Driver Database News

Leading Formula 3 Euroseries entrant Manor Motorsport concluded the 15th and 16th rounds of the season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain over the weekend, 19th/20th September, disappointed to miss out on race one points by a single position.

Spaniard Roberto Merhi, racing in his homeland for the first time in the world’s most competitive F3 championship, climbed through the order well in the opening race of the weekend on Saturday from an uncharacteristically low starting slot of 19th position.

He finished as the top Manor driver in ninth place, frustratingly one spot behind the final points paying place which, in turn, would have given the 18-year-old pole position for the second outing on Sunday morning by virtue of the championship’s reverse grid rule for the top eight finishers. Just that one place could have made all the difference to the team’s weekend.

Brazilian Pedro Enrique, who qualified further back in 24th spot, made up ground too and ended the opening encounter in 15th position, just over a second shy of Swiss driver Christopher Zanella. For fellow South American Cesar Ramos, his day’s work on Saturday ended on lap 12 when he was forced to retire.

For round 16 on Sunday, Merhi lined up in ninth position but had to drop-out of the race on lap 25 with car problems. Ramos and Enrique did at least both finish the encounter with the former taking 16th position and the latter rounding out the top 20.

This weekend’s Barcelona action actually marked a return to F3 Euroseries competition for Manor with the team having last weekend been involved in the British Formula 3 International Series event at Portimao, Portugal, where Merhi and Enrique both took part as invitational drivers.

Reflecting on the Spanish event, team principal John Booth said: “It’s been a shocker of a weekend really, very disappointing and one we need to put behind us. We had a problem with Roberto’s car in the second race but the biggest issue for us has been the lack of grip and the inexperience of our three drivers on such a surface. It’s been a tough event.

“Hopefully we’ll be back where we should be at Dijon for the next round, it’s a higher grip track so that should suit us and we’ll hopefully be able to get back near the front. We’ve had one or two bad rounds recently so if we can get back into the points during the final two events we’ll be happy.”

Television highlights of this weekend’s racing from the Circuit de Catalunya will be screened on Sky Sports in the UK throughout the week – please check listings for further details.

Next on the calendar for Manor’s F3 squad will be the sole visit of the season to France with rounds 17 and 18 of the campaign set to take place at the Dijon-Prenois circuit on 10th/11th October.

Photo by F3 Euro Series

Andrea Caldarelli experienced the best weekend of his career in the Formula 3 Euro Series, ending up on the podium on Race 1, after taking of from the front row. The driver from Pescara, part of the Toyota Driver Program, overcame a technical issue suffered in Practice by his SG Formula Dallara-Mercedes, cruising to a stunning 2nd place at the end of Qualifying. Aware that his racer was capable to fight at the top, Caldarelli clocked his best lap ending up 65 thousands of a second off Jules Bianchi’s pole.

“It’s been fantastic for me to be back at the top of the charts after so many troubles – told Caldarelli – I could have even tackled to the pole, but I lost time for the yellow flags due to a spin by Vietoris”

After being moved on by Alexandre Sims, Caldarelli kept third place until checkered. “We’ve been waiting for so long, an the team put on-track a perfect car here at Barcelona. I was certain that the development was following a right path and it definitely paid off.”

On Race 2, Caldarelli took off from Row 4 but lost one spot after being blocked hard by Waldschmidt. He then caught the slipstream of Tiago Geronimi, who defended himself roughly, causing the Italian to brake and let Esteban Gutierrez go.

“I tried to do my race but when you’re blocked so hard at the first corner there’s nothing to be done. Tenth place is ok at the end of such a positive weekend…”

Prema Powerteam was back to a points finish in the Formula 3 Euro Series thanks to Basil Shaaban. The Libanese driver experienced the best weekend of his career, ending up in 7th in Race 1 and scoring 3rd place on Race 2, a first-time for Lebanon on an international race’s podium.

