Ferdinand Habsburg left the opening round of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship at Silverstone frustrated after failing to break into the points in any of the three races across the weekend, pinpointing qualifying as his weakness.
The Austrian, racing this year for Carlin, was unable to match the pace of his team-mates during the two qualifying sessions, ending with a best starting position of twelfth, and as a result found himself embroiled in many on track battles that resulted in three races where he finished outside the top ten.
“It all came down to qualifying, where I just lacked a little pace,” said Habsburg to The Checkered Flag. “We wouldn’t have any other problems that we’ve been dealing with over the last two days if we had been up there, but we weren’t.
“It is pretty straightforward looking at it for Monza, and looking out for the outright pace in the qualifying. It was a culmination of things that weren’t going my way, mostly just myself dealing with the situation correctly, which my team-mates did, so that’s something to look at.
“I got a lot of practice in overtaking and following in these cars, which is tricky, and we managed to have a good car for the races, so that’s a positive. We’ve got a few days off now, and looking at videos and where could I have not made a mistake, or where could I have improved so it does not happen again.”
Habsburg believes that Carlin will prove to be the best team on the grid in 2017, strong words when, in particular, Prema Powerteam, the multiple series champions in both the Teams’ and Drivers’ Championships, are on the grid with a strong line-up of their own.
“Loads of people ask me why did I go with Carlin,” said Habsburg. “I just responded that I’m very confident that they will be the best team on the grid this year, so why not?”
