Ready for Australia
After a three-week pause, the FIA Formula 3 Championship resumes for its second round this weekend, with action kicking off at the Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne, Australia on 22 March 2024.
It will be Norwegian Martinius Stenshorne’s first visit to Australia and he heads Down Under eager to build on a positive F3 debut in Bahrain. The 18-year-old Hitech Pulse-Eight driver enjoyed a strong start to his maiden campaign; despite starting relatively low down the grid for the Sprint Race he climbed an impressive 11 places, including a spectacular overtake to pass three cars in one corner. He crossed the line in 11th overall, just under a second from scoring points on his debut.
In the longer Feature Race, Martinius was again within touching distance of the points. Lining up P21 he sliced through the field to finish his first-ever F3 feature race in 14th overall, seven positions up on his starting position.
With a weekend under his belt and more time in the simulator at Hitech Pulse-Eight before a departure to Australia, Martinius’ goals are to start higher up the grid and use his racing acumen to secure his first points of the season.
Q&A with Martinius
How would you review your first-ever F3 race weekend?
I enjoyed it but most importantly we identified areas to improve. Going into a race with a relatively low starting place makes things harder, so the goal this weekend in Australia will be to qualify further up the grid. I gained 11 places in the first race in Bahrain, but it’s tricky for positions when you don’t start in the top ten. It was great to see Luke [Browning, Hitech team-mate] take a win in the second race so we know the car is working; in Australia it will be a case of improving myself and building on Bahrain.
What will the aim be in Australia?
I think we did a good job in the race to move up, but the goal for Australia is for sure to have a better starting position and then see how the rest of the week goes. It’s a new track for me, I’ve never even been to Australia before, so to prepare I went on the sim in Hitech last week. This is something that can help quite a lot, especially since all the second-year drivers have been there – and there are several second-year drivers. The track is quite tight and the sim is quite realistic so you get a good feeling for it. I’ve also looked through the data and the reports from last year to see how it went in previous years so I can get up to speed as quickly as possible.
Albert Park uses some public roads; do you enjoy racing on street circuits?
I do like street circuits, although I have only driven on one once before [Macau] but I really enjoyed it. Albert Park is quite challenging and it looks like a lot of fun. It’s not like a proper street circuit, but the walls are close and it’s high-speed. It’s like the opposite to Bahrain where you have a lot of run off. In Albert Park you need to be precise – I’m going to enjoy it!
Do you have any plans to see some of Australia?
It’s my first time going there and we are going to have a few days before starting the race weekend as I arrive over the weekend and we only need to be on track on Thursday. I will have a few days to drive around, see some things and the area. I am looking forward to exploring, maybe even drive up the Great Ocean Road – I haven’t tried surfing, maybe I will give it a go!