My next guest on this series is Mario Gavidia. Mario has been working in FIA Formula 3 in the last year as a mechanic alongside Arthur Leclerc but I've now taken the chance to learn a little bit about what is he's done, what's he's done in the past, and what the future may hold!
Mario's previous work includes working with other 2022 F3 drivers Francesco Pizzi and Arthur Leclerc's PREMA teammate Ollie Bearman among others, but I've enjoyed very much learning about what Mario's job entails.
📸 Mario celebrates with Ollie Bearman in his former role as mechanic when Ollie was in ADAC and Italian F4 in 2021.
Here's his questions!
1. What’s your job title? This year I was #2 Mechanic on Arthur's F3 car, I did the post-season tests as #1 Mechanic, but we'll see next year.
📸 Arthur Leclerc, who Mario worked with in 2022.
2. What driver or drivers do you currently work with? Well, this year I was with Arthur Leclerc during all the F3 season.
3. What drivers have you previously worked with? 2021 with Ollie Bearman in F4 and Francesco Pizzi the year before. Would be tricky to name all the drivers l've tested with, I did a F4 test with Franco Colapinto long ago, he was fast from the very beginning.
📸 Francesco Pizzi, top, Ollie Bearman, middle, and Franco Colapinto, bottom; all drivers who Mario has worked alongside.
4. How long have you been doing this job? Involved with motorsport...Around 3 to
4 years, I started with Spanish F4, GT4 the year after, F4 Italian & German(ADAC) 20 - 21 and now F3.
5. How long did you wait to get a job doing this? Tricky question to answer...I was working on a road car workshop until I got a bit involved with racing and decided to go to a Motorsport Academy. With the academy I was way closer with racing and part of a team.
Sometimes it could be hard to take the
next step, positions need to be available and you need to be willing and able to do it.
📸 Working with Leclerc.
6. How do you stay calm watching your driver on track? How do I stay calm? I guess I don't. It depends. I guess you can be calm in a
test or free practice, you want your driver to be on top but they are also learning the track and finding the limits...During a qualifying session, adrenaline gets into play...you need to be spot on with setup changes and tyres and during a race you are just a viewer.
7. Watching your driver crash can’t be easy; how does that moment feel when you’re watching from the garage? Motorsport is a dangerous sport. It's not nice to see a crash. Even more if its your driver crashing or if you were fighting to the top spots. After all, important thing is they are ok...The car can be fixed and you can get going.
📸 The job is not without it's tough moments.
8. How about the feeling that comes with watching your driver win? For me, everything comes down to that, going to the pit wall and see your driver crossing the chequered flag in first position.
The best feeling ever...
📸 The goal. Victories and podiums are the reward for all the hard work that goes into getting the car ready.
9. What’s the hardest part of your job?
I don't think there is a specific task harder than other, related to the car some adjustments could be simpler than others or changing dry to wet setup could be difficult in weather changing conditions.
10. What’s the best part? Winning.
📸 Celebrating the car coming home.
11. What’s your personal goal in racing? Reaching F1, is a goal me and my girlfriend have...We both are involved in motorsport and I believe that's the top step.
📸 F1 is the ultimate goal for Mario.
12. 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? I like to keep all my racing passes and bracelets, I tried to buy the circuit key chains for a while but couldn't find them all, same for the hats, I also like to keep the Pirelli podium hats.
Thank you Mario for taking the time, this was a really enjoyable interview! I'm really enjoying learning about the different jobs in racing and this is no exception!
📸 Image credit(s): Mario Gavidia, Formula Motorsport Limited, PREMA Racing, Francesco Pizzi, Franco Colapinto.
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