Seb Morris resumes his maiden season in the GP3 Series with a visit to the Red Bull Ring in Austria next weekend, 20th/21st June, where two solid race finishes in rounds three and four are the Status Grand Prix driver’s primary objective.
Targeting a fresh start to his first year in the FIA Formula One World Championship support category after a challenging season curtain-raiser in Barcelona last month, the Marford driver is relishing the prospect of being back behind the wheel of his 400bhp Dallara single-seater.
Despite a strong run in pre-season testing, the opening weekend of the championship didn’t go to plan for 19-year-old Seb. His focus, now, therefore, is on making key progress throughout the second event of the GP3 season.
“The first weekend wasn’t what we wanted, that’s for sure, but that’s behind us now and the aim in Austria is to build my confidence and use it as a baseline to start from afresh”, said the MSA Team UK and FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy racer, “There’s no pressure, I just want to go out there and enjoy it, have as chilled out a weekend as I can, and see where we are at the end.
“I’ve been testing at the Red Bull Ring before in Formula Renault, so I have got some experience of the track and hopefully I can get a good result or two. It should be very close in qualifying and there is a bit to work on there, so we’ll be concentrating on that. We’ve got a strong race car so I need to try and make the most of that, improve my own performance and build from there.”
While the opening weekend of the season at the Circuit de Catalunya didn’t ultimately deliver the results Seb wanted, the event did provide positivity and encouragement. In the second race, for example, the Serge DeNimes and Oxford Vaughan ambassador’s best lap time was within just 0.2 seconds of top eight pace.
Following free practice at the Red Bull Ring on Friday, 19th June, qualifying for round three of the season will take place at 08.45 (UK time) on Saturday, 20th June, with the event’s first race getting underway at 16.20 (UK time).
On the morning of the Austrian F1 Grand Prix, Sunday, 21st June, round four is timetabled to begin at 08.25 (UK time). Both GP3 contests will, as ever, be screened live on the Sky Sports F1 channel.
