Interview
Bedrin says PHM AIX are making good progress after ‘rollercoaster’ start to the season
Nikita Bedrin has full “trust” in his PHM AIX Racing team after they recovered from a disappointing start in pre-season testing to score points at Round 2 in Melbourne.
Bedrin, now in his second year in Formula 3, joined the team after solid rookie campaign in 2023 with Jenzer Motorsport, where he achieved two podium finishes.
But 2024 did not get off to the best of starts with the PHM AIX driver saying that they were “nowhere” pace-wise during pre-season running in Sakhir.
However, he says the team recovered well ahead of Round 1 at the same venue and, while he may have qualified 18th and gone without scoring in Bahrain, it gave them plenty of confidence moving forward.
“It's been quite a rollercoaster I would say,” Bedrin stated. “In pre-season testing we were kind of nowhere and the pace was really off, so we were all kind of disappointed.
“But we knew that we had to keep working to find the solution and already going back to Bahrain, the pace was actually not too bad in Qualifying. I think with a very good lap, top 12 was possible, so that was already a good step forward.”
They continued to take strides forward at the next round in Melbourne, when the Italian driver qualified fourth before finishing eighth in the Feature Race, giving him and the team their first points of the season.
However, having fallen back through the field during both the Sprint and Feature Race, Bedrin revealed their long run pace was a key focus at in-season testing in Barcelona last month.
“In Melbourne I think we did another good step because the pace in Qualifying was already much better,” explained Bedrin. “The whole Qualifying I was in the top five, so I think we have done a lot of good work.
“But our weak point was that in the races our pace was quite off compared to the leaders and that's what we paid the most attention to in Barcelona, in testing. We found an improvement, but we still have more work to do on that aspect because we are still lacking a bit of pace. For sure it's better, but still, we can do another step forward.”
Bedrin explained that he and the team noticed that while they were comfortable on the softer compounds, they were struggling on the harder tyres.
He says that in Melbourne, after noticing the drop off in tyre performance in the Sprint Race, he looked to manage them better in the Feature, but they still degraded quickly. However, he believes PHM AIX have taken steps to solving this “weird” issue at the Barcelona test.
“In the Melbourne Feature Race, I tried to save my tyres as much as I could,” Bedrin revealed. “I let the leaders go, because I knew if I pushed the same as them, I would have not have any tyres left and yet still we dropped like crazy.
“I didn't have any snaps until the tyres started to go off, so I felt like I was managing quite well and then in Barcelona we saw that as soon as we did a little change there was a massive step, so it was a lot on the setup side I think, and also on my driving style.
“Maybe I could have done a bit better, saving the tyres in the fast corners in Melbourne because in the first race I was just pushing a lot in the beginning. So, for the second race I thought we could save the tyres a bit more in the beginning, but it didn't seem to be better.”
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Bedrin is hopeful the changes and the fact that they will be using the medium tyres will serve PHM AIX well in Imola. He’s taking plenty of confidence into Round 3 especially as Imola is a favourite track of his.
“I think last year’s mid-season testing I was really fast in Imola, out of four sessions I was P1,” he said. “So, I don't know if it will be the same this year, I don't think we will be fighting for P1, but I think we can try to fight in quali for a top five.
“But I am honestly feeling quite confident especially because Imola is my favourite track and I hope we can do a good job there. I am still quite confident that I will do quite good from my side.”
Bedrin says his goal for the rest of the year is to help PHM AIX make progress. He hopes to score points at every single race but knows that does not happen without both he and the team working hard each day to improve.
He says he is confident he and the team can do so, and that they can take a similar step forward in performance in Europe to the one that they took after pre-season testing.
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“I am just putting my trust in the team because I know that they work really hard,” Bedrin acknowledged. “They don't stop, every day they stay till late, working to try and find something on the car, so I honestly have trust in them that somewhere midseason they will find a decent number of steps to be fighting nearer to the top.
“So, I am quite looking forward to the European tracks, I am just not so sure about the hards, but I think we can make that work. Our biggest problems were the race runs but as we found a step, I hope it will be better.
“We have made a very good step so far, because from where we started in pre-season testing to where we are now, it’s a very big step, so I am very positive and hope to keep working like this.”