PREMA’s Zak O’Sullivan is targeting better Qualifying pace if he is to challenge for this season’s F3 title.
O’Sullivan entered Round 4 of the F3 season in Spain sat ninth in the standings after enduring a difficult opening three rounds, with single lap pace proving his biggest obstacle as was the case in Practice as he finished ninth-fastest.
The Williams F1 junior however couldn’t progress in Qualifying as he qualified 12th for the Feature Race, which in-turn meant that he inherited reverse-pole for the Sprint Race but he felt that his PREMA car “struggled for a bit of pace,” as he vowed to “analyze” and “come back stronger.”
O’Sullivan proceeded to dominate the Sprint from lights to flag ahead of his fellow Williams Academy member, Luke Browning, which saw him move up to eighth in the championship but 43 points off title leader – Trident’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
Reflecting on his “awesome” Sprint performance post-race, O’Sullivan said: “Pretty good result and the pace was really strong. I managed to maintain the gap and hold off the car behind early on.
Even at the end of the race, just before the safety car, the tyres kind of came back to me and I started to build a nice gap.
The 18 year-old went on to finish eighth in the Feature Race but his deficit in the title race extended to 51 points, although he felt that the race “was a bit tricky with the DRS train.”
O’Sullivan nevertheless believed that his pace “was strong” but feels that he needs to target his single lap pace with view to starting “a bit higher next time.”
O’Sullivan will next be in action as F3 heads to Spielberg, Austria on weekend of 30 June – 2 July, followed by his home event at Silverstone, Great Britain from 7-9 July, where he will be looking to win on home soil after having claimed a shock pole and maiden podium finish during last year’s visit.