HWA RACELAB takes victory at the Hungaroring in FIA Formula 3

HWA RACELAB triumphed for the first time in this season's FIA Formula 3 Championship at the Hungaroring. Matteo Nannini (Italy) produced a commanding display to win the second of the weekend's three races - the first Formula 3 victory of his young career. This success came as a welcome relief for the team from Affalterbach, which had twice been denied a possible victory this season.

  • HWA RACELAB claims its first win of the season in the FIA Formula 3 Championship
  • Matteo Nannini: "This race showed our full potential."
  • Thomas Strick: "This victory was the reward for a perfect performance from the driver and the team."

Affalterbach, 3rd August 2021 – Matteo Nannini (Italy) and HWA RACELAB had come within touching distance of victory at the events in Barcelona Spielberg, only to be denied success by a collision, through no fault of their own, whilst leading the race. This time, they did not get off to an ideal start at the fourth race weekend of the FIA Formula 3 season. 13th place in qualifying meant Matteo came up one position short of pole position on the reverse grid for the opening race on Saturday morning. In the race itself, the 18-year-old produced a focussed display to climb into tenth place over the course of the 40 minutes. This meant that he started the second of the weekend's three sprint races from third on the grid.

Starting Saturday afternoon's race, he reacted quickly at the start and had moved into second place by turn one. Matteo then lay in wait for an opportunity to attack the leader. The young Italian pulled off a perfectly set-up manoeuvre to pass Enzo Fittipaldi (Brazil) on lap four. Impressive pace over the subsequent laps allowed him to pull more than three seconds clear. Once he had established a comfortable lead, Matteo shifted his focus to looking after his tyres and avoided taking any unnecessary risks. As the race progressed, his lead was never in any serious danger. After 22 laps of racing, he crossed the finish line first with a lead of 2.5 seconds to wrap up the first Formula 3 win of his career.

This was the fourth victory for HWA RACELAB since joining the junior series in 2019. 

The FIA Formula 3 Championship continues from 27th to 29th August with three races at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium).  

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Quotes after the race weekend

Matteo Nannini (18, Italy, car number 14)     
"We had already come close to winning on two occasions this season. I am delighted that it worked out this time. The weekend did not start as we had hoped, but we kept our chin up and continued to focus on the job at hand. And we were rewarded with the win. Race two on Saturday showed our true potential. If we can produce that consistently, we will always be challenging at the front of the field."

Thomas Strick, Team Principal HWA RACELAB
"Saturday's victory was the reward for a perfect performance from the driver and the team. Our pace was very good, the tyres held out, and Matteo kept his cool right through to the finish. He did a super job. We must now use this race as a marker for the remainder of the season. Only when everything comes together perfectly can you stand on the top step of the podium in FIA Formula 3."     

 

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 in the FIA Formula 2 Championship since 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.

 

Jens Birkelbach
media

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