How Sami Meguetounif prepares for his first visit to Australia

One thing is certain, Sami Meguetounif did not miss his introduction in Formula 3. New recruit from Trident for this 2024 season, the Marseillais appeared as the leggiest driver of the trio of the Italian team in Bahrain ahead of his two teammates, another rookie in the person of Santiago Ramos and the repeater Leonardo Fornaroli.

Fourth in qualifying, the Frenchman was only beaten by repeaters like Dino Beganovic (Prema), Luke Browning (Hitech GP) and Gabriele Mini (Prema). Drivers much more experienced than him therefore in the category. If he then suffered a little more during the Sprint (10^e), Sami Meguetounif finished the Main Race at the foot of the podium after having sailed for a time in 2^e position. Enough to give him confidence for his first campaign in the division.

« If I had been told I would finish 4^e of the Bahrain Main Race before the start of the season I would have signed straight away, he admits. I can't say I'm not happy (of the result). I think I almost lost the podium there, by making a few small mistakes, particularly because I was under pressure throughout. But these are good points, I'm happy with my debut. I learned a lot there."

Confirm in Melbourne

F3 absent from the program for the second round of the season F1 in Saudi Arabia, the Frenchie returns to action this weekend against Australia. A discovery for him who has never ventured to the other side of the world.

As he prepares to return to an “urban” circuit for the first time since Monaco 2022 when he played in FRECA, Sami took advantage of this three-week break to prepare as best as possible. Returning to the Old Continent in the wake of Bahrain, the Habs worked closely with Trident to land in the Antipodes in the best possible conditions with a view to confirming that Bahrain was not a coincidence.

« Two days after the weekend in Bahrain ended, I went straight to Trident headquarters in Milan, he advances. We can say that we haven't stopped working since. We did a lot of simulator. (As for the track) We don't have much time before qualifying so even if you're a rookie, you need to be in the rhythm straight away in practice in order to play up front in qualifying. For this, the simulator is very useful. I was able to complete a lot of laps but also do race simulations. It helped me. In addition to the simulator, we reviewed what the team did in Australia last year, especially since Gabriel (Bortoleto, reigning F3 champion with Trident) won here so that's a good thing. Generally, [the preparation] went well."

For his debut, Sami Meguetounif was treated to some great battles on the track. © Eric Alonso / Dutch photo agency / DPPI

Two areas of improvement identified

In a good dynamic a few hours before starting his Australian weekend, Sami Meguetounif is aware that everything is not yet perfect. In Bahrain, he perhaps lacked a little race pace, especially in the Sprint, despite good starts. And while he appeared comfortable on a flying lap, the former MP Motorsport knows that he will not be able to reproduce this kind of performance every time. To do this, we will therefore have to take full advantage of the single practice session before qualifying and thus avoid all the pitfalls.

« As a rookie, on a new track and with such little time until qualifying, I know the hardest part is setting a good entry time with each new set of tires, he emphasizes. This is something I need to work on. During the pre-season testing in Bahrain, I was able to make a few mistakes in these situations. It's not because I then got a good result for the first of the year that I could do it again every time. This is one of my main goals. I also have to work on tire management during the race. Understand better when I should attack, when I should not. Attacking with an F3 is different from what I have experienced in the past, notably with the presence of DRS."

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