HWA RACELAB claims its best result of the Formula 3 season in Silverstone

: on 02 August 2020

Points for HWA RACELAB at round four of the FIA Formula 3 Championship in Silverstone. Fourth place for Jake Hughes (Great Britain) in Saturday's race was the best result of the season so far for the team from Affalterbach. The 26-year-old finished in the points again at his home event on Sunday.

4th and 10th place for Jake Hughes, 18th and 19th place for Enzo Fittipaldi, DNF and 27th place for Jack Doohan
Jake Hughes: "We finished in the points this weekend, but we want even more in the future!"
Enzo Fittipaldi: "We will keep our head up high and know that we can do better."
Jack Doohan: "We deserved a much better result."
Thomas Strick: "Without the safety car phases, we would probably have been rewarded with a podium finish."

Silverstone, 2nd August 2020 – As has been the story so far in this season's FIA Formula 3 Championship, the HWA RACELAB drivers were not quite able to match the pace of the front-runners in qualifying. Despite this, Jake Hughes (Great Britain) did manage to qualify eighth and earn a good starting position for the race on Saturday. From there, Jake went on the attack from the word go. He passed the first of his rivals on the opening lap and left the next opponent in his wake two laps later. He used his impressive pace to close in on the next car up the road, which he then overtook with the help of DRS. The race had not yet reached the halfway point when Jake moved into fourth place. His progress was initially halted by a safety car phase on lap twelve. Jake was denied the opportunity to challenge for a spot on the podium in the closing stages. Shortly after the first safety car phase, another crash resulted in the race being interrupted again. The race was ultimately completed behind the safety car. Fourth place was the best result of the season so far for Jake and HWA RACELAB.

Jake started race two from seventh on the grid. Despite falling back through the field a little in the opening corners, he retook seventh place after four laps. The appearance of the safety car brought the field back together, but Jake was lacking pace after the restart and had to go on the defensive a little. He was ultimately unable to prevent three of his rivals from passing him. However, the Brid did do a great job of fending off further attacks and successfully defended tenth place, earning him his second points finish at his home event. The latest top-ten result and another point in the championship puts Jake in 15th place overall with 13.5 points.

Enzo Fittipaldi (Brazil) was lacking pace in qualifying on Saturday. As a result, starting race one from 24th place on the grid, he struggled to make progress in a packed field. In attempting to make up ground, Enzo collided with another car on lap three and his car suffered light damage. Despite this, the grandson of two-time Formula 1 world champion, Emerson Fittipaldi, still managed to improve consistently throughout the race and eventually finished 17th. He was ultimately classified in 18th place, as race control handed him a penalty.

As in the opening race, Enzo again showed plenty of fighting spirit in the Sunday race, producing some skilful overtaking manoeuvres to climb several positions, having initially lost two places at the start and dropped back to 20th place. After four laps, he was already up into 17th place, a position he held onto for the majority of the race, which included some spectacular battles with his pursuers. At the end of an exciting race, Enzo crossed the finish line in 18th place.

Jack Doohan (Australia) was unfortunate in qualifying. As he set off on his final flying lap in the last minute of the session, he was blocked by cars that had already started to slow down. Jack was unable to stay on the racing line and had to settle for 21st place on the grid. He soon found his rhythm on Saturday and climbed four positions in the first three laps. On the opening lap, he produced a skilful manoeuvre to pass two cars on the outside. Jack's pace was good and he lay in wait of more opportunities to climb through the field as the race progressed. He had a worrying moment on lap ten, when the driver in front of him braked unexpectedly and Jack drove into the back of him. He was able to continue the race, but it soon came to a premature end on lap 12, through no fault of his own. When two cars directly in front of him collided, Jack was unable to avoid them and was taken out by one of his rivals' cars, with both cars ending up in the crash barriers.

Jack was also stopped in his tracks on Sunday - this time by a flat tyre, which forced him back into the pits on lap three. As such, any hopes of an early fightback from the rear of the field were crushed prematurely. Despite this, Jack refused to give up: he soon closed the gap to the field, overtook a few cars and produced a courageous performance right through to the finish. After almost forty minutes of racing at the Silverstone Circuit, he crossed the finish line in 27th place.

The FIA Formula 3 Championship continues on 8th and 9th August with a further two races in Silverstone.

