Driver Database News

It’s been one of the toughest events of the year at the Norisring for Prema Powerteam, as the Italian squad approached Nurnberg’s streetcourse with two cars at the top in standings. Things got complicated by the bad weather, which plagued the whole weekend at the German venue. Despite the rain-related issues faced on-track and the lack of wins, Roberto Merhi retained the lead of the F.3 Euro Series standings with 200 points, as he cruised to the podium on Race 2 and 3 after having captured a points finish in the first. The Spaniard, who scored 4th place in qualifying, took off with rain tires for race 1 after a rainfall hit the track earlier and pushed really hard, opening a large lead as he made full display of his driving skills.

Unfortunately for him, the asphalt started to dry up quickly and while his followers started to gain ground, he made it back to the pits for slick tires. A pit-stop miscue forced him to lose an additional spot, as he made his way back to the flag in 4th. On a rainy sprint race, Mehri fought hard with Wittmann, ending up right behind the German, while in the main race, hit by bad weather once again, he focused on taking some valuable points in standings. Daniel Juncadella, who ended up qualifying in 5th, managed to climb onto the sprint race’s podium. but did not score points in the other two heats, while the third Prema Racer, Gianmarco Raimondo, faced a tough weekend to score 6th place in race 1 as his personal best result.

Rene Rosin – Team Manager
“Overall it’s been a pretty positive weekend as we scored some extremely valuable poitns with Mehri, especially considered the really tough weather conditions we faced in all three races. Wittmann inched closer in standings with two wins but Roberto answered the bell as he focused on the championship. We feel for both Juncadella, who did not achieve what he deserved and for Raimondo, who still needs some more experience in the European context”.

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

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.

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.

Yorkshire-based Formula 3 Euroseries team Manor Motorsport had a frustrating return to Zandvoort over the weekend, 18th/19th July, when a potential podium challenge by Roberto Merhi was halted after he was adjudged to have made a jump-start to round seven.

Having visited the Dutch venue a month ago for the stand-alone Tango Masters of Formula 3 race, Manor was hopeful of a successful weekend for its impressive young Spanish charge who has proven to be a superb talent in only his first season of action at the pinnacle of F3 racing,

Lining up sixth on the grid for the first race of the weekend on Saturday, 18th July, the 18-year-old got away from the line a little too well according to championship officials. After running a solid fifth for the first eight laps, Merhi was then handed a jump-start penalty and the net result meant he was classified in 18th place at the finish.

Team-mates Pedro Enrique and Cesar Ramos both raced well during the opening encounter and finished 14th and 17th respectively after coming through from 20th and 26th on the grid, the rookie Brazilian pairing improving more and more in race conditions as the season unfolds.

For round eight on Sunday, 19th July, Merhi underlined his racecraft and pace by scything his way through from the ninth row of the grid into an 11th place finish – just missing out on the top 10 by a little over a second.

Again, Ramos and Enrique performed well with the former getting the better of his South American countryman by taking a fine 13th position. At the chequered flag on lap 26, the Manor team-mates were split by just half a second. Although the squad wasn’t able to score points this weekend, Manor Motorsport still retains fourth in the entrant standings.

John Booth, team principal of Manor Motorsport, commented: “Obviously, we’re disappointed to have come away from Zandvoort without any points as Roberto proved he had the pace to run in the lead bunch. It’s just a shame he had the jump-start penalty in race one. In the second race, all three drivers did a good job. Pedro and Cesar continue to improve with each outing, we’re pleased with the progress they’re making.”

Television highlights of the weekend’s race action at Zandvoort will be screened in the UK on digital satellite channel Sky Sports Xtra on Tuesday evening, 21st July, at 19.00. Please check listings for more details.

Oschersleben in Germany will host the next event on the 2009 F3 Euroseries calendar, rounds nine and 10, a fortnight from now on 1st/2nd August.

Provisional 2009 Formula 3 Euroseries Driver Standings (after Rd8):
5th Roberto Merhi, 20pts; Cesar Ramos & Pedro Enrique – No Score

Provisional 2009 Formula 3 Euroseries Team Standings (after Rd8):
4th Manor Motorsport, 20pts

Jake Rosenzweig took his first podium finish in the F3 Euro Series today, following a brilliant weekend for the young American at the Zandvoort Circuit Park in the Netherlands. Following a strong seventh place in race one on Saturday, Rosenzweig lined up second for race two today and drove a stunning race to take third place in only his fourth event in the series. Team mate Brendon Hartley saw his weekend compromised early on by a accident in qualifying, which saw him qualify 20th for race one, but fought back with a 10th place in race one, and eighth in race two despite suffering from a mechanical problem.

Heading on track for qualifying on Friday afternoon, both Carlin drivers had high hopes following promising pace in free qualifying. Any hopes of a strong weekend for Red Bull racer Brendon Hartley were soon dashed however, as the New Zealander clashed with Sam Bird who was warming his tyres, leaving Hartley with severe damage and consequently a 20th placed grid slot. Team mate Rosenzweig was on the pace though, taking by far his best qualifying result of the season in 12th place in his Volkswagen powered Dallara.

At the start of race one on Saturday, both drivers made a good start with Rosenzweig and Hartley moving up to ninth and 16th respectively. A determined Hartley was on the move, quickly passing Matteo Chinosi for 14th place, while Rosenzweig moving up to eighth following a drive through penalty for Roberto Merhi. Despite racing in only his fourth F3 event, Rosenzweig stayed calm under pressure, keeping the experienced Bird behind him and moved up to seventh when Christopher Zanella was penalised for a jump start. Rosenzweig held onto seventh to take home two points, while Hartley confirmed his impressive race pace to finish 10th, having made up 10 places from his starting position.

With the top eight from race one reversed for race two of the weekend, Rosenzweig lined up second for race two today. The young racer coped well with the pressure, making a good start to challenge Bird in the run down to the first corner, although lost out to Henkie Waldschmidt on the first lap. Still running in third place, Rosenzweig was passed by a flying Jules Bianchi, who went on to take his second victory of the weekend.

With Waldschmidt handed a drive through penalty for a jump start, Rosenzweig’s fourth place became third, which the American fought hard to maintain, despite constant pressure from the experienced Christian Vietoris behind. Team mate Hartley meanwhile was suffering with a mechanical problem, but demonstrated great resolve to keep hold of ninth place.

Speaking about his first F3 podium, Rosenzweig said, “I’m so pleased to have taken away two good results and of course to have finished on the podium for the first time in F3. I made a good start today and was running close to Sam [Bird], but had to back off to avoid contact. There was no way I could keep Bianchi behind me; he was just too quick, but I managed to defend from Vietoris who had a look round the outside once but couldn’t pass me. We had really great pace today, so thanks to the team for a good job. It’s a great result for us this weekend; so hopefully we can aim for more podiums in the remainder of the season.”

Team Principal Trevor Carlin added, “Jake has done brilliantly this weekend, he’s taken two solid points finishes and of course his first podium in F3 Euro Series, despite not being very well. He dealt very well with pressure from much more experienced drivers and most importantly his race pace showed than he more than deserved his place on the podium. Congratulations to the engineers as well, who have worked so hard to make improvements since our disappointing pace at the Zandvoort Masters just last month. Brendon’s bad luck seems to have continued in Zandvoort this weekend, but we more than believe he is capable of fighting for wins. Hopefully we can build on our results this weekend and see both drivers regularly finishing among the front runners in the future.”