The Friday sessions of the Formula 3 Belgium GP, were postponed due to the fog and Belgian weather. Despite these delays, Callum Voisin managed to put his Rodin machinery into P3. Speaking to media including Pit Debrief in the post-Qualifying Press Conference, Voisin spoke about these delays, as well as his rise back to the top.
Voisin’s return to the top
After a run of Qualifying finishes out of the top three, Voisin was elated to return to the front of the grid. The Brit described the session as a “Spa-type Qualifying”, with respect to the chaotic nature of a lap. Even more so, in the 30 car grid that is Formula 3.
During Voisin’s first set, he acknowledges the lack of pace, and ability to put a clean lap together. Although, his second set is where himself and the team delivered on a lap worthy of P3.
“Yeah, it felt very good. It’s nice to be back in the top three after a bit of a break. Yeah, it was pretty hectic. Usual Spa-type Qualifying. Pretty much a complete rerun on last year. But no, it ended up well.
“It was a bit of a shame that our first set wasn’t very good. We need to look into what happened. But for sure, with so many cars on track, the warm-up is very much compromised. So the team did a really good job, put me in a good space for the second set. And we delivered the lap. Yeah, I’m happy.”
The pressure of a rollercoaster season
In what has been a rollercoaster season thus far, Callum Voisin’s Championship standing position of P11, proves just how up and down it has been for him. Voisin explains the internal pressure he applies on himself to secure pole position each weekend. Although he also speaks on the counter, in which he is simply lucky to be driving a historic track like Spa-Francorchamps.
“I mean, there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of pressure. Your inner self wants to win and get pole in this instance, but you can always enjoy it. It’s a pleasure to always drive this track, especially in these high downforce cars. It’s amazing.
“So yeah, there’s a lot of pressure. And it’s difficult to sometimes enjoy it. But when you look back, you realise, yeah, you’re very lucky.”
Looking back at the first portion of his season, frustration is a key concept for the Brit. He admits that not a lot has gone his way, noticing a trend in the ups and downs he has had in performance. With this in mind, Voisin is glad to be back up the front, where he and Rodin should be.
“Honestly, this season as a whole, to be honest with you, has been extremely frustrating. When I look back at it, so much has not gone our way. I have noticed this trend that you just said. But honestly, it’s nothing to do with anything, with me, the team, or whatever. Unfortunately, we’ve had a lot not go our way.
“So it’s nice to be back at the front. And that’s where we should be. So, yeah, looking forward to doing that for the rest of the season.”
A delay to Friday’s F3 sessions
The F3 Belgium GP Practice session was delayed due to vastly foggy conditions, setting the drivers back. Despite these delays, Callum Voisin was not thrown off, rather joking that he would’ve preferred the extra sleep.
Voisin is no stranger to a delayed session, after the 2024 Sprint Race in Silverstone was also delayed due to weather.
“No, I mean, we had a similar thing last year in Silverstone with the sprint race being delayed. So, it’s not been my first time, let’s say, having a delay like this. But no, the only thing was, I wish I had a few extra hours in bed. It would have been nice.”
The pressure to perform in the final minutes of Qualifying
Laps around Spa-Francorchamps are expected to hold chaos, with many predicting more chaos in the final laps. This is exactly what happened in this weekend’s session. Thankfully for Voisin, and similarly to last year, he was already in a good position, so the chaos had minimal effect on him.
“Well, I think around here, we kind of expected a bit of a hectic, let’s say, last lap, of which it did happen. Thankfully, I was already in quite a good position, similar to last year. So, yeah, it was basically a complete rerun from last year.”
Qualifying sessions like these are always high pressure, and despite his misfortunate runs on his first set, Voisin didn’t falter. On his second set, Voisin found key pace to put himself into a good Qualifying position during his first lap of the set.
“In terms of tension and, you know, in high-pressure situations, yeah, on the first lap of the second set was quite demanding, because I didn’t do a very good job on the first set. But I knew, you know, once I did a good lap in the first lap of the second set, that, you know, we were in a good position.“
The tyres and their degradation remained an uncertain for Rodin and Voisin, especially knowing last year saw major drop-off. Approaching a 29 car train ahead of him, the Brit knew improved time was not going to be an option.
“The tyre drop-off, I still wasn’t 100% sure how much there was going to be. Last year, there was quite a lot. But then once I saw the, whatever, the 29-car train right in front of me, I knew that, yeah, it’s going to be tricky to improve.”
Track limits threatening the grid
Track limits cause issues around unforgiving circuits like Spa-Francorchamps. There is not a lot of room for error, and Race Control is unforgiving. Voisin along with many other drivers, saw lap times deleted due to track limit infringements through Pouhon.
With the new regulation of Formula 3 car this season, track limits have become even more tricky than last year. This is an issue Voisin found especially on exit curves, stating more margin needs to be left.
“I had my lap time deleted on the second push of the first set, at Pouhon as well. So yeah, you’ve got to leave a little bit more margin. It’s a little bit more tricky in these cars compared to last year around there, especially on the exit curve. So yeah, a little bit more margin, but other than that, no issues really.”
Wet or dry race? Voisin doesn’t mind!
Spa-Francorchamps is known for the wet and wild, Belgian weather, which can quickly ruin a driver’s race. We have seen many major incidents, including the passing of a few drivers at this circuit, mainly due to the wet weather.
Despite this, Voisin isn’t fussed whether the race is wet or dry. Although a dry race would be preferable, and possibly simpler, the Brit jokes that he “might as well win a wet race”.
“I was on slicks for most of it, to be honest. But no, I mean, I’m not too fussed which way it goes. I guess I want a dry race here. Might as well win a wet race, I guess. I don’t know. Don’t mind.”
