MONGERTARGETSMOVETO NEWFIAFORMULA3SERIES Doubleamputeepracticedemergencyexitfromhalo-fittedcar

Billy Monger has set his sights on competing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship next year, and carried out extraction tests with a halo-fitted car in Abu Dhabi last weekend.

Monger has competed in BRDC British F3 this year finishing sixth in the points in his first season of racing since losing both legs in a British F4 crash at Donington Park in April 2017.

The FIA F3 Championship is new for 2019, with the GP3 Series merging with the European Formula 3 Championship to sit below Formula 1 and Formula 2, as the GP3 Series did before.

“It would be a great step for me to make,” Monger told MN. “That’s plan A, that’s what we’re aiming for.

“It offers a lot, being on the F1 package obviously helps but also it’s a new series which I think will help me.

“In these kind of categories you often find a big team finds the edge and they keep hold of that for years.

“I think with it being a new car and a new championship it will be a more even playing field. For me that’s what I want.”

Monger confirmed that he was worried to see if he could escape a car quickly enough now that the halo has been introduced in F3.

It is mandatory that drivers are able to get out of their cars in under eight seconds in an emergency. MN understands it took Monger less than three to escape a Carlin F2 car, although that wasn’t an official FIA extraction test and he will need to do that before competing in the category.

“I’ve had to prove I can get out with the halo, and hopefully in a couple of weeks that should be confirmed,” he added. “I thought it could be a problem.

“I’ve tried it and practiced with the Carlin F2 car and it was very easy for me, it was probably easier than the F3 car.

“I can use the halo as leverage to push myself up and over.”