Yevan David arrives at the final round of his rookie FIA Formula 3 season with momentum firmly on his side.
After an impressive weekend in Monza, the Sri Lankan gained 25 positions across the weekend. Now, David faces one final challenge in Madrid, as F3 prepares to race at the Madring for the first time.
Speaking exclusively to Everything Trackside following Friday’s practice, David said the opportunity to finish the season at a completely new venue was a rare moment for an F3 driver.
“We don’t get that a lot in F3 because, you know, F2, F1, they go to new tracks, Vegas, Qatar, but for F3, it’s a pretty cool experience, especially to have a track that no one has raced before.”
David is not arriving in Madrid completely blind, however, having already driven the circuit during F3’s in-season testing last month. The final round brings considerably different temperatures and a weekend featuring three races rather than the usual two. The F3 season finale presents a different challenge.
For the 19-year-old, Madrid comes at the end of a stretch that has demonstrated just how far he has come since making the step up to Formula 3 at the beginning of the year.
Monza provides a boost in belief
David’s penultimate weekend of the season proved to be one of his most impressive. Across the Monza weekend, the AIX Racing driver gained 25 positions, giving him a timely boost heading into the finale. His charge through the field is evidence of the progress he believes he has made throughout his rookie campaign.
“It gives a lot of belief in me because I really, really learned a lot in Monza about procedures, about myself, and I really can take that into next year and the years moving forward,”
But he does not view last weekend’s performance in isolation.
“It’s also a result of not just Monza, but the weeks and days after Hungary that I put the work in to be able to do that in Monza… That’s just confirmed everything that I’ve needed to do over the winter to prepare for the first round next year.”
That process of learning and adapting has defined much of David’s first season in the championship. Looking back, he points to the lengthy break between the opening round in Melbourne and the championship’s return in Monaco as a particularly important period. Time in the simulator and on-track testing at the Red Bull Ring, allowed him to identify the areas he needed to improve. Although the results did not immediately reflect that progress in Monaco, Barcelona or Austria, the pieces finally came together at Silverstone.
“I always knew it was there. I believed it was there. And we got the opportunity to show it.. and we did.”
That progress finally translated into results at Silverstone, where David claimed his maiden Formula 3 podium in the Sprint Race. In the process, David became the first Sri Lankan driver to stand on an FIA Formula 3 podium, marking a significant milestone in his rookie campaign.
“Regardless of any of the results that had happened after Silverstone, I’m proud that I was able to bridge that gap from Melbourne to Monaco, and that was really important for me.”
Finding his place in Formula 3
For David, adapting to Formula 3 has involved more than simply learning a new car. The environment surrounding the championship brought its own challenges, adjusting to outside perceptions to developing a working relationship with his team during the opening stages of the season.
“Seeing what people perceive of you and stuff, even though I filter it out as much as possible and try to focus on me, it’s subconsciously kind of going to be there,”
“The paddock can say whatever they want, but for me, it’s the team that I’m working with. That relationship is quite hard to develop in the first few tests, but once you do Melbourne, once you do Monaco, you get used to the F3 systems.”
“It’s like, ‘I know what I’ve got to do. I’ve just got to go out and drive.’ And then it became a lot more comfortable.”
That growing sense of familiarity allowed David to shift his focus away from adapting to Formula 3. The goal is now and towards showing what he could do within it.
Representing Sri Lanka on the international stage
David’s progression through the junior categories also carries significance beyond his own ambitions. As one of Sri Lanka’s emerging motorsport talents, he hopes his journey can demonstrate to young people from the country that reaching the highest levels of the sport is possible.
“I hope it shows that it’s possible for any Sri Lankan kid to start racing, or their wildest dreams, whether it’s outside of racing.”
His ambitions extend beyond setting an example from behind the wheel. David hopes to eventually establish foundations. For David, the aim is to support young drivers from Sri Lanka and elsewhere who face the considerable barriers involved in entering motorsport.
“In the future, I definitely want to start foundations and just help in any way I can, or just support, to have kids from Sri Lanka, and kids around the world, get into racing and start dreaming because it’s one of the hardest sports to be in for a lot of different reasons.”
For now, David knows he still has his own journey to complete.
“I’m still not there yet, but the goal is to show myself that I can do it and to show it to the world, and especially the island of Sri Lanka, that it’s possible for one of us to make it too.”
What comes next?
With David’s rookie Formula 3 season coming to a close, attention will turn to what lies ahead. While his plans for next season are yet to be confirmed, he offered a small indication of what could be next.
“I can tentatively say that we’re looking to do another year in F3. That’s the idea for now,”
For now though, his future remains unconfirmed.
“I can say that it’ll definitely be announced and confirmed in the coming weeks.”
Feature Image Credit: Formula 3