#this is more of a summary of the f3 season as i remember it sdkfjks

[callumilott-archive]

hi! so u said u could write a whole other essay abt the 2019 championship in your juri post so i have come to humble rrequest the essay pls id like to know your thoughts if u have time thank you have a good day

OH yes this is one hell of a distraction thank u skdjfkg let’s go! i’m mainly focusing on juri and marcus here since i really only paid attention to the both of them (in f3 at least) up until spa.

disclaimer before we start: my memory is bad and it is possible i remember some things wrong and finding sources on the messy f3 website is a PAIN so some info might be inaccurate

so the 2019 championship kicked off in barcelona, which was a mess in true f3 fashion. 2 guys hit each other on the way to the grid, i think one started from the pit lane and the other had too much damage?? boys, the race doesn’t start until lights out smh. this was also the race where christian lundgaard crossed the line first, parked his car at the 1st sign and then it was cruelly taken from him because of a 5 second penalty for virtual safety car infringement and no one told him until he was already out of his car skdfjsg it was sad but also kinda hilarious and a goddamn mess. i remember reading it on the f1 website at the time bc i didn’t watch f3 at this point. juri did alright here, think he got a podium in race 2. the premas were already pretty dominant but christian was up there as well.

season progresses, juri gets his penalty cancelled in france (icon, really. who else can say that) and apparently does not have a good time in race 2. he also did a kimi impression somewhere on the radio (’leave me alone’). marcus didn’t like france either bc he stalled at the start, got back up front, got tapped around and still finished in the points both races. f3 france = mess. spielberg brings my favorite top 3 of any f3 race ive seen so far. marcus starts on pole, so far the only prema who hasnt won a race yet, max fewtrell p2 and juri p3. somewhere during the race marcus and juri swap places and max minds his business in p2. great podium, dont remember this race at all sjdfgks. race 2 still has me cackling even tho it probs wasn’t that funny, but marcus and rob were arguing over the lead and they collided (on the final lap, i think), sending marcus off with a puncture and rob actually still won but got a penalty which demoted him to second. rule number 1 of motorsports, lads. rule number 1. do not hit your teammate. would’ve loved to be jehan in that team debrief. 

at this point, juri is considered a title contender. he will be considered a title contender until monza. more on that shitshow later. he knocks it out the park in silverstone (race 1 win, pole) and talks start up about juri to toro rosso 2020 (i mightve been one of them). this, of course, all depends on juri getting enough super licence points. budapest, marcus’ first win in f3. don’t remember much else tbh, wasn’t that eventful i guess?? aaaand then we get to spa. saturday is fine for them since they race in the morning as opposed to late afternoon for f2. robert’s still in the lead by far, jehan and juri following but since there’s only 2 rounds to go after this so mistakes are costly. juri learns this the hard way in spa race 2 but i cant blame any of them for mistakes made in spa and monza one week later, or sochi for that matter. i think marcus won that race and dedicated it to anthoine but im p sure i didnt see much through my tears this day. juri scores no points, damages his front wing somewhere and gets a black and orange flag to come in for damage repairs. monza, also a disaster. also do not blame them. both marcus and juri did not have a good time, i remember juri launching himself into space over the rear wing of another car and marcus got p2 in race 1 but was penalised heavily for one thing or another, and ended up p21 and far outside the points. 

juri’s no longer a contender for the title, neither is marcus. the title will be decided between jehan and robert in sochi, at that point p2 and p1 respectively. sochi was also a mess for juri, considering he spun christian around in a low speed corner while the safety car was ending. to this day i have no idea what on earth he was doing but it does make for great banter between juri and christian. with the penalty following, juri drops from p3 to p8 and misses valuable points. robert wins the championship, marcus wins the race. jehan has a terrible time in the last race and gets demoted to p3 in the championship because marcus said sayonara and fucked off with another podium and a fastest lap. juri is p4 and is 17 points short for p3. not enough super licence points. he does win the final race of the season, tho his face says he knows hes about to have a very uncomfortable conversation with helmut marko. still pains me. 

to conclude, it all got away from juri in spa and i think thats very understandable considering the circumstances. it started out very promising but just. ended up falling short. he was the only driver to even remotely challenge the premas last season tho, in terms of championship. and this is why same spec racing is so exciting! we’ve seen it again in f3 this year with a very very tight championship. one bad weekend can throw your entire season off.