SMP Racing driver program Robert Shwartzman won the bronze medal in Race 2 of the third FIA Formula 3 round of the season, which took place on June 29-30 in Austria at the Red Bull Ring.
In the first race of the weekend, Shwartzman started from ninth position, gained some places and claimed fifth. According to the reverse-grid rule of FIA Formula 3, Robert started from fourth position in Sunday’s Race 2. As early as the third lap, the Russian overtook three rivals ahead in a tight fight and took the lead.
Most of the race, the SMP Racing driver was successfully fending off the attacks of his teammate Marcus Armstrong and keeping the lead. However, in the last lap of the race, the New Zealander and the Russian made contact during their battle. Armstrong was forced off track and Shwartzman, still driving with a broken front wing, was the first to cross the finish line. After the finish the stewards handed Robert a 5-second penalty and the Russian moved to third place.
According to the results of three FIA Formula 3 rounds, Robert Shwartzman keeps the lead in the overall standings, 8 points ahead of the closest rival, his teammate Jehan Daruvala.
“The race was interesting, I tried my best and did everything I could,” SMP Racing driver Robert Shwartzman said after the finish. “I quickly overtook rivals and took the lead. I was trying to build a gap, but my teammate Armstrong also had a good pace and soon was very close to me. Marcus got also lucky with two virtual safety cars, as every time there was a green flag, he activated DRS and tried to attack me. On the last lap, he also tried to overtake on the outside and was right in front of me. I didn’t have enough time and distance to slow down and touched his rear wheel and damaged my front wing. As a result, Armstrong was off the track, I was still able to get to the finish line. Unfortunately, for this incident I was given 5-second penalty. We are not the first, but the third in the race, but focus on the future. We keep the lead and I hope that we can achieve good results at Silverstone.”
The fourth round of the FIA Formula 3 will take place on July 12-14 at Silverstone, UK.