Prema and Team Principal Angelo Rosin were delighted to have brought Basil to the top: “Basil is really appreciated by all the paddock because he’s fair on-track and a truly nice guy outside the circuits. This weekend has been memorable for him as he did everything just perfectly. On Race 1, he found the right opening to avoid a crash at the first corner, and moved from 18th to 7th. On Race 2 he recovered up to the 2nd spot, before settling 3rd, showing impressive pace”

Tim Sandtler, who took 21st in Qualifying, ended up in 12th on Race 1 and in 11th on Race 2, while Coletti, back from his GP2 Series crash, was involved in the f irst-lap tangle after clocking the 13th time in Qualifying. On Race 2 he started from the back, managing no better than 15th.

The seventh round of the 2009 Formula 3 Euro Series was held this weekend over the Channel, at the short Brands Hatch Indy configuration. On the British racetrack, Toyota Driver Program’s Andrea Caldarelli had still to fight bad luck driving the Mercedes-powered Dallara fielded by French outfit SG Formula.

“In Formula 3, the most decisive moment is Qualifying. In 30 minutes, it all needs to work perfectly to nail a spot in one of the front rows. At Brands Hatch we were split in two groups due to the circuit’s reduced length. With no traffic to slow me down, everything seemed set for a really fast lap, until I started experiencing brake problems. We lost time, got a little nervous and ended up with the 11th time”.

Andrea was then forced to start from the back, on Row 11. The first race proved really dramatic due to a huge contact between Bianchi and Geronimi. As the series’ organization decided to continue after a long stop, ending the remaining 18 minutes, Caldarelli ended up in 18th. On Race 2, he kept fighting back.

“The car handled well, and I clocked some good laptimes. I ended up in 14th, just one spot behind my team-mate Henki Waldschmidt, but I can’t be satisfied with that. I hoped to inch closer to the points zone…”.

Dinnington-based Manor Motorsport didn’t have the happiest of homecomings at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent over the weekend, 5th/6th September, although the team does still retain fourth place in the entrant standings following rounds 13 and 14 of the 2009 Formula 3 Euroseries.

On home soil for the only time this year, the Yorkshire squad hoped to witness a return to the podium for lead driver Roberto Merhi. However, a combination of bad luck and the well documented lack of overtaking opportunities for single-seaters at the short 1.2-mile track meant the team departed Kent without adding to its points totals in both the driver and team championships.

Saturday’s 13th round had to be halted following a collision at Paddock Hill Bend on lap 13 involving championship leader Jules Bianchi and Tiago Geronimi as they fought over 11th place, both cars making heavy contact with the barriers on the outside of the corner.

Due to the length of time it took to extract both drivers from their cars and to clear the wreckage away, officials chose to postpone the resumption of the race until later in the afternoon to allow qualifying for the headline DTM touring car series to be held on schedule.

At the original start, Merhi lined up 13th on the grid with team-mate Ramos alongside him on row seven and Enrique back in 23rd position. All three Manor drivers enjoyed a good opening to the race and at the time of the red flags being shown Merhi was ninth, Ramos was 12th and Enrique was an excellent 17th – the latter having gained six places on his starting position.

The race resumed with the order as was at the time of the earlier abandonment and the re-start came behind the Safety Car. Little changed over the remaining 18 minutes of racing with Merhi ninth, frustratingly a mere seven 10ths of a second behind eighth-place which would have given him the reverse grid pole position for Sunday’s encounter. Ramos finished 11th and Enrique stayed 17th.

Round 14 on Sunday was another Safety Car-affected encounter with two separate cautionary periods. Spanish star Merhi lined up in ninth position, Ramos was 11th on the grid and Enrique started in 17th place.

Ramos enjoyed a strong run inside the top 10 early on but he was forced to retire at mid-distance after being involved in a collision with Adrien Tambay and Jake Rosenzweig . Merhi achieved a hard fought 11th place after dropping down the order early on while Enrique finished in 17th position.

Television highlights of the Brands Hatch races will be screened in the UK on Sky Sports Xtra at 15.00 tomorrow, Monday, 7th September. Please check listings for further details of repeat screenings.

