Domingues “very happy” after historic Sprint win and 1-2 finish for VAR at F3 Spanish GP

It was a triumphant Sprint Race Saturday for Van Amersfoort Racing as Ivan Domingues led the team home to a 1-2 finish at the F3 Spanish GP. With his win, Domingues becomes the first Portuguese driver to step on the top step of the podium and marks his first point-finish in the series. Closely behind him, teammate Santiago Ramos finished in P2 to secure VAR’s first 1-2 finish in Formula 3.

In a struggle-filled start to his rookie F3 season, the 19 year-old has evidently struggled to find any pace throughout a race weekend. Throughout the triple-header, rookies like Domingues have benefited from returning to familiar tracks, helping them readapt quickly. As proven, this is not Domingues’ first time around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya—having driven around the circuit during his Euro 4 and Formula Regional European Championship days.

During the Post-Sprint Race Press Conference, Domingues spoke to Pit Debrief and other media outlets about the historic day for himself and VAR.

Delighted to score first points and win of the season

Following a decent Qualifying for VAR—with all three drivers in the Top 10—team principal Bradley Joyce knew it was an opportunity to capitalise on the result. As Domingues qualified P7, the reverse-Sprint format saw the Portuguese start P6. As chaos unfolded on Lap 1, Domingues and Ramos capitalised on the opportunity with luck and controlled driving to deliver a meaningful result for VAR.

Reflecting on his maiden win and a tough start to the year, Domingues was thrilled to finally score a strong result as he hopes to continue building on this momentum heading into the summer break.

“Of course I’m feeling very happy, I mean first win this year, first win in FIA F3.”

“So yeah, the year started not as we wished so to get this result now this weekend before the summer, the first summer break let’s say, it’s really good to keep up the momentum and the work and yeah I’m really happy.”

Lap 1 chaos unfolded in front of his eyes

The outcome of the race seemingly unfolded during the first lap—as the Top 3 took each other out headed into Turn 2. Soon enough, Domingues then found himself in the lead of the race.

“Yeah, it felt a bit like playing iRacing”, the Portuguese driver joked.

Domingues explained that by keeping his head down, acing the safety car restart and managing the race was key to his success today.

“… and yeah I mean when they had the contact and I was in the lead I just tried to keep the focus and have a good safety car restart, and then start from there, and just try to manage DRS behind and then the gap and my tyres and yeah in the end it came out pretty good.”

Momentarily, Trident’s Noah Strømsted looked to have blistering pace as he slowly caught up to Domingues. However, it would be a sudden retirement which denied the Dane his spot on the podium—allowing Ramos through to P2. When asked about if at any point he thought Strømsted was a potential threat, Domingues believed he had the race controlled.

“I mean until a certain moment it was, let’s say under control but there was a moment where I started to struggle a bit and he started to catch me.”

“But then he had an issue or something I don’t know and after that I had a massive gap so I was just trying to bring it home and secure the P1.”

Making history as first Portuguese winner in FIA F3

Making history in F3 and for his country, Domingues becomes the first Portuguese driver to win in the series. He expressed his joy and pride, calling the result a meaningful moment for himself, his team, his country and everyone who has supported him over the years.

“Of course it’s a joy, I mean it’s a very good thing for me, for my country, for my team, for the people who have been helping me in the last few years so yeah I’m really really happy.”

Mental challenges and overcoming obstacles to secure a good result

Domingues ticked off all the boxes today—securing his first win, podium and points. After his best Qualifying result of the season, Domingues stated that it was never about his abilities. Acknowledging the mistakes and misfortunes earlier in the season, the Portuguese driver was pleased to finally challenge for a decent haul of points.

“Of course, the beginning of the year was more tough than what we expected. I was struggling a lot in qualifying even though we knew we had the pace under the car, under myself and yet things were just not going our way.” 

“In races we showed some good pace but never good enough to be up there and to manage to do that good lap yesterday in [Qualifying] and to finally qualify inside the Top 12 and then have a chance to go for some points is really good.”

Domingues credited his coach, Alex, for helping rebuild his confidence and guiding him to this point.

Domingues added: “I did a lot of work with my coach Alex that has been helping me a lot, even after four rounds that were very tough mentally and things just not going my way.”

“He helped me a lot and made me believe at times that I was getting a bit more upset and finally we got some points and the win.”

Momentum to carry forward into future races

As a rookie, Domingues has inevitably spent the first four rounds learning and adapting. When asked what takeaways from this weekend he will carry forward, the Portuguese driver emphasised on the importance of Qualifying in setting up a strong weekend. Reflecting on the race, he admitted to a few mistakes and noted areas for improvements ahead of the Feature Race.

“So the first thing is that as I knew [Qualifying] is the most important thing in the weekend to set you up for both races.”

“Yeah, from today’s race we need to learn a bit from it because I did a few mistakes and some areas where I still need to improve to make sure I get some good points tomorrow in the future.”

Historic day for Van Amersfoort Racing

Securing their first ever 1-2 in F3, this result has liven the team morale at VAR. From this Sprint Race alone, they have walked away as a team with 26 points. Expressing pride in his and Ramos’ performance, Domingues praised the team spirit and credited Ramos’ experience for helping him improve in key areas, hoping to replicate the same success in the near future.

“So yeah, of course it’s a very good result for the team. First time 1-2 in F3 so it’s very good. I’m also happy for myself, happy for [Santiago Ramos]”

“The boys deserve it as well. There is a very good team spirit inside the team. Also, [Santiago] that has a bit more experience has been helping me a bit in some areas where I need to get the experience.”

“I’m just very happy for me, for the team, for [Santiago] and let’s hope we can redo this.”

Domingues is set to start P7 for the Feature Race tomorrow. With three cars in the Top 10, VAR would hope to secure more valuable points for both championships.