Formula 3: Beganovic stymied by qualifying

“It was a really disappointing weekend,” said Dino Beganovic at the end of the seventh of ten rounds of the Formula 3 championship held at Silverstone. It failed to live up to expectations, after he could only qualify 19th.”"Knowing I’d have to start both races from the tenth row was not the best.” Qualifying was the main obstacle but there were also other factors that mean Beganovic failed to add any points to his total.

Key moment. Beganovic went out on track for the grid-deciding session on slick tyres, setting the seventh fastest time before a downpour hit the track. But the rain clouds really got blacker, as his best lap was cancelled for exceeding track limits, which dropped him to the bottom of the time sheet. “Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” he admitted. “On the first lap I crossed the white line which marks the track limit, which meant I didn’t have a time on the board. The rain got heavier so we waited in the garage for conditions to improve. It did get gradually better but we went back out too soon, because the dry line only really appeared on the last lap before the chequered flag and by then my tyres were past their best and so I was only 19th. We didn’t make the right decisions and I made a mistake, even if the car is definitely competitive and it was a shame we couldn’t get the best out of it.”

Sprint Race. The first race at Silverstone was postponed from the morning to the late afternoon because of heavy rain. The start was chaotic with a lot of collisions in the pack, so that Beganovic ended the first lap in 22nd place. He began to move up through the field after a Safety Car period but had to settle for 12th at the flag, unable to get into the points.

Feature Race. For Sunday morning’s race, all the cars lined up for the start on rain tyres, but at the end of the reconnaissance lap, nine drivers including Beganovic pitted for slicks. The Safety Car was required immediately staying out until the end of the second lap. Dino had begun to pick up places until he was forced onto the grass by an aggressive Sophia Floersch and although his car was undamaged, he lost any chance of finishing in the points. “We did the right thing fitting slicks from the start,” explained Beganovic. “Then we were expecting steady rain so when the first drops fell, I pitted immediately for wets. We were hoping the rain would get heavier, but it didn’t so our decision didn’t pay off.” He finished 19th.