F3 driver Floersch helps make F2 more accessible: 'It's not that hard'
- Nicole Mulder
Formula 3 driver Sophia Floersch recently took part in a Formula 2 test at the Silverstone circuit. The purpose of that test was to collect data with a view to making the F2 cars more accessible. F1 Academy driver Chloe Chambers completed a similar test, but focused on the F3 cars. Speaking to GPblog and others, Floersch talked about her experiences.
During the test, a wide range of set-ups were tried out on different tyre compounds. A lot of data was collected on braking, steering force, steering wheel position and the ergonomics of the cars in general. The data collected and feedback from the drivers will be used in setting the limits of set-ups for F2 and F3 teams in 2025.
F3 driver Floersch experiences no restrictions in F2 car
Any modifications to the cars are intended to make the Formula 1 entry-level classes more physically accessible. As far as Floersch is concerned, however, few modifications are needed. "To be honest, there are no challenges," the 23-year-old German answered a question from GPblog.
"I mean, obviously, at some point we went super hard, but it was not just that the steering was hard; you didn't really get any feedback on the steering, so it was difficult to drive in general because you didn't really know how the balance was and so on because the steering was just stuck."
She continued: "But apart from that, there were no challenges, I think. To be honest, it also depends on what you run in F3 and what you're used to and how heavy and strong the car is, but I was actually surprised how similar it is steering effort-wise. And as I said before, especially with the changes the FIA wants to do for next year, or let's say the rules and the regulations they want to put a window to, it is doable for everyone."
Floersch: 'I thought my arms would be dead'
"In the end, I definitely enjoyed it, and I also told them that I was expecting it to be a lot harder and to have my arms a lot more dead after those two days, but it wasn't the case. And I think that just proves that everyone has been working on steering efforts already in the past and that this has been a focus for the past couple of months and one to two years," Floersch concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi