Quali,” stated the 19-year-old German. “In the end, we were quite happy with P7. It's important for our race to get in the top 12 and it meant that for the reverse grid in the Sprint Race, I was on P6.”
“I had a pretty good start, after my start, I was already up to P4, the cars behind were pushing quite a lot. I let them pass and decided to save my tyres. I caught them at the end again and was able to make my way up to P5.”
“Even though I had saved them quite a bit mid-race it was still difficult to overtake in the dirty air. So in the end I finished P5.”
Overall a good first race but still, a couple of things to improve.
“The Feature Race, already the start went really well. After T1 I already moved up from P7 to P3. Then again it was all about tyre saving. Especially here on this track, it is really really important.”
“I was saving my tyres mid-race, gave up one position, so was running in P4. Then, towards the end, I started to attack a bit more, be a bit less gentle on the tyres.”
“Then, with 3 laps to go, I made a little bit of a surprise move into T1 and got it done well. So really happy to finish the race in P3.“
“I think overall for the weekend, really happy with the points we got. P2 in the championship is great motivation. I am very much looking forward to Melbourne now.”
“There are still things to learn, with tyre management, with the DRS to use the effect better in a few places but I think this will come with experience.”
Arvid Lindblad made the perfect start to the year
“I knew that Qualifying would be challenging,” admitted the 16-year-old Briton. “It's very different to what I am used to, so few laps, quite high pressure. Overall I think I managed it quite well.”
“The Sprint Race was very good, strong pace throughout. I was managing the tyre situation in the beginning and then was able to use it in the second half of the race.”
“The Feature today was a little bit more difficult, got a poor start and had to push in the early laps to get back into position. Then it was a bit difficult being stuck in the DRS train.”
Lindblad on his way to victory of the Sprint Race in Bahrain 2024
“A lot of very positive things to take away, also many things to work on that we will try to do now, before Melbourne. I know that will be a very different weekend, without the luxury of 3 days of testing.”
“The preparation in the SIM will be very important and I am looking forward to that.”
I can't wait for Australia and the rest of the season.
The 19-year-old German was frank about the weekend. “Qualifying was very disappointing, the pace was simply not there compared to all the testing we’ve done and this massively affected the weekend overall as Qualifying is crucial for Formula 3.”
Oliver Goethe leaving the pit of F3 at Sakhir 2024
“However the disappointing Qualifying didn’t allow me to fight for higher positions, where we should be.”
Kacper Sztuka held back but with a front-running pace
“The Qualifying was not great,” explained the 18-year-old Pole. “The runs with the first two sets of new tyres were decent but the third, I made a few mistakes and didn't put the lap together so well. I finished like P24 which compromised all the weekend.”
“In the first race, I had to avoid an accident and lost some places. Then I had some good overtakes, I got up to P19. Eventually finished P20, not the result that we were hoping.”
“In the Feature race today, a racing incident in Turn 8. I damaged my front wing, so I had to box for a new nose.”
“So basically went all the race alone, I was focussing on getting good laps and being consistent. If you compared the pace to P1 it was equal, so a good test for us.”
We know we have the pace, the team has the pace, congratulations to MP on the podium.
