Twenty-year-old Antonio Fuoco was one of nine drivers returning to the GP3 Series grid this year with Trident Motorsport after finishing last year’s campaign in sixth with Carlin.
This also means that the Italian is one driver who has knowledge of the previous car – the GP3/13 – that has been revamped into the GP3/16.
“For me the new car is better than the old one,” Fuoco told theCheckeredFlag.co.uk “The feeling was similar to the car of last year, I just feel a bit more downforce and also it’s bit easy to drive.”
It was a strong opening round for the Italian in Barcelona, but he still felt that it could have been better despite a podium finish.
“It was a positive weekend but not the perfect one. In qualy I was P7, in both races we did a good start and I finished P4 and P3. I feel very good for the rest of the season and we are working every day with the team to stay on top for every race.”
That was not all of the track action that Fuoco saw in Barcelona after being given a testing outing by Ferrari – having been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2013 – where the Italian completed 118 laps for the Scuderia on the second day of the test.
“I was proud and happy to have taken part in the test in Barcelona, I learnt quite a lot from the team.”
There was also the upcoming test at Silverstone in the week following the British Grand Prix but the Italian did not have the chance to take part once again, with the test instead going to fellow FDA star Charles Leclerc.
Fuoco is also staying quiet with regards to GP3’s maiden visit to Malaysia, preferring to focus on the bigger picture.
“I’m looking forward to push to my maximum on every race. For Malaysian GP I think it’s a new good track for this series, I’ve never been on this track, I’m very curious to see how it will be.”
Currently, sitting in third of the championship Fuoco has got himself in a strong position to build on, but is also keeping quiet on who he thinks will fight for the title this season – as last season showed the title battle can change very quickly.
“There are many really strong drivers this year, we have to see who is the most consistent.”
