Trident season review: Lacking consistency but template for success is there

Winners in Zandvoort was as good as things got for Trident in 2023, and Team Manager Giacomo Ricci was frustrated even in their finest hour of the season.

The Italian squad are renowned serial winners in FIA Formula 3, but their F2 standing isn’t quite the same currently, though there is no shortage of work going on behind the scenes to put that right.

Ricci says that the highlights were few and far between, but he sees the potential in the operation which made underperformance even more painful in 2023.

“We absolutely want to move forward with our Formula 2 team,” the Team Manager explained. “It’s true that there were some positive highlights like the win in Zandvoort with Novalak.

“Also, for me, Roman made strides forward. The Qualifying at Monza where he got P3 showed our potential with the F2 car. My desire is that we have to move up in 2024. There were some positives this year but plenty of negatives too. We didn’t show consistency throughout the season and that’s our strongest point in Formula 3.”

The aforementioned victory at Zandvoort for Clément Novalak was a welcome respite in what was a tough campaign but did show there were shoots of growth worthy of nurturing.

Novalak’s win was emphatic once he hit the front of the pack, controlling the gap to second-placed Zane Maloney, a driver they know very well from their collaboration in 2022 back in F3.

“Yes, the Safety Car helped our strategy but once Clément was out in front, we absolutely had the pace to stay there, keep the position and he was able to pull away from Maloney behind, and we know he’s an extremely strong driver.

“I was really frustrated actually at the end of this race. Yes, you can imagine that winning and dominating that race was good, but at the same time I was frustrated because we showed that once we are at the front and have a good package with the car and a strong driver, we’re good.

“The reality is that when you’re qualifying at the back, the driver is really demotivated, you need to hope for something special but that day in Zandvoort was the only real opportunity we had through the season to show this.”

2024 then is a crucial season for Trident, perhaps more-so than some of their rivals. With the introduction of the F2 2024 car, all 11 teams will start from scratch in their understanding of the car, providing a window of opportunity Ricci is eager to exploit.

Hitting the ground running will pay dividends says the Trident Team Manager, who indicates that there is a lot of work going on back at the team’s base to unlock performance and understand the new car as early as possible.

Of course all teams will be doing the same, but a great deal of emphasis is being placed on this by Trident as they endeavour to transform their F2 performance and mirror their F3 success.

“The fact that we have a new car in 2024 is a plus because everyone will start from zero and we must use that to our advantage. It will be an opportunity for us to get the car right from the start of the season.

“I think that for the first three or four races, whoever gets it right will have an advantage but then as always, the others will start to catch up a bit.

“If you start well, that can make a little bit of difference in a weekend where maybe the car is not 100%. If we start the season strongly, the second half of the year will be easier. If you don’t start well and you have to play catchup, everyone will be stressed, that’s why it’s so important for not only the drivers, but the team to start the Championship in the right way.

“But the most important thing for me is to have that consistency with two cars throughout the season. You can really aim for a top five position in the Standings for both the Drivers’ and Teams’ and this has to be our target for the upcoming season.

“We are working day and night because this opportunity is strong and it’s always tough to recover. I believe that when we’re in a position to qualify at the front, everything else will become easier.”