In the latest column for Carlin, Oliver Jarvis talks about his first season in the British F3 International Series.
It's not been going too bad for me this season after making the step into F3. The aim at the start of the year, being a rookie driver, was to win races and try and challenge for the top three in the championship. So far we have achieved our aim of winning races, and it looks likely that we'll also finish inside the top three in the standings. At the same time, we were aiming for the title but it seems like that has now slipped from our reach. However we will be aiming to finish the season strongly with a couple more wins.
I've already won twice, at Mondello Park and
Brands Hatch and I think that first win in particular was very important, not just for myself but for the whole team to keep morale up. The team has done a great job all year and it was no more than they deserved. In terms of myself, it was good to be the first Honda driver to win a race against the Mercedes and I think it helped to get me noticed and showed that I had arrived on the F3 scene and was capable of winning races.
Of course, I entered F3 on the back of winning the
McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year award but I don't feel that it put me under any added pressure. The only real pressure came from myself, because I believe that to be a top driver you have to push yourself to achieve the best results. At the start of the year, I set out to win the championship and the only pressure I have felt is the pressure that I placed on myself. I'll continue to do that because I feel it helps me to try and achieve my goals.
