Rodin Motorsport driver Callum Voisin has faced a struggle to translate last year's championship-winning GB3 form into results in his rookie Formula 3 season. But the 18-year-old is not the only driver graduating from the series formerly known as British Formula 3 who has found it tough to make an instant impression when arriving on the Formula 1 support series ladder.
Kaylen Fredrick scored just two points in a 2021 season disrupted by a thumb injury and a COVID-enforced absence that caused him to miss seven races. Fellow Carlin driver Zak O'Sullivan finished 11th in the standings in 2022, but had not finished higher than sixth until a strong weekend on home turf at Silverstone yielded a maiden podium. Luke Browning impressed at the start of last year despite only agreeing a deal late to join Hitech, taking a best finish of second in the Barcelona sprint, but ultimately ended the season 15th.
Voisin arrived at the recent Silverstone round as one of seven full-time drivers yet to score any points, with his 2023 title rival Alex Dunne (Hitech) leading the trio of GB3 graduates courtesy of a second place in the Barcelona sprint. Voisin’s team-mate, Joseph Loake, had placed fifth at Monaco.
“It is tough,” Voisin conceded ahead of the weekend. “I think we knew coming into this season it was going to be naturally difficult. It’s learning for me and learning for the team at the same time, but we’re making progress and that’s the main thing.”
What followed was far more than he could ever have expected. A fourth-place finish in the partially reversed grid sprint race was followed up by what he can justifiably regard as an unfortunate podium in the feature.
Although third immediately became his best result of the season, Voisin actually crossed the line ahead of Prema’s championship combatants Arvid Lindblad and Gabriele Mini, who were classified first and second. But a five-second penalty for passing Max Esterson off the track, a move made while he was on slicks and the Jenzer driver on wets, cost him the victory in a topsy-turvy race that ultimately swung in favour of those who persisted with slicks during intermittent showers.
While disagreeing with the penalty, when asked if Rodin had lodged a protest or accepted the podium outcome, Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award finalist Voisin tells Autosport: “More the latter. Sam [Waple], the team manager, went up to see what he could do. But unfortunately, it’s one of them where the stewards have already made their minds up, so there wasn't much we were going to be able to do. In the end, I don't think we protested. We took the podium and the fight another day.”
While the breakthrough result is itself a crucial step for Voisin, it is what happens next that really matters. Should this prove to be a one-off result, it will have no major bearing on his career. But build upon this and learn the lessons of why he was successful at Silverstone, and it could transform his campaign.
“Certainly, it gives me a huge deal of confidence,” the BRDC SuperStars programme member explains. “I just proved to everybody on Sunday that I can win and, regardless of the end result, we won on track. I'm extremely happy with how I'm driving. There are still, obviously, things to work on from both my side and the team. But that's normal.
"It’s a new car coming [in 2025], so that will be a fresh start for everybody and it will give us a huge opportunity to make something happen"
Callum Voisin
“From now on, it definitely gives me the confidence that we can do it. Qualifying in the top 12 is going to be the main thing. That's what really transforms your weekend [by securing a reversed grid position for the sprint]. That will be our main goal and then, any more silverware that we can pick up, that'll be very much welcome as well.”
Prior to Silverstone, Voisin's best qualifying effort had been 17th in Barcelona. But in windy Northamptonshire, he cracked the top 10 to line up eighth for the feature race, even before the changeable conditions injected an element of unpredictability into proceedings.
Reflecting that his Silverstone success was in equal parts prior track knowledge and personal development, Voisin says: “The breakthrough moment was getting through qualifying in the top 12, because that completely transforms your weekend. It gives you two good shots at scoring points, and, especially on the Saturday sprint race, it gives you a very good shot at getting a podium. You no longer have to overtake 10 cars or whatever to get into the points, and you just have to stay there.”
While some drivers would use such a result as a banner to wave in the direction of F2 teams, Voisin remains grounded and believes another campaign in the lower category is likely. Championship combatants Browning and Mini, and 2023 runner-up O'Sullivan before them, serve as inspiration of what a second-year driver can achieve. And that experience will be even more valuable in 2025, as F3 teams face getting to grips with a new car that will replace the outgoing Dallara model which has been in service since 2019.
“The goal is probably another year in F3,” he adds. “Obviously, I'm not in the championship fight or anything like that, so probably F3 again. I’d love to do it with these guys again, with Rodin.
“It’s a new car coming, so that will be a fresh start for everybody and it will give us a huge opportunity to make something happen. Being a second-year driver does give you a huge advantage. I didn’t really quite appreciate how much of an advantage that it does give you, especially not having done any winter testing or anything like that.
“I definitely would like to do it again. It’s the same old saying, it’s all about budget and whatever we can string up together will dictate that.”
