Swiss racing driver Fabio Scherer believes his FIA Formula 3 Championship campaign has “turned a corner” after his most impressive performance of the season at Silverstone, Great Britain, this weekend.
The Sauber Junior Team by Charouz driver put in his strongest qualifying showing of 2019 and followed that with a championship point after a stirring charge from P16 to P8 in front of a huge British Grand Prix crowd.
Racing at a circuit he enjoys, Fabio started the weekend positively, going P11 in Free Practice on Friday and then qualifying P9, putting his car inside the top ten on the grid for the first time this season.
Unfortunately, Saturday’s opening race did not go to plan, with Fabio suffering a lack of pace that restricted him to P16 at the chequered flag. With the grid for Sunday’s second race determined by Saturday’s finishing order, it left him with a lot of work to do – but the 20-year-old rose to the occasion magnificently.
“Before the race, I thought it might be possible to get into the points, even if it was going to be a big challenge from P16,” the Stobag-supported driver said. “As the race unfolded, I saw the drivers up at the front fighting like hell and losing time to each other. I decided not to attack the drivers immediately ahead of me; I wanted to follow them so that we could catch the leaders and be ready to take advantage.”
Fabio’s clever strategy paid dividends in the closing stages. With a strong car under him, he moved up to P8, setting his fastest lap on the 20th and final lap.
“I got quicker and quicker throughout the race,” he explained. “It was the first time this season that we really had the pace to fight hard and move forward. My car was lovely to drive and I really enjoyed myself.”
Fabio said his performance was down to the hard work he and the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz engineers had put in since the previous race in Austria.
“I am happy for everyone in the team. It was a confidence-boosting weekend, one we really needed. Free Practice, Qualifying and Race 2 were all strong and the only thing that was slightly disappointing was our Race 1 pace. But we now know that we went slightly the wrong way in terms of set-up,” he said. “The last few weeks have been the most challenging of my motorsport career because we’ve struggled so much. Now I’m relieved and much more relaxed because it feels like we have turned a corner. Sure, it has taken us longer than we would have hoped to achieve our first point of the season, but we’ll keep fighting for more. The next few circuits – Hungaroring, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza – are all ones I really enjoy, so I’m confident we can continue to progress.”
Fabio’s next FIA F3 Championship outing will be in Hungary on 2-4 August.
Press release Fabio Scherer
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