Having inherited his maiden F3 podium in Monaco, Rodin Motorsport’s Pedro Clerot had to fight hard to find his way back to the podium in the Sprint Race at the 2026 Austrian GP, with the Brazilian crossing the line in P2 after a bold last-lap lunge.
Despite achieving a career-best result, Clerot’s race began with a small mistake that saw him lose a position to Hitech’s Jin Nakamura, leaving him in P4 for most of the race. Nonetheless, speaking in the post-Sprint press conference attended by Pit Debrief, he reflected on his race and described it as one that was “intense”.
“Yeah, it was quite an intense race for me as well. I had Jin [Nakamura] in front of me the whole race, I had a good launch off the first lap, had a battle with Ernesto [Rivera], but yeah, I made the wrong decision into turn three and that cost me the position I was just trying to overtake.”
“And then I saw the opportunities, I saw this opportunity come up in the last lap and I just went for it, risked it, and it paid off.”, Clerot said. “I wasn’t expecting to get a double move, but in the end, James [Wharton] didn’t have DRS, so that just played to my advantage. So yeah, just happy that we could make this stick, to stick the move and yeah, just happy with the podium.”
DRS train limited opportunities to showcase true pace
“Yeah, to be fair, I think I had more pace than maybe the cars around, but yeah, just with the DRS strain, it’s difficult to overtake and you’re kind of stuck. And then the moment you have clean air, then boom, you can really show your pace.”, the Brazilian driver explained.
“So yeah, just a shame that we couldn’t really maximise truly the result, but still, I think it’s a good race and it was a good move in the last lap.”
Despite the result marking his second podium of the season, it was Clerot’s first time experiencing and standing on a Formula 3 podium, having inherited a P3 finish in Monaco after Hiyu Yamakoshi’s disqualification.
“It’s special now to live the whole moment. We had a good weekend in Monaco, and unfortunately, we couldn’t live the moment in the podium. But still, it was the points and the trophy still at home. So in the end, we still got what we wanted. But it’s really special.”
Noting how much he likes the track, he drew on previous success he has enjoyed at the Red Bull Ring. However, pleased to have finally experienced the moment, he expressed his satisfaction at delivering such strong results in his rookie season.
“You know, I really, really like this track. And I truly love the experience of racing in Red Bull Ring and having the experience here is really, really nice. I had really good results last year here in the previous category I did in FRECA.”
“So yeah, just really, really happy to be living this whole moment and sharing the same rooms and moments as the F1 guys and F2 guys. So I’m just really happy to be taking this step in my career and having good results in my rookie year.”
Clerot: Formula 3 is a championship about momentum
As one of sixteen rookies on the 2026 F3 grid, the 19 year-old appears to have settled in well and found his footing. Currently sitting 9th in the Drivers’ Standings with 25 points, he will hope to continue to his upward trajectory.
When asked by Pit Debrief what the biggest takeaway was for the top three after achieving an all-rookie podium, Clerot explained: “We’ve had good qualifiers and some good races this year already with the team. We had really good results as a team in Monaco as well, and Barcelona didn’t really go our way.”
“But like Ernesto said, I also felt like I had the pace to be up there and have good races in Melbourne. For example, we came from P19 to P8 in the feature race. So yeah, just happy.”
Heading into Rodin Motorsport’s home race at Silverstone next week, the Brazilian believes it will be crucial to maintain this level of momentum and consistency. While several tracks he enjoys are still yet to come, Clerot acknowledged that nothing is ever perfect in Formula 3 and that the key is to maximise every weekend.
He continued: “This championship’s a lot about momentum, and I think it’s really important that we keep it up, not only for this weekend, but for the rest of the season. We’re heading into our home race for the team in Silverstone next week, and some other good tracks for myself and also for the team for the rest of the season.”
“So it’s really important that we keep the momentum up. F3 is really, really hard. You don’t get much track time, and you have to maximise always what you have. It’s never going to be perfect, so it’s just about maximising everything.”
“I had nothing to lose” says Clerot on last-lap lunge on Wharton and Nakamura
Explaining his decisive last-lap move on Nakamura and Wharton, he explained: “I was stuck behind a train basically the whole race. Unfortunately, we couldn’t really maximise with the DRS train. It was really difficult to overtake. I felt like I had the opportunity to overtake Jin a few times, but it was always close.”