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Quotes on the race weekend

Jake Hughes (26, Great Britain, car number 15), 4th and 10th place
"I was already quite happy with qualifying, where we did not get the maximum out of the package. I was even happier with the race on Saturday. The car felt excellent on the opening laps and I climbed several positions. I had made it into fourth place by the time the safety car appeared. After that, there was nothing more that I could do, which is a little frustrating. With the pace we had, I think we would have finished on the podium. Despite this, it was important to pick up some points and secure a good starting position for the second race. We finished in the points again today, but I was hoping for a little more. We did not quite have the same pace as we did on Saturday and struggled with the tyre set-up in the cooler conditions. We must now focus on the next weekend and see that we get to grips with the tyre issue. Hopefully, we will then be able to deliver more consistently. We finished in the points this weekend, but we want even more in the future!"

Enzo Fittipaldi (19, Brazil, car number 14), 18th and 19th place
"I made a good start on Saturday, but my car was damaged slightly in a collision on lap three. I think that affected the performance a little. The pace itself would actually have been good. The main problem is still qualifying, in which I struggled again. Unfortunately, the pace was not as strong in race two as it had been the previous day - that did not make things any easier. But we will keep our head up high and know that we can do better. We will analyse yesterday's and today's race thoroughly, work hard and be as well prepared as possible for the coming race weekend."

Jack Doohan (17, Australia, car number 16), DNF and 27th place
"On Saturday, I made a good start and, although I lost a few positions whilst avoiding a crash, I immediately regained it. I set fast lap times and could clearly feel that we have taken a step forward with the set-up of the car. However, I then got stuck behind a few rivals who, in my opinion, were being rather too aggressive. I was ultimately dragged into a crash involving one of the drivers - I had no chance of avoiding it. That was a great shame. We deserved a much better result. I was unlucky again today and had to come into the pits early on, because the rear-right tyre of my car was punctured following contact with another car. We lost a lot of time as a result. We swapped it for a tyre from yesterday's race, which made it difficult to find the pace we're used to in today's race. After that, there was not a lot more I could do."

Thomas Strick, Team Principal HWA RACELAB
"Jake finally managed to show his full potential on Saturday. Without the safety car phases, we would probably have been rewarded with a podium finish. I am delighted for him - fourth place is our best result of the season so far. As far as qualifying pace is concerned, we are still not where we want to be. We will continue to work on that - just as we will work on the tyre set-up. There is definitely room for improvement there. We must now draw the right conclusions from the two races, to ensure we are as well prepared as possible for the next two races in Silverstone. If we can improve in the areas I mentioned, then consistently top results are definitely possible."

Result of race one, Saturday 1st August:
1. L. Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 43:28.199
4. Jake Hughes HWA RACELAB 43:33:326
18. Enzo Fittipaldi. HWA RACELAB 44:14.549
DNF Jack Doohan HWA RACELAB DNF

Result of race two, Sunday 2nd August:
1. A. Smolyar ART Grand Prix 39:09.312
10. Jake Hughes HWA RACELAB 39:17.201
18. Enzo Fittipaldi HWA RACELAB 39:28.605
27. Jack Doohan HWA RACELAB 39:38.986

About HWA AG
HWA AG is an independent, 360° engineering specialist in the fields of automobile racing and high-performance cars. Formed in 1998 by Hans Werner Aufrecht, the company is based in Affalterbach (Germany) and employs roughly 300 highly-qualified members of staff. HWA AG offers all its products and services under the motto ENGINEERING SPEED: The company’s objective is to develop the best possible, high-quality solutions, in order to get its partners and customers to their destination quicker. The portfolio of services ranges from designing all vehicle components to assembling complete cars, together with the relevant logistics, after-sales and support services.

About HWA RACELAB
HWA RACELAB is HWA AG’s operations team in motorsport. It brings together experienced specialists in high-quality race engineering and the associated services, in pursuit of success on the motorsport scene. HWA RACELAB entered Formula E as a new team in the 2018/19 season, adding a future-oriented string to HWA’s wealth of racetrack expertise. HWA RACELAB has also been competing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship since 2019 and will be appearing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship from 2020. With eleven Drivers’ titles and over 180 race wins as a works team for Mercedes-AMG in the DTM, the company is one of the most successful players in international motorsport. HWA RACELAB also draws on the company’s other core areas of expertise, such as the development, assembly and running of GT cars for customer racing, as well as the assembly of Formula 3 race engines.

Annette Hörsch
Media

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E-mail: a.hoersch@hwaag.com