The reason we chose F3 was because it’s one of the few single-seater formulae left in which you can still carry out proper development – F3, Formula Ford and
Formula 1 are the only open classes in motorsport where you can develop the car. If we wanted to have a serious motorsport business, F3 seemed like the right place for us to start.
The last six months have seen a tremendous effort from everybody involved – all our employees, my family, my own property business… Everybody has supported the project and rallied round to get us to the level we are at now. Jonny worked at
McLaren for 17 years, so he has had a major impact. Having a guy like him on-board has really opened doors. His enthusiasm and effort have been second-to-none. Everything we have done, we have done to an absolutely meticulous level; we have not cut a single corner.
Fabio Carbone carried out the initial tests of the car for us at Magny-Cours, and we got a great response from him. That pressed the button for us to go ahead and take the project on, and our next target was to get an engine deal with Mercedes, which we succeeded in doing.
We signed a contract with Esteban Guerrieri to be our first driver. We then tested various other drivers from different levels of the sport and ended up choosing Michael Devaney, whose father used to race against my brother Jim back when we lived in Ireland. Both of them have been doing a sterling job for us so far. Prior to that we had done a deal with Ben Clucas, who thought he had a major sponsor and secure budget, but that fell through.
