That said, what a way to close out a campaign. Pedro Clerot put on a stunning display in the Spanish capital, leaving the Madrid weekend with two trophies in hand and a maiden victory secured.
The Rodin Motorsport driver showed immense pace right from the start at the Madring circuit, missing out on pole position in Qualifying 1 by just 0.012s on Friday. He was once again right in the fight for pole during his final lap in Qualifying 2, though a tap against the barrier at the last corner left him settling for third place.
P6 in the championship maybe doesn't reflect what I think we had,
From there, the Brazilian turned speed into silverware. Launching from P2 on the grid for Feature Race 1, he made a great start to grab the lead, controlled the race, and took his maiden Formula 3 victory. He followed that up by adding another podium to his weekend tally with a P3 finish in Sunday's race.
Reflecting on the paddock exit with his two trophies, Clerot called it a really special weekend. "It is really good to finally show what we had, maybe I'd say the whole year in terms of pace," he said. He credited the hard work, a very good start, and an incredible car built by the team, adding, "the team did an amazing job, obviously driving was on point as well this weekend, so I'm really happy to put a very strong weekend to end the year."
Sunday's Feature Race 2 required a different tactical approach. While fighting hard, Clerot admitted that a move on Ugo Ugochukwu was never really on the table, noting that overtaking is very difficult around the circuit. With the team's championship in mind, he drove with caution while Ugochukwu risked more in the title fight. Bringing home another podium meant 15 points in the bag and proved the team's competitiveness on a difficult track.
Ultimately, those strong results lifted the Brazilian to sixth in the Drivers' Championship to wrap up a rookie season featuring five podiums. Still, he feels the final standings do not entirely tell the story of his and the team's true performance level. "P6 in the championship maybe doesn't reflect what I think we had," he noted, while remaining pleased with how the year finished.
