by Alex Johnston
The Swiss racing outfit Jenzer Motorsport have revealed that they will cease operating in FIA Formula 3 after 15 seasons at GP3/F3 level.
Andreas Jenzer’s team have helped a number of young drivers get foothold on the Formula ladder, the most notable of which being current Formula 1 driver Yuki Tsunoda, and Taylor Barnard, who after a year in F2, appears set to join the Formula E grid with NEOM McLaren. Other notable names include Juan Manuel Correa, Arjun Maini, Tatiana Calderon, Nikita Bedrin and David Beckmann.
📸 Tatiana Calderon spent time with Jenzer before racing in F2 and IndyCar - as well as conducting F1 tests with Sauber.
During their time in F3 they’ve had a few special moments with wins and podiums their reward!
Tsunoda wins!
During the Italian Grand Prix round of the 2019 season Tsunoda had arguably his strongest round of the year at Monza. In race one on the Saturday - a race the became most notable for a scary crash for Alex Peroni - Tsunoda took an excellent fourth place but Sunday was his real time to shine.
Starting from sixth, the Japanese driver leapt up to third by turn one, and to second by midway through the third lap on what was a rain sodden Temple of Speed.
📸 A young Yuki Tsunoda in the Jenzer garage.
With seven laps to go, Tsunoda took the lead on a drying track in the first corner, passing Jake Hughes before holding off Liam Lawson - a potential 2025 teammate - for the race win: his first, and Jenzer’s first win in the newly branded FIA F3 championship.
A team effort at Spa-Francorchamps
During the 2023 season, Jenzer ended up with their best ever season points return in the series largely due to the form of Taylor Barnard but also owing to an incredible feature race on the Sunday where Jenzer ended up with all three cars in the top four, but that’s just the half of it.
Barnard, who’d taken a podium with a second place in the sprint race, won for Jenzer - moving up from 10th to first, while Nikita Bedrin came home third from 18th and Alex Garcia moved from 23rd to fourth in a race where teams split strategy on a wet track that caught a number of driver out from the start.
The team took home a combined 52 points in the feature race to add to the nine Barnard had aecured in Saturday’s sprint race. The team ended the season on 108 points, taking sixth place overall in a stunning season.
Bedrin’s Hungaroring podium
When Bedrin came to F3, he came with very high acclaim as one of the most exciting prospects to step up from F4 to F3. Since then, he’s maybe not reached the expected heights, but the talent is definitely there - and he showed that for Jenzer at the Hungaroring.
Bedrin’s stout defence versus eventual series champion Gabriel Bortoleto showed himself to be a useful defender in the car with steely determination to do well. Previous to this in the race he’d led seven laps after taking the lead in turn 1 with stunning round the outside move on polesitter Gabriele Mini.
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Jenzer Motorsport, FIA.
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