My latest guest is 2022 FIA Formula 3 star, Finnish-Ethiopian raced William Alatalo! The Jenzer Motorsport driver starred in his rookie season and won over fans on and off the track.
The 20 year old impressed, scoring the most points on any Jenzer driver since Yuki Tsunoda raced for the team in 2019, scoring points in 6 of 18 races, with a best result of 6th at Spa.
Off track, William's made a lot of fans as he entertained on social media, fancying himself a bit of a comedian!
📸 Heineken; "for the pain". 🤣
Onto William's questions!
1. Who’s your racing hero? It’s Raikkonen. His career I followed the most. Close second is Sebastian Vettel, when he drove with Ferrari.
📸 William's hero, the great Kimi Raikkonen.
📸 A close second, Sebastian Vettel.
2. Your favourite circuit you’ve raced? Spa or Mugello. For now it's Spa, because I have never driven in Mugello with FIA F3. Those tracks are close to me.
📸 Scenic Spa-Francorchamps.
3. How about a favourite you’ve not raced yet? Hard to say... just driving the simulator it's probably Suzuka. It's cool to drive, even in the sim. Or if I have to choose a track where I have tested but never raced, it's Jerez.
📸 Another scenic circuit, Suzuka.
📸 F3 cars in Jerez.
4. You scored the most points in F3 of any Jenzer driver since Yuki Tsunoda; how do you rate your season personally? Hard question. Ups and downs all over. It was an OK season. I would give myself a 6.5. Still lot to improve, by doing less mistakes. Finding everything out of the car in qualifying is also important for me. That's the 2 main points.
📸 A young Yuki Tsunoda with Jenzer.
5. Yourself, Patrik Pasma, and Niko Kari are 3 examples of young racing drivers from Finland; why is racing so appealing to young Finns? I don't know. We like to drive lots of off racing vehicles, (ATV, rally, motocross) but I don't know why Formula racing. Maybe we are just good at it. 🙃
Very confident.
6. You’re the first ever driver of Ethiopian descent to race on the FIA Formula ladder; how proud are you to represent Ethiopia? Very proud. More than happy to represent Ethiopia in global series.
It's a great country, and the people living there have just pure kindness and happiness in them. Hopefully I'll be one day important enough to make a difference in the country.
📸 The first driver of Ethiopian descent to race on the FIA Formula ladder.
7. How big is the pressure to perform in F3? Mediocre. I don't take too much pressure. Still from the team there's alwavs a small amount of pressure that comes. Which I like.
8. How do you handle the pressure when it comes? Quite well. The first races of the season are always the hardest. Then the more you drive the less pressure you have.
📸 William strikes many as a very relaxed person in and out of the car.
9. What do you do when you’re not racing? Spend time with friends and family. I do normal cardio training. I spend time at the teams workshop and drive some sim. Sometimes karting too. And I drive a dump truck at my fathers company.
10. You’ve become well known on social media for being very honest about your own performances and on track action; do you enjoy people’s responses to your posts? Yes I do. People tend to like me and I like them back!
📣 William Alatalo: undisputed Twitter GOAT of FIA Formula 3?
11. Guessing you’re not allowed to tell me your plans for next year…? If you were offered an F2 seat, do you feel ready for it or would you like another go at F3? F2 is a big step. Hard to say if I would be ready for it or not. I know that I could drive the car and learn from it. Winning the championship immediately would be unrealistic. Another year in F3 is a good choice. Then I would bave to perform better. We'll see what the future will bring.
12. F3 gave us an absolute blockbuster season, which driver you raced against so you think is underrated from this year’s grid? I don't know. Hard to say. Didn't really focus on 1 specific driver.
📸 In the pack.
13. On that note; who’s the toughest driver you’ve raced against? All the top drivers are hard to race against. Martins, Leclerc pop to my mind first. They are fair racers still.
📸 Victor Martins(top) and Arthur Leclerc; tough but fair opponents.
14. Who has been your favourite teammate ever? I am not going to say. 🤣 I like them all. Not picking favorites.
15. If you could choose any driver past or present to be your teammate, who would you pick? So I can choose anyone to be my teammate? l'Il choose Mika Häkkinen.
📸 Fellow Finn, F1 legend and two time world champion, Mika Hakkinen.
16. Do you have any pre race rituals or routines you go through? No.
17. As a racing fan, I’ve collected a few items like mini helmets, scale cars and other little things; as a fan yourself, is there anything you collect? No.
18. Your compatriots Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas have sampled different series and categories of racing, would you fancy trying anything else besides single seaters? Yes. LMP cars. Specially now when hypercar series is getting more car manufacturers involved.
📸 Valtteri Bottas in rally action is just one example of a Formula ladder driver sampling a different kind of racing.
William's answers to me were fantastic, fascinating reading and a enjoyable interview all round! Thanks to him for taking the time out to do this! I'm excited to see what his plans are for 2023.
Thanks William!
📸 Image credits: Jenzer Motorsport, William Alatalo, Formula Motorsport Limited, Scuderia Ferrari, Valtteri Bottas.
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