David Signs Off Rookie FIA Formula 3 Season with Double Top-Ten in Madrid

Yevan David completed his rookie FIA Formula 3 season in Madrid with his strongest qualifying performance of the year and a final championship point, continuing the late-season progress that had delivered two fourth-place finishes at Monza a week earlier.

The Sri Lankan set a 1:50.023 in the second qualifying session to take ninth, just 0.273 seconds from pole position. It was his first top-ten qualifying result in FIA F3 and came after a difficult Free Practice session in which he and AIX Racing had struggled to find the optimum operating window.

“It was really encouraging to be P9 and only around two tenths off pole, especially because in Qualifying 2 it was all about putting the whole lap together on such a tight circuit,” said David. “Honestly, I can’t tell you how close I got to the walls. There were moments where I genuinely thought I was going to tap one, and it was such a feeling of being right on the limit.

“After driving Monaco, I think I’m more comfortable on a street circuit, and because we had already tested in Madrid I really knew where the limits were. P9 was our best qualifying performance of the year, so I think that says a lot about the progression we made.”

David had qualified 15th in the opening session, which determined the grids for Saturday’s Sprint and first Feature Race. With overtaking proving particularly difficult, he finished the Sprint 16th after losing a place at the start. Feature Race 1 offered more opportunity as David gained ground amid an opening-lap accident, but the subsequent red flag reset part of that progress and he eventually finished 11th.

Sunday’s second Feature Race began from ninth. David passed title contender Freddie Slater at the start and challenged Enzo Deligny ahead before eventually slipping back to tenth, securing the final point of his FIA F3 season.

“Starting position really dictated the three races,” David explained. “In the first race I lost a position at the start and there wasn’t much opportunity to recover it. In the second, I made up quite a few places after the opening-lap incident, but the red flag unfortunately reset some of that progress. In the final Feature Race I made up a position at the start but then lost a couple through mistakes on my side.

“Although we only picked up a single point, I think the pace was very strong. It was difficult to overtake, so qualifying was a pretty true indication of what we could do. We struggled in Free Practice but managed to bounce back strongly in qualifying, and that was really positive.”

Madrid brought a close to a rookie campaign in which David became the first Sri Lankan to race in FIA Formula 3 and, at Silverstone, the first to stand on an FIA F3 podium. That second place was followed by seventh in the Feature Race, before a major late-season step at Monza delivered fourth in both races.

For David, Madrid added the final piece: qualifying execution.

“I think I improved again from Monza to Madrid, particularly in the feeling I had for the car and understanding how to drive it right on the limit,” he said. “We were slightly outside the window in Free Practice, but being able to put everything together in qualifying despite having such limited time showed the progress we had made. By then I really understood what was happening underneath me and what the car needed.”

Reflecting on the season as a whole, David believes the final rounds demonstrated the different elements required to compete at the front.

“I honestly wasn’t focused on results; I was focused on the work and the process. Looking back, though, I think we put all the pieces of the puzzle together. We showed the racecraft to defend at Silverstone, the lap execution to qualify inside the top ten in Madrid, and the racecraft to attack and manage the tyres at Monza. We’ve shown all of those different elements now, and that gives us something really strong to build on for next year.”

David now turns his attention to the off-season and preparations for the next stage of his racing career.

Yevan David’s racing is supported by Lion Beer 0.0%, Maliban, Dimo Group, Nations Trust Bank, Fidem Financial and the Ceylon Motor Sports Club (CMSC).