2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion Sacha Fenestraz will no longer be a part of the Renault Sport Academy in 2019 after failing to meet the expectations of the French manufacturer during his rookie season in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship.
Fenestraz was tasked to finish within the top three in the championship by Renault but despite a win in the opening round of the season around the streets of Pau, he was unable to find the winning touch again throughout the season, finishing only twice more on the podium and slipping to eleventh place in the final standings with Carlin.
The French-Argentine racer felt he did the best job he could with the package he had but ultimately it was not enough for him to retain the backing of Renault, and he finds himself looking at a possible move to the All-Japan Formula 3 championship for 2019, although he still has options to race in the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
“It’s true that from time to time I made a couple of mistakes on my part, but in general I think I did the best I could with what I had,” said Fenestraz to Motorsport.com.
“The target that [Renault] gave me at the beginning of the year was to be within the first three of the championship, but already at the beginning of the season we saw that we had a lot of work to do in terms of equipment.
“So I realised that it was going to be complicated and I could not reach that goal.”
He recently tested a DTM Series car with Audi Sport alongside a number of other rookies including Formula 1 refugee Sergey Sirotkin and fellow Formula 3 racer Jonathan Aberdein, but remains insistent that single-seaters is for him at this point of his career.
“I think that at this point in my career I still have time to move to tin-tops, although it’s a very good option, because the DTM is something incredible,” said Fenestraz.
