Alex Lynn

DUNMOW’S racing prodigy Alex Lynn is gearing up for the start of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with one goal in mind – taking home the highly-coveted title and with it a test drive in a Ferrari Formula One car. But there are 31 other up-and-coming potential stars of the future standing in his way. All with the same aim – to wrestle the top honour from Lynn’s grasp. Reporter Sam Tonkin caught up with the 19-year-old for an exclusive preview of the year ahead.

IT is the dawn of a new season. A new championship. A new car.

This year will be Lynn’s first away from Fortec Motorsport – the team he grew up with through the lower formulas.

But joining Prema Powerteam is a step the 19-year-old believes was necessary in an effort to pursue his dream of securing a seat in Formula One.

“It’s different being in an Italian team but I’m really enjoying it and both the team and I are adapting well to each other,” he told the Broadcast.

“My goal is to challenge for the title and I’m going into the season as one of four or five championship contenders.

“Prema have been European champions the last two years in a row so if you were to bet on any team to perform, it would be these guys.”

Whether it is Ferrari or one of the other 10 Formula One teams on the grid, Lynn told the Broadcast his goal is to be given the opportunity to drive an F1 car before the year is out.

“That has got to be the aim – trying to impress the F1 teams so, hopefully, I get given an opportunity.

“I think the F3 championship has got a lot more prestige now and we could potentially see drivers do well in F3 and go straight into an F1 reserve role, third driver or maybe even straight into a race seat. It’s almost going back to how it was 15-20 years ago.

“This is probably going to be my last year in F3 before I move up to GP2. That would be a massive step up and in terms of speed and power – the cars are only a little bit off F1.”

The Dunmow racer said he had been involved in talks with a few F1 teams about the possibility of joining their junior programmes but was cautious about making the right decision before committing to anything.

After a successful experience in New Zealand, where he collected the most wins and pole positions in the Toyota Racing Series, Lynn is focused on mounting a championship challenge with Prema, with just over a week to go until the season-opening race at Monza in Italy.

“Monza is a great track but I’m really looking forward to having two races in England – at Silverstone and Brands Hatch. Especially Brands as it’s my home circuit. It’s got a great vibe and was where I started learning to race.”

Testing took place in Barcelona last week, the same circuit Formula One drivers used for the build-up to the new season, and Lynn was second on day one and 14th on day two out of 28 racers – a mixed start to his lofty ambitions this season.