F3 Rookie, Nabil Jeffri gained valuable experience from the third round of the FIA F3 European Championship held at the Pau Circuit in France last weekend.
The PETRONAS Talent Development driver put on a commendable performance for his first outing at the historical French circuit to finish Race 1 18th, Race 2 17th before improving by three spots to cross the finish line 15th in Race 3.
Nabil completed Race 1 in 36’24.073s after starting the race from fourth row. A smooth start and a consistent pace saw the 22-year old muscle his way through the field, overtaking few of his rivals before two incidents forced officials to deploy the safety car.
Race 2 took place under dry conditions and again Nabil enjoyed a good start. Once he cleared the first turn, the Malaysian driver went hard on throttle with hopes of hunting down the front-runners. Although he was able to surpass a few drivers, the race was red-flagged in the 19th lap due to an accident that Nabil narrowly missed.
The race was restarted with a safety car and seven minutes on the clock which was too short for Nabil to improve his position. In the end he settled for 17th with 49’36.629s.
Race 3 was a bit more dramatic being the last race at the Pau Circuit and it saw the field drive aggressively. A huge crash happened right after the first turn involving Kang Ling and Tatiana Calderon and Nabil who was ahead of them at that point suffered damages to his lower rear wing.
But that was not enough to dampen Nabil’s spirits as he went on to push hard after the safety car left the track. In the last few laps, Red Bull driver, Callum Ilott managed to close the gap on the Malaysian driver but with consistent and faultless driving, Nabil managed to hold his position to the finish line, completing the race 15th in 36’33.106s.
“I’m so lucky my car didn’t affected much due to crash between Kang Ling and Tatiana. I just focus on my race and improve my laptime and bring the car home 15th place. I will start my fitness training at Formula Medicine in Italy on Tuesday and continue with simulator program prior to Monza race,” said Nabil.
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Race 1
1.Jake Dennis (GBR) 35’54.103s
2.Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) 35’54.783s
3.Chales Leclerc (MON) 35’55.299s
4.Maximilian Gunther (GER) 36’01.182s
5.Alexander Albon (THA) 3’01.716s
Selected
18.Nabil Jeffri (MAS) 36’24.073s
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Race 2
1.Jake Dennis (GBR) 49’15.706s
2.Chales Leclerc (MON) 49’16.368s
3.Anotonio Giovinazzi (ITA) 49’18.442s
4.Arjun Maini (IND) 49’21.174s
5.Felix Rosenqvist (SWE( 49’21.685s
Selected
17.Nabil Jeffri (MAS) 49’36.629s
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Race 3
1.Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) 35’56.242s
2.Maximilian Gunther (GER) 35’58.187s
3.Charles Leclerc (MON) 35’58.653s
4.Lance Stroll (CAN) 36’09.741s
5.Arjun Maini (IND) 36’11.358s
Selected
15.Nabil Jeffri (MAS) 36’33.106s
