This weekend’s race event will be the first time the FIA F3 Championship has raced with a new event format, with the drivers facing three races per weekend. The new schedule sees the number of race weekends reduced from nine to seven events, but the total number of races increased from 18 to 21.
As has traditionally been the case, Friday will see the drivers take part in practice and qualifying, but Saturday will see two races with the third race taking place before the Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday. All three races will be 40 minutes long.
All three Carlin Buzz drivers will make their debut in the F1 support series this weekend, with Cohen graduating from EuroFormula Open, Frederick stepping up as the 2020 BRDC British F3 Champion and Red Bull Junior Edgar graduating as 2020 ADAC F4 Champion.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Cohen said,
“I am very excited to finally start the first race weekend of the season. We have been working hard and preparing during the winter and will try to convert it into good results this season.”
Team-mate Frederick said,
“I’m really excited to get my first race weekend in FIA F3 underway. It will be a whole new set of challenges but I am confident that we will continue to adapt quickly, as we have done very well already throughout the short pre-season testing program.”
Edgar, who will also make his FIA F3 racing debut this weekend added,
“I’m looking forward to the weekend and excited to have my first F3 race, it’ll be interesting to see how the racing will be with the new format.”
Team Principal Trevor Carlin added,
“The team and drivers are more than ready for the season opener this weekend, it seems a long time since we were last on track racing at Mugello. We have three FIA F3 rookies this season, but their potential shouldn’t be underestimated.
Without a doubt FIA F3 is one of the most competitive and well attended championships in the world, but we’ve made some good steps forward over the off-season and all three drivers have shown some great pace in the official pre-season tests. The key to is to remain focused and not be distracted by the pressure of a race weekend, which will be even more intense with the new weekend format.”
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