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Sergey Sirotkin: “To improve in each area”

The Sauber F1 Team test driver was the only on to finish in the Top 5 in all six sessions.

Sergey Sirotkin

Sergey Sirotkin

DPPI

While Carlos Sainz (DAMS) has been the quickest during the Formula Renault 3.5 Series collective testing, Sergey Sirotkin (Fortec Motorsports) has been the most consistent. The Sauber F1 Team test driver was the only on to finish in the Top 5 in all six sessions. Will the Russian be a front-runner throughout the season?

A European Formula Abarth title in 2011, race winner in F3 and Auto GP in 2012 before taking podium results in Formula Renault 3.5 Series last year, Sergey Sirotkin’s rate of progression is impressive. The 18-year old Russian driver has stood out in each category he has competed in and the World Series by Renault should not be an exception.

Sergey Sirotkin
Sergey Sirotkin

Photo by: DPPI

After competing in his first race in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in Moscow in 2012, Sergey returned in the best possible condition. “I didn’t have enough time to prepare. And when you are in such a hurry, it becomes difficult to score good results. I observed and learned”, says the Moscow native. “In 2013, we did things right. We improved and it was noticed.”

Ninth overall and second among rookies, the Russian, unanimously heralded for his maturity, capacity for analysis and feedback with the teams he raced with before, joined the Sauber F1 Team during the summer of 2013. Before moving onto F1, Sergey Sirotkin and his management team decided to put in another season in Formula Renault 3.5 Series, a first in the career of the young driver.

“A move to Formula 1 this season would have been too much of a jump for Sergey”, declares Fortec Motorsports Team Manager, Jamie Dye. “To put in a second season in a category such as the Formula Renault 3.5 Series will help in his future as an F1 driver. Sergey is very mature and his very precise technical feedback is worthy of a much older driver. I can see now why the F1 teams are interested in him. He has been very quick in testing, even when we were not worried about lap times. With his experience and strong character, I am confident we will race for the winning positions at Monza.”

“I have to improve in every area”, assures Sirotkin. “ISR and Fortec Motorsports are different teams, so the cars as well are different. We may encounter new problems or find things to be better than I thought. We have to work at Jerez during the next test. Then we’ll see at the first race, or second, where we will be fighting this season.”

In addition to his career as a race car driver, Sergey Sirotkin has continued his studies and in 2012 he enrolled at the Moscow State Automobile and Road Technical University. And it was anything but a random choice.

“If you like something, it should challenge you,” confesses the Moscow native. “I used to play football as well, I liked it and it was fun, but the challenge was missing. Racing was always something special to me, the urge to always win and improve keeps me motivated, as well as the fascination of cars, how they work and how you can push the limits."

Despite the strong competition are you confident after the first collective tests in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series?

“There is always a lot of work to do in the collective tests. From the first day, it is important to see how the car behaves. We worked hard to improve, we were very fast on used tyres and now we need to concentrate on stints with fresh rubber. There is a huge potential, but it is up to us to get the most out of it”, concludes Sergey Sirotkin, who will join his rivals on 24-26 March at the Circuito de Jerez before the first race of the season at Monza on the weekend of April 12 and 13.

Sergey Sirotkin

Born: 27 August 1995 in Moscow (Russia)
Height / Weight: 1.84m / 71kg
2006-2010 : Karting
2011: Formula Abarth European Series (Champion) and Italian Series (Runner-up)
2012: Auto GP (3rd), F3 Italy (5th)
2013: Formula Renault 3.5 Series (9th)
2014: Formula Renault 3.5 Series

World Series by Renault

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