In the final round of the 2018 GP3 Series at the Yas Marina Circuit, Tatiana Calderon once again was in the points.
The two races marked the last-ever for the GP3 before it is replaced by the new FIA Formula 3 Championship and also signified the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 test driver’s farewell after three years in the series.
Calderon signed off in style adding to her points run which dates back to Monza.
A difficult qualifying left Calderon with a lot to do in the Feature Race.
From fourteenth on the grid, Calderon took advantage of her tyre management abilities to push her way up the order.
Ultimately finishing in tenth, this would become her starting position for Sunday’s Sprint Race.
An incident on the opening lap between Leonardo Pulcini, David Beckmann and newly crowned champion Anthoine Hubert meant she was promoted to seventh by the end of the lap.
After the Virtual Safety Car to recover the damaged cars, Calderon lost out to two cars behind her.
However penalties for Juan Manuel Correa and Giuliano Alesi put her into eighth place.
“Overall it was a positive weekend, again finishing both races in the points. It’s a shame we couldn’t make a difference in qualifying; it was a bit difficult with traffic and we struggled a bit to switch the tyres on. In the first race the pace was really strong, I made some good moves, I think I was probably just two laps short of getting P8 and the reverse-grid pole.
“In race two it was a bit strange with the VSC and the restarts. Some people overtook me under VSC and cut the track and didn’t give the position back. At the end it’s another two points. Now the season is over and it’s time to focus on what’s coming next – I will be testing F2 this week and I’m really looking forward to it.”
This week she will partake in the F2 test, with Charouz Racing System who announced they were embarking on a partnership with the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 team.
