Questions and answers with Stefan - part 1

We sat down with Stefan at Brands Hatch just after qualifying to talk about how Formula 3 is going for him and to ask the questions you sent in. Here's the first part of what he had to say.

Q: We're just over halfway through the season, you're fifth in the standings, and you've got a win and two other podiums under your belt, so are you happy with that, or are you disappointed, or is it about what you expected?

Stefan: A bit disappointed really. I mean, we have shown good pace in the last couple of races, so we hope to improve that over the second half of the season, and definitely making it into the top three is the goal and getting some more wins and some more podiums.

Q: You've been getting to grips with a new series, new car, new everything - has that been tougher than you thought it would be?

Stefan: Yes, it has been tough, the start of the season was very tough. And really it's about changing your driving style to suit Formula 3. It's a completely different kind of car to what I've driven before, so I've learned quite a lot. I've just not had the experience of engineering my car and that's part of Formula 3, so setting up the car how I like it has been crucial and we've just started doing that, so the results have just started to come in.

Q: Let's talk about tracks. How many of the tracks that you race on this year are actually new to you, because you did some of them in Palmer Audi, didn't you?

Stefan: Over the first half of the season we've had three or four new tracks that I've had to learn, and we've just gone straight in there with no testing at these circuits and we've had to learn it on the day. And for example at Thruxton we'd never even seen the circuit in the dry. We had a wet test day that got cancelled, so that meant we had to go into the race weekend straight into qualifying, so it was difficult to learn the lines in the little time that we had. But then again we were quite competitive at Thruxton, we were fast, but a few mistakes were made and unfortunately it's damaged my championship a bit.

Q: And does it make a big difference if you've been to a track before?

Stefan: Yes, definitely, I think so, I mean if you've raced on a track before you know what to expect a bit and you know where the overtaking place is, you know when you can and can't make overtaking moves. And circuit knowledge helps as well, so we started at Thruxton on the back foot really and it was a bad weekend.

Q: Whereas at Snetterton of course, which you already knew, you had your first win.

Stefan: Yes, Snetterton, I've been there a few times in Formula Palmer Audi and I know the circuit, and there were also some special moments for me when I won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, so I've been there in various different cars and that really helped. I knew I'd fared well round there and I was confident, so I went in there and I had a good weekend.

Q: Of course Formula 3 isn't run just on tracks in this country. You've had already had one trip abroad to Monza, which is a really big, historic F1 track, so what was that like?

Stefan: It was great! As soon as you walked in the gate of the place you could sense the history there. It was a really really good place to race, but unfortunately it wasn't the best weekend. When you go all the way to Italy you expect dry weather, but it was wet all weekend and even the qualifying got called off, so I felt a little bit disappointed not to be able to drive such a fast circuit and such an amazing place in the dry, but I'm looking forward to going there again.

Q: You did get your first podium there, though...

Stefan: Yes, it wasn't disappointing as to the results, it's more because I really wanted to experience the circuit in its full form. It was great to walk round the oval part of the circuit, the banking that they used to use in the 1930s or so, it was great to see that and see what some of the other generations had to deal with.

Q: How steep is the banking?

Stefan: It's very steep! You struggle to walk to the top of it and it's not very smooth either, and with not much of a safety barrier at the top, so you can understand why so many people lost their lives.

Q: Of course, very soon you're getting to race on another of the world's great tracks at Spa.

Stefan: Yes, I'm really looking forward to that one, I've heard so many good stories about it. When my brother was racing in Formula 3000 I did get to go there and spectate and watch the cars coming through Eau Rouge, which really inspired me. And some of my friends have just raced there in Palmer Audi, so I'm eager to get there and experience it for myself.

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