Jüri Vips admitted his Silverstone victory on Sunday was harder than he was expecting it to be after going the wrong way on set-up, although he was still able to stay ahead of Sacha Fenestraz.
The Motopark driver started on pole position for Sunday’s final FIA European Formula 3 Championship race of three at the British circuit having finished fourth and second in the opening two races, and despite losing the lead to Fenestraz at the first turn, he was back in the lead by turn six.
It was Vips’ second victory of 2018 after winning at the Norisring in June, and it moves the Estonian up to third place in the championship standings, thirty-three points behind championship leader and Motopark team-mate Daniel Ticktum.
“It was actually quite hard because Sacha was really quick behind me, we made some changes in the set-up that didn’t work quite well, but in the end I still won the race, so really happy,” said Vips to The Checkered Flag.
“It was really difficult, a lot more difficult than I expected considering the pace yesterday. Really happy with the win, and a big confidence boost for Misano.”
Vips says the European Formula 3 Championship is good preparation for his future steps in motorsport, particularly with how one wrong choice on set-up can have such a catastrophic effect on performance and results, as was seen in the first Qualifying session at Silverstone.
“In Quali 1, it was just fine details,” said Vips. “Just a small set-up change you do wrong and you go from being P3 to being P15, that’s how close this championship is, which makes actually really good.
“I think it is one of the strongest single seater championships out there, and it is good preparation for the rest of my career, I think.”
Vips now turns his attention to this coming weekend’s round at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, a circuit he has experience of both in ADAC Formula 4 and in pre-season testing, and he hopes to carry the momentum from Silverstone into Italy.
“I’ve done a race weekend there in Formula 4, and all the drivers did the pre-season testing there, so it’s not new for anyone,” said Vips. “I think we’re driving in the night though, which will be quite cool. It’ll be a new challenge, but it’ll be cool.
“It was a big confidence boost in the last race, but we’ll see how we go there.”