Carlin racer Brendon Hartley took a dominant victory at Brands Hatch today, to take his first win in the F3 Euro Series. Racing at Carlin’s home track, Hartley and team mate Jake Rosenzweig both enjoyed a competitive weekend, with Hartley driving a faultless race around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit to take victory for the British squad.

Having finished eighth in yesterday’s F3 Euro Series race, Hartley lined up on pole for today’s reverse grid race. The Red Bull racer kept his cool at the start with a perfect getaway and kept second placed man Sam Bird a safe distance behind. Team mate Rosenzweig meanwhile continued what was a strong weekend for him and moved up to eighth place from tenth on the grid. An accident on lap 19 brought out the safety car and closed up the field, but Hartley made the perfect restart to pull away from Bird. Rosenzweig meanwhile had been hit from behind which pushed him off track at Druids.

A second safety car period on lap 30 once again bunched up the field, but once again Hartley kept his cool to control the pace from now second placed man Alexander Sims. From then on Hartley did well to control the race to take the chequered flag and his first F3 Euro Series victory.

Speaking about his victory, Hartley said, “I’m so pleased to have won here, it’s been too long since my last really good result. I didn’t need to push; I just had to concentrate on controlling the race. I’m very happy, I’m really pleased for Carlin; they have worked very hard to get this result. I know this was a reverse grid race, but everyone in the top ten of this championship is good enough to win, so I’m happy to get this result.”

Team principal Trevor Carlin added, “Brendon drove an absolutely flawless race from the lights going out to the flag coming down; it was one of the best drives I’ve ever seen at Brands Hatch. He made the best start and coped very well with the pressure of two safety car restarts. The team have worked very hard to get this result and today everything came together for us, so I’d like to thank the whole team for their hard work.”

“I’ve been really impressed with Jake this weekend; he took his best ever qualifying result on Friday, to qualify seventh just ahead of Brendon and made up two places in the race today. Unfortunately he lost out following contact with another car, but we’re still delighted with his performance this weekend.”

The Carlin F3 Euro Series squad will be back on track in Barcelona from 18 – 20 September.

Prema Powerteam will be back as a three-car squad in the upcoming round of the Formula 3 Euro Series, scheduled for September 5 and 6 at Brands Hatch. The Italian-based team, owned by Angelo Rosin, reached an agreement with Tim Sandtler for a ride at the British venue. The German driver, born in 1987, will be racing a Mercedes-Powered Dallara alongside Stefano Coletti, who entered two rounds of the GP2 Series during the summer break, and Basil Shaaban. His past experiences include a 2008 season in the International Formula Master and a 2-year stint in the F.3 Euro Series, where he moved up from the German F.BMW Championship.

“We’re really pleased to have agreed terms with Sandtler – told Team Principal Angelo Rosin – who’s the ideal driver for us in this moment. He’s fast, reliable and experienced, and he’ll give a valuable contribution to the team’s growth. Brands Hatch is a really demanding racetrack; the arrival of Tim will also benefit Coletti and Shaaban, who’ll be able to share telemetry data”

Andrea Caldarelli continued to face hard luck in the 2009 Formula 3 Euro Series. The driver from Pescara, part of the Toyota Driver Program, entered the Oschersleben round of the championship with his regular team, SG Formula, showing good skills in practice and qualifying.

On Race 1, he was forced to take off at the back after stalling on the grid. In the meantime the car’s overall performance started to fade dramatically and, after starting from the last spot on Race 2, he came home 4 laps down. The next round of the Formula 3 Euro Series will be once again hosted in Germany, at the Nurburgring.

“The race at Oschersleben didnt’ go as we expected. Until Qualifying, we thought we could really make a difference. I managed to hit a spot on row 5, and I was really looking forward to improve further during the race. After I stalled on the grid of Race 1, we elected to use Race 2 as a test, but as track groove increased, our car started to drive worse. Now we’ll have a test session in order to find new solutions before the race at the Nurburgring”.

