The son of a legend, a diabetic who races with his cell phone and a woman saved from a brutal accident: who are Franco Colapinto’s rivals in F3

THE formula 3 It is one of the stages leading up to Formula 1 and, being the opening act together with Formula 2, its drivers coexist with the idols of the World Cup, as will happen in Monaco during the seventh round of the championship led by Max Verstappen. It is there that the Argentine Franco Colapinto competes against 29 other participants, including the son of an F1 legend, a diabetic who races on his cell phone and a woman who was saved from becoming a paraplegic.

Sophia Floersch: 22 years in her passport, just 4 since her second birth

“On November 18, 2018, I celebrated my second birthday in Macau”, once recognized the German Sophia Floersch. That day, while competing in Formula 3, he had a terrible accident: his car collided with Sho Tsuboi’s, climbed to more than 275 km/h and crashed into the outside fence at Turn 3 of the circuit.

The result was a frightening fracture of the seventh cervical vertebra (C7) from the column of the then 17-year-old pilot. “A bone splinter had come dangerously close to his spinal cord,” said his father, Alex.

The next day, she he spent 11 hours in an operating room and he got out of there, fortunately, with no spinal cord damage or signs of paralysis. And just over a week later, he had already left the hospital to begin a long rehabilitation.

Watching video of incident for first time, Sophia was ‘shocked’. In fact, it seemed implausible to him. “I still watch the video and I don’t think it’s about me. Everything happened so fast that I couldn’t hear a thing. I know the video is terrifying, but at the same time I know it’s amazing to be able to comment on it now,” he told Australian outlet 7 News Sydney a month later.

Although he later lamented that he “would rather get media attention” for his success “and not for a stupid accident”, Sophia Flörsch transcended that incident four and a half years ago.

In February of this year, after announcing her return to F.3 with the PHM Racing by Charouz team, she was chosen to be part of the Academy of the Young Alpine Knights. “The objective of the program is to train and develop female drivers and provide them with the opportunity to reach the top of motorsport, be it F1 or WEC,” she underlined by communicating the news on her social networks.

From that platform, it is also expressing itself so that more girls and women compete for a place in motorsports. “My goal is to prove it I’m still a woman with long hair and painted nails playing a sport that people think is only for men.. I’m trying to change and help through social media to make motorsport more attractive and show girls that nowadays anything can be done. It’s not just about racing drivers, there are also engineers, mechanics… ”, she reflected in a recent note to The Sporting News.

There he also showed a critical look at categories such as the Wseries and the newly opened F1 Academy: “I’m not really in favor of all-female rosters because I think motorsport is a mixed sport. We need the same budget, the same opportunities, to be able to compete at the same level. A phrase from the Formula 1 boss (Stefano Domenicali) who said that there won’t be a 100% woman in F1 in the next five years is a bit frustrating to tell the truth.

Christian Mansell: the 18-year-old Australian who runs with his cell phone to monitor his diabetes

Article 6.1 of the Formula 3 technical regulations states that “the use of a wireless data transmission device is prohibited”. Therefore, when the Australian Christian Manselli climbed for the first time with a mobile phone on the Campos Racing car – in Bahrain on March 2nd – he was investigated. The Spanish team then explained it Vital blood glucose monitoring phone for 18-year-old pilot with type 1 diabetes.

The device used by Mansell, which has nothing to do with F1 champion Nigel, transmits information about his blood glucose level to the cloud and send an alert in case your health is at risk. The data is received in real time in Campos’ box by his coach, who has the power to order him to stop. Is that a drop in sugar levels can cause dizziness, vision problems or even fainting, which would put your safety and that of your rivals on the track at risk.

“In Campos’ team they supported us a lot, of course they discovered it and it came as a shock because there is a finite little community of us in the racing world. And they are fully invested in this, they wanted to know more,” the young man told the Australian version of Sky News.

Mansell, who wrote in his Instagram biography that he has type 1 diabetes, acknowledged that the popularity he has gained allows him to raise awareness of a disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce insulin and of a way to monitor him without drawing blood from his finger “every day because he gets tired”.

“I get a lot of direct messages through Instagram, usually from these guys texting me and saying, ‘I never knew I could do this,'” she explained of the use of sensors that measure glucose continuously and in real time.

In addition to the warning he receives from his physical trainer, his mother, Megan, monitors Christian’s glucose levels via the app before and during races, as they can be influenced by hormones and emotions: adrenaline often increases the levels of glucose and nervousness lowers them.

The FIA, likewise, has come out to clarify Mansell’s situation with a statement before the second round of F3, in Australia. He clarified that the young man “is fit to compete” but that the stewards understand that allowing him to check the phone, as he usually does on a daily basis, is “the only way forward” for now. Similarly, it has been reported that “Christian Mansell’s blood sugar-checking cell phone is locked by the FIA ​​Technical Delegate.

Sebastián Montoya: the heir to a respected surname in F1

Juan Pablo Montoya’s son, Sebastian, was born 18 years ago in Miami, but runs with a Colombian license, like his father, two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and seven Formula 1 Grands Prix. His approach to motorsport was through motocross through his uncle, a KTM Enduro factory rider, and then he thought of IndyCar. Until he got into a single-seater and now his only goal is to get to F1 (and win it).

“My father is one of the best drivers in motorsport history who could never win the Formula 1 championship. I can make history and that’s what I want to do. Obviously my dream would be to become world champion and I’ll work on it,” he told EFE, who made his F3 debut this year with the Hitech Pulse-Eight team – one of the most important – and joined the Red Bull Academy.

“I hope Sebastián has a chance with Red Bull,” said Juan Pablo Montoya, who raced for Williams in F1 – he was voted rookie of the year in 2001 – and for McLaren, despite knowing Helmut Marko very well. the advisor of the Austrian team who focuses on monitoring young drivers, because he raced for his team in Formula 3000 in the late 90s.

“Helmut pushed me to always be a better person,” recalled the Colombian, “Now a lot of guys need to be soft spoken and he’s more like me, he’s more of the old fashioned… But I think Sebas has a character very good opportunity here to learn a lot from them and i think some of the training program is very good.They have it all.For me as a parent,it is very exciting. And as a driver I have to admit I’m a bit envious of him.“.

For now, in his rookie season, Sebastián has already excelled in F3 by getting his first podium in the second race: a second place in the Australian Sprint Race, where he started on pole for the reverse classification.

“I stayed almost midnight reading all the messages that came to me after the podium,” he recalled in an interview with As Colombia. There are people who support me a lot and others who say they are only there for my father., but in the end I run because I like it. There is no reason not to get to Formula 1.”

The protégé of Fernando Alonso, leader of Formula 3

Among the 30 drivers in the category, in addition to an Argentinian, son of an F1 legend, a diabetic who runs with his cell phone and a woman who was saved from paralysis, there is Gabriele Bortolettoprotégé of Fernando Alonso.

The 18-year-old Brazilian is part of Team Trident, is the leader of F3 with 58 points, 20 more than the second, the Swiss Gregoire Saucy, and is represented by A14 Management, the company of the two-time Spanish F1 champion.

“Every weekend I’m in contact with him. I ask him about things,” he acknowledged after his victory at the Bahrain GP. There, who also led the practice, sent a message to Alonso, who gave him some advice on what he “should do”. “I did. And honestly, it worked, and it was a really, really cool thing to try on the track,” he recalled.