American-Ecuadorian driver Juan Manuel Correa experienced a challenging weekend in the FIA Formula 3 Championship’s season resume at the Silverstone International Circuit.
After struggling for pace in Saturday’s Sprint, contact on the opening lap of Sunday’s Feature Race forced the 22-year-old to retire from the second leg of the event.
Correa placed 18th in the series’ sole Friday practice session before qualifying 16th on the grid for both of the weekend’s races.
A difficult start to the Sprint Race rendered Correa 19th at the close of the opening lap and with an inherent pace disadvantage, presented him with an uphill recovery.
After falling to 21st, a late Safety Car on lap 10 of 17 presented a fresh opportunity, although a continued absence of grip prevented any inroads from being made on lap 12’s race resume.
This left him 21st at the finish, although an overnight change in setup promised improved performance for Sunday’s Feature Race.
Unfortunately, contact on the opening lap with Franco Colapinto forced Correa to retire from the second race of the weekend after sustaining extensive damage to his ART Grand Prix machine.
The weekend’s results mean that Correa holds 13th in the Drivers’ Championship with 21 points, with Formula 3’s 2022 season set to continue at the Red Bull Ring.
“It has been a very difficult weekend for me and the team,” said Correa. “We lacked pace on Friday and Saturday and following the Sprint Race, we made a lot of changes which seemed promising.
“Unfortunately, we crashed on the first lap of the Feature Race which is a disappointing way to end because I wanted to test the new setup and see if we could take steps forward.
“This is something we will carry into next weekend’s race at the Red Bull Ring where we’re hoping to build momentum, come back to the front and fight for the podium positions.”