Prema Powerteam went back to victory in the fifth round of the 2009 Formula 3 Euro Series at Oschersleben. Monaco driver Stefano Coletti, who was starting from the front row thanks to a 7th place finish grabbed on row 1, took the lead as early as the first corner, moving on Mika Maki. Coletti then extended his lead progressively, building a good advantage and ending up by a comfortable margin. In just one race, Coletti completely blown away the bad breaks faced in the last weeks, before coming to an incredible decision by the stewards, that penalized 21 drivers for allegedly not respecting yellow flags, pushing him in 2nd.

“You get one new lesson each day in this championship – explains Team Principal Angelo Rosin – they took from us a deserved victory and Stefano received just another penalty that deprived him of valuable points. We once again accept the stewards’ decision, but we have to say that we’re really unlucky from this point of view. Our performance is still there though. Stefano proved to have character as well as talent”

In Qualifying, Coletti took the 10th fastest time, before climbing up 3 spots in Race 1 and hitting strange happenings on Race 2. Basil Shaaban, who started from row 12, recovered in a convincing way on Race 1, improving up to 12th on the next day. At Oschersleben, Prema Powerteam elected not to field Matteo Chinosi.

Manor Motorsport’s rising single-seater talent Roberto Merhi produced two excellent race drives at Oschersleben in Germany over the weekend, 1st/2nd August, during the ninth and 10th rounds of the 2009 Formula 3 Euroseries.

With F3 Euroseries racing at Oschersleben’s Motorsport Arena for the first time since 2006, Merhi underlined his ability during his first ever competitive qualifying run at the track with the fourth fastest time during Friday afternoon’s session – a lap of 1m21.116 seconds (164.032 km/h) placing him just four 10ths of a second shy of pole position.

In the opening encounter of the weekend on Saturday morning, the Spanish teenager raced superbly to his third podium result of the campaign, finishing around three seconds clear of closest challenger Christian Vietoris. His race wasn’t without incident though, a small mistake on lap 10 forcing the Manor star to run off track at the chicane, but he recovered without drama to take a fine third place.

After the race, Merhi said: “My start was good, I could battle with Valtteri Bottas for second place but unfortunately he came out on top. After that, I tried to follow him but I made a mistake on lap 10 or so and I was briefly off the track. Then, I concentrated on bringing third place home.”

For Brazilian pairing Cesar Ramos and Pedro Enrique, Oschersleben didn’t prove to be a happy hunting ground. Things originally looked good for Ramos in qualifying, the South American posting the 15th fastest time with one of his best performances of the year, a lap of 1m21.739 seconds (162.782 km/h) placing him as the fifth highest rookie. Enrique, meanwhile, was half a second further adrift with a time of 1m22.242 seconds (161.786 km/h) sealing a position on the 11th row.

Unfortunately, the opening race of the weekend on the 3.7 kilometre circuit failed to deliver good results for either of the drivers with both ending up a lap down on the final classification and still in search of their first points of the season.

Round 10 then turned out to be a confusing affair when a total of 21 drivers were given 30 second time penalties towards the end of the race for setting their best lap times while yellow flags were being shown during a cautionary period. This meant Merhi, who had been in fourth place, dropped back to fifth position, Ramos was 16th and Enrique, the last driver on the lead lap, was 21st.

Manor’s Formula 3 team will be back in action just a fortnight from now, 15th/16th August, at the Nurburgring in Germany – the home of the 2009 FIA Formula One German Grand Prix – for the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2009 campaign.

In the meantime, television highlights of this weekend’s races from Oschersleben will be screened on Sky Sports 3 in the UK at 21.00 tomorrow night, Tuesday, 4th August. Please check listings for details of further transmissions throughout the week.

Provisional 2009 Formula 3 Euroseries Driver Standings (after Rd10):
4th Roberto Merhi, 28pts; Cesar Ramos & Pedro Enrique – No Score

Provisional 2009 Formula 3 Euroseries Team Standings (after Rd10):
4th Manor Motorsport, 28pts

Photo by F3 Euro Series.