THOUGHTS FROM VIPS, FEWTRELL AND ARMSTRONG

FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to today's FIA Formula 3 press conference following Race 1 here in Spielberg. Joining us are the top three finishers from the opening race. In third place Marcus Armstrong from PREMA Racing, in second place Max Fewtrell from ART Grand Prix and your race winner Jüri Vips from Hitech Grand Prix. Jüri congratulations on your first win of the season, it seemed like a very hard fought race out there. Talk us through your early battles to fight your way into the lead.

Jüri Vips: The early pace was very good. I don't know if the others were under-pushing or already struggling by then but we had the pace over them in the first few laps. I got past Max because he had to defend from me in the first two laps so he didn't have the DRS from Marcus, so that was kind of an easier move. Marcus was quite difficult. It was quite good because the last DRS detection zone before Turn 4 is just before Turn 3, so if you try to overtake under braking the other guy will normally have the DRS on you, but I made sure I went very late so I could go past him. He would probably have got me back but I'd still have the DRS. I was really happy with what I did there and then it was a really hard race after. Every lap Max had the DRS on me and I knew that if I made one mistake then he would overtake me because the gain you get with the DRS is massive. It's like six or seventh tenths on all the three straights or something like that. It was a perfect race and it really feels good.

FIA Formula 3: Very hot conditions out there as well, you all look quite sweaty if you don't mind me saying! How difficult was it out there managing all of that? 

Jüri: No because it's true [laughs]! Honestly, it wasn't that hot during the race when the adrenaline was up, it was after when you get out of the car. It felt like 'wow, this is actually pretty hot' and I'm sweating a bit more than usual [laughs]. The track is not very physically demanding luckily so it's just the temperature.

FIA Formula 3: Well done on your win. Max moving on to you now. Your first Formula 3 podium. Could you talk us through your race today? Jüri was saying how difficult it was to manage DRS. Were you trying to play it tactically, trying to catch him up?

Max Fewtrell: I got into the lead into Turn 1 so we had a really good start, then I managed to drift around Turn 1 and not get a great exit so Marcus got me back. I kind of struggled following him in the middle sector and then into the last sector I fell back and had Jüri behind me. As soon as Jüri got past he then overtook Marcus and I also came past him, and from there on out it was pretty gruelling. No mistakes were made and we were all just kind of sat in a line waiting for a mistake, but it didn't happen. I'm just really happy to be here to be honest because after last week we didn't know what to expect this weekend, but now we know that we can do the job which we always believed. It's a good step forward and I'm looking forward to tomorrow and the upcoming weekends.

FIA Formula 3: As a boost for your season as a whole, do you reckon that this can be the kick-start for you to move on into the rest of the year?

Max: Yeah definitely. We've always known we've had this performance and pace and I've always believed in the team. I've never doubted them once, it's just the first two weekends if you don't get the results you start to question yourself, or the team, and just everything around you. Having these results now is a good boost and now we know we can do it we can really push forward and keep the momentum.

FIA Formula 3: Well done. Marcus moving on to you. From pole to P3. Once you'd lost the lead did it feel like it was pretty much impossible to get back in front because everyone was running in this train, as the other two have spoken about?

Marcus Armstrong: Not particularly. It was always a sort of strategy to come strong at the end. Obviously yesterday we had very good pace after the first lap when I did pull a gap from Max I took it very easy. Arguably too easy. After Jüri got me and Max got me in the same move I saw how hard Max was pushing. I was actually pretty confident that we would come back at the end. Long story short, it was a lot more difficult to overtake than I expected, just because Max was sitting in Jüri's DRS and frankly he wasn't making any mistakes. It wasn't as easy as I would have liked. I expected the race to be a lot more eventful because there's three DRS zones leading on to each other, so I was expecting to come on strong at the end and come back. It's a little bit disappointing not to have done so, but it's one of those things. I come from the F3 of last season and this is completely different. It's all a learning curve and I suppose now I know for next time.

FIA Formula 3: Back on the podium and some good points gained on your other title rivals as well. You must be pretty pleased with that?

Marcus: Yes, in that regard I'm happy. It's good points for the championship because I'd much rather finish here than do some spectacular move and then shunt and not take any points. All in all it's not a bad day and we're not in a bad position for tomorrow.

FIA Formula 3: Well done. Jüri coming back to you now. Marcus touched on the difficulty of overtaking through the race. From the reverse grid you'll be starting from eighth tomorrow. How are you feeling about your chances of fighting your way through the order?

Jüri: In all honesty I think it's going to be quite difficult. I think that's just because of the level of drivers in this championship. It's so, so high. It doesn't matter if you finish eighth now, you'll start pole tomorrow. Maybe last year there was a difference in the level of drivers but here it's very small. I'm sure whoever will be on pole tomorrow is a very good driver and they will not make mistakes. If everyone is on a train and has DRS then there's not much to be done. There was much less tyre degradation here than in Paul Ricard so I think it's going to be less of an issue than it was there. There it was quite dramatic. Tomorrow I don't think there will be that much progress but I will obviously try and gain all the positions that I can.