Gerrard Xie has had a great weekend at the F3 Monaco GP thus far. From some solid runs in practice to qualifying P11, then lining up P2 in the reverse-grid Sprint Race. The DAMS Lucas Oil driver has delivered a solid performance.
While Bruno del Pino challenged him for P2 the last few laps, he held onto his position. The P2 finish marked his maiden podium in the Championship.
Post Sprint Race, among other penalties, it was found that race winner Hiyu Yamakoshi was disqualified following a technical infringement, promoting Xie to his maiden FIA F3 race victory.
Speaking about the Sprint Race in a press conference attended by Pit Debrief, Xie said:
“I’m really happy. I mean, in general, the start was quite good, and the mid-race pace I’m happy with. And then I started to struggle a little bit on the last two laps. But again, I’m super happy to get my maiden podium, and especially in Monaco, it’s such a special place. You’re always on the limit.“
VSC and defending at the F3 Monaco GP
As always, the F3 Sprint Race delivered intense battles and drama. With 8 minutes remaining in the Sprint, a very brief Virtual Safety Car was deployed. The reason was debris left on the track at the exit of Turn 16. After this, the track was green again and the drivers could up the speed. Asked about the restart, Xie said:
“No, it was quite funny in that respect, because the virtual safety car came in quite short, and then when I was turning into the chicane, my engineer told me there’s a marshal on the track, so I slowed down a bit more than usual. And then when I was at the apex, next to the wall, my engineer was already saying, like, VSC ending, you have to go, and then he’s already gone. That was quite funny.“
For most of the Sprint race, Xie had to both attack and defend his position. He made attempts to move forward, but because of the threat of del Pino attacking, he had to keep his P2 safe.
“Yeah, I think after the VSC I just tried to catch up, tried to get back what I lost, and in the end, I think I managed to get within DRS of the others, but it didn’t really do too much, because Monaco is just so narrow. And then, yeah, that’s it, to the end of the race. That’s awesome.“
Risk versus reward in Monte Carlo
When asked by Pit Debrief about his mindset heading into the Feature Race and about balancing risk versus reward, the driver said:
“I think tomorrow, we’re all starting in the point-scoring positions. So I think from the start, I would just try to get out of trouble, first of all, because it’s quite hard. If you get it wrong, then you’re into the wall and score zero points. So I think tomorrow, first of all, is being on the safer side and just manage in the race.”
As the tight Monte Carlo streets are known for being punishing, the margin of error is tiny. The drivers need to have confidence and take chances while still keeping it clean and staying out of the walls.
Asked if Monaco has become more about surviving and less about racing, the DAMS driver explained:
“Yes and no, because at the start, I think the battle is still quite intense. I think there’s definitely a lot of drivers trying to make good moves. Maybe some of them didn’t work out, but I think there’s definitely moves around the track. But when it’s all settled, I think it’s yes, it’s a bit trickier to overtake, so yeah.”
Hard work paying off for Xie and DAMS at the F3 Monaco GP Sprint
The result from the Sprint Race becomes both Xie’s and DAMS’ first podium of the season. Asked what the result means for him and the team, Xie replied:
“I think at the end of the year, we already know when I first joined the team, I know they’re working extremely hard. Throughout the winter, we have tested a lot of new stuff, which we really showed the pace on the pre-season or Melbourne by Nico [Lacorte]. I think now we’re in the good rhythm and because I just got the first podium for them and hopefully more to come in the future. As again, we worked so hard to get to this point. I can’t thank them enough at the moment.”
While the Sprint Race was limited to only 18 lap, the Feature Race brings a slightly bigger challenge. Tyre management and strategy become even more crucial. When asked how the race management in the Sprint will impact the strategy for the Feature, Xie said:
“I think a lot of data collected today. I think the team and I, we’ll look into it. At the moment, we know what the balance feels like and we try to make adjustments for tomorrow. Tomorrow also is a longer race, so yeah, we’ll see how tomorrow goes.”
