Alex Peroni "so happy" with first FIA Formula 3 podium
Tasmanian Alex Peroni marked a huge return to racing at the Red Bull Ring, earning a podium in the FIA Formula 3 opener in his first race outing since a horror 250km/h crash last year at Monza.
Alex Peroni celebrates his third-place finish in Race 1 of the FIA Formula 3 championship. (Image: Supplied/Dutch Photo Agency)
The 20 year-old remarked on what he dubbed “an up and down weekend”.
Peroni qualified eight-fastest in a tightly-contested session that saw the 30-strong field cram onto the Red Bull Ring. “Qualy wasn’t ideal,” he said. “I felt that we had the pace for fifth or fourth, but we paid the price for some small mistakes.”
In Race 1, Peroni fought through the field up to an eventual third place finish. “In race 1 my car was very quick in the first half,” he said. “but the rear tyres lost grip as the race went on so I had to focus on defending my position instead of attacking the driver ahead.”
“I felt that third place was the best I could have achieved from where I started. I was so happy to be on the podium and set the fastest race lap for the first time in FIA Formula 3, especially in the first race of this season!”
View this post on Instagram
P3 from p8!!!! Really happy for the whole team. Tomorrow we go again. yiiieeewww! @dutchphotoagency
A post shared by Alex Peroni (@alexperoni7) on Jul 4, 2020 at 3:33am PDT
He reflected on his retirement from Race 2, stating “my car had what looks like a battery problem.”
“There were warning signs at the corner before, with the DRS not working and some weird gearchanges, and then the whole car shut down."
“It was disappointing, as I was on target for more points, but these things happen. We’ll investigate the cause, and hope it doesn’t happen again.”
We are all extremely relieved that Alex Peroni walked away from this crash during Race 1 in Monza.
He is currently under medical observation.#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F3 pic.twitter.com/UdlcFSIqBHSeptember 7, 2019
Peroni was last seen in the development series at last year’s Italian Grand Prix, when a freak accident sent him flying into the barriers and home to Australia to recover from his injuries.
“Overall it was a pretty decent start to the series,” he said. “It’s been a long wait since Monza, and then the extra delay because of the pandemic, but Campos Racing has done an incredible job to give me a car with the speed to compete at the front.”
“I’m so pleased for everyone who’s supported me, even through some dark times last year. It feels good, but it’s only the first round and there’s a lot of racing to come.”
“I’m already looking forward to Round 2 here next weekend.”
