Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 test driver Tatiana Calderón brought down the curtain on her GP3 career in last weekend’s Abu Dhabi season finale by once again scoring points in both races.
The two races held at the Yas Marina track on Saturday and Sunday marked the last-ever for the GP3 Series before it is replaced on the F1 support bill by the all-new FIA F3 championship, and they also signified Tatiana’s farewell after three seasons of tough competition.
And the 25-year-old Colombian was able to sign off in style, as he extended her points-scoring run stretching back to September’s Monza round with two more solid finishes.
Qualifying proved a challenge for Tatiana, who was left with work to do in Saturday’s opener from 14th place on the grid. But with the high-degradation soft-compound tyre in use on a scorching track, her tyre management skills shone through as she pushed her way up the order.
She finally took the finish line in 10th, giving her the same position for Sunday’s second race, and a three-way incident on the opening lap immediately promoted her to seventh.
But the resulting Virtual Safety Car period allowed two drivers running behind Tatiana to jump back ahead, although a subsequent penalties promoted her back to eighth at the finish, allowing the Bogota native to sign off on her GP3 career by finishing inside the points-paying positions once again.
Tatiana Calderón: “Overall it was a positive weekend, again finishing both races in the points. It’s a shame we couldn’t make a difference in qualifying; it was a bit difficult with traffic and we struggled a bit to switch the tyres on. In the first race the pace was really strong, I made some good moves, I think I was probably just two laps short of getting P8 and the reverse-grid pole. In race two it was a bit strange with the VSC and the restarts. Some people overtook me under VSC and cut the track and didn’t give the position back. At the end it’s another two points. Now the season is over and it’s time to focus on what’s coming next – I will be testing F2 this week and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Tatiana will remain in Abu Dhabi for this week’s post-season F2 test, in which she will participate with the Sauber-affiliated Charouz Racing System team.
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