“I had a few opportunities into T4, which was really close a few times, Jin defended really well, I think I got a bit lucky in the last lap, but I managed to get quite close to him. James didn’t have the DRS because Ernesto had the gap, so I think I made the most out of it. I had nothing to lose, essentially.”
“I know that if I managed to make it work, at least I could get Jin and then go on the podium, which was my goal, starting from P3. In the end, we managed to get two positions in one go, which was quite a cool move.”, he admitted.
Despite that, Clerot was ultimately pleased to have secured a spot on the podium and believes that he and the team did what they could with the situation they found themselves in today.
“It’s not really easy to make it on the outside, especially going into Turn 3. I’m just happy. It was a good battle, which in the whole race, I think if the race had no safety cars, I probably had a little bit more of an advantage, but that was not the case. I think we played about what we had.”
The thrill of racing at the Red Bull Ring
With three DRS zones, the thrill of racing in Spielberg is unlike any other for many drivers, including Clerot who believes the track delivers enjoyable on-track action. With the added challenges of tyre degradation, heat and the track’s characteristics, he said it always feels like driving on the limit around the Red Bull Ring.
“This track always gets really good racing because of how many DRS zones you have in there, back-to-back-to-back. Basically, you have really no time to open a gap. Even when you do, it’s not certain that you will get it back.”
“There is some degradation on the soft tyres here for us. Also, with the heat, it’s not really easy, also physically. For the tyres, it’s not super easy. But yeah, it’s really nice. You’re on the edge basically from lap one, never trying to make a mistake.”
He added: “The moment you make a mistake or you drop out of DRS, you become very vulnerable to cars around.So yeah, it’s really difficult to maintain a good rhythm around here. But it’s a really cool place because you can overtake. There’s good fights, like I think you guys saw today in the race.”
“Not only me and Jin, but also the whole grid. I could get some shots of it while watching the race on the big screen into T3. But yeah, just happy.”
Clerot “confident” with Rodin’s pace and package
When asked by Pit Debrief how today’s Sprint Race result fuels him with confidence for tomorrow’s Feature Race and what he could possibly achieve, Clerot placed his trust in Rodin’s competitive package heading into tomorrow despite not having a fresh set of tyres.
“Yeah, I mean, I think we can be confident with the pace we have and our package. In previous years, I’ve had really good races and also today, I think our pace wasn’t really truly shown what we truly have. Of course, tomorrow, we’re a little bit in disadvantage compared to everyone because we don’t have new tyres, but I don’t think that will be such a big difference for us.”
Having felt confident since Free Practice, he believes they have the pace to charge through the field and score a solid points haul tomorrow, potentially even a top five finish.
“You know, the car felt really good from Free Practice, and I think we have really, really good pace. So, yeah, just looking forward to make up some positions and score some good points.”, Clerot said. “I think we have a potential to finish inside the top five tomorrow if everything goes well. So just focused on maximising our result but also enjoying the moment today.”
Being a part of Brazilian motorsport
On a race weekend that features all three categories, the nation finds a number of drivers who proudly represent their country, with Gabriel Bortoleto in Formula 1, Rafael Câmara and Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. in Formula 2 and Fernando Barrichello and Clerot in Formula 3.
“It’s really, really special. You know, being a Brazilian, I say that it comes with a bit more pressure than normal.”, he admitted. “We had Gabi [Bortoleto] winning Formula 3 and Formula 2 and then Rafa [Câmara] also winning Formula 3 last year and now fighting for the championship in F2. So it’s really special to share the, you know, I’m not going to say the room, but the atmosphere with them.”
With the re-emerging rise of Brazilian motorsport success, Clerot is left with big shoes to fill. However, he takes pride in representing is country, proudly flying its flag on the international stage. Drawing on several notable figures in Brazil’s rich motorsport history, he shared what it feels like to celebrate success alongside other Brazilians and noted that they feel like a big family.
“It’s really good to be representing Brazil and representing a country that has so much history in motorsport and so much history in Formula 1 with Ayrton, Piquet, also Rubens, Felipe [Drugovich] and many other names. Gabi writing his own story right now as well.”
“So yeah, everyone is quite close. Brazilians are a big family. Me and Gabi lived together for a year and a half when he was in F3 and F2. So it’s really good to be sharing the same atmosphere with them and representing Brazil.”
