Australian F1 Grand Prix: Tommy Smith, Christian Mansell, flying Aussie flag in Formula 3
When Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri take to the track for the Australian Grand Prix, two young Aussies will be out to follow in their footsteps. Find out more inside.
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When Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri take to the track for the Australian Grand Prix, two young Aussies will be out to follow in their footsteps.
Tommy Smith and Christian Mansell will be flying the flag for Australia in the FIA Formula 3 championship at Albert Park this weekend.
The third tier of Formula 1, F3 is a feeder series for the Formula 2 championship and F1.
Piastri was a former winner of the F3 championship before claiming the F2 title on his way to a seat at McLaren.
Following Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan’s decision not to return to racing in F2 this year, Smith and Mansell are the only Australians racing in F1’s junior categories.
Meet the two young guns aiming to become Australia’s next F1 hopes.
TOMMY SMITH
From: Melbourne
Age: 21
Like Oscar Piastri, Tommy Smith grew up just 15 minutes away from the Albert Park track.
So it is no surprise the opportunity to race on his home turf on the lakeside circuit in F3’s debut at the Australian Grand Prix last year was a head-spinning moment for the boy from Brighton.
“I think I will probably enjoy it a bit more this time because I will know what to expect,” Smith said.
“It was pretty cool, there are not many Australians racing so the fans really get around you.
“I was probably a bit overwhelmed last year but this year I know more about what to expect and hopefully will have a good weekend.”
The nephew of former Supercars racer Jack Smith, the 21-year-old is racing for Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing for his second year in F3.
Smith’s dad bought him his first go-kart when he was 10 after he was introduced to racing by Alpine reserve driver and fellow F1 aspirant Jack Doohan.
“My first time in a go-kart was at Jack Doohan’s father’s place on the Gold Coast,” Smith recalled.
“They have a little track there and I jumped in one of his karts.
“My dad knew Mick (Doohan through business interests) and I just did that for a few laps and that’s where it all started.”
Smith is now into his fourth full year of racing overseas. His initial move to Europe to race in the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2020 was scuppered by the Covid pandemic.
After being forced to return home – an opportunity which allowed him to finish his Year 12 studies – Smith returned in 2021 to race in the Formula Regional European Championship and the GB3 Championship (formerly British F3) before making the move to F3 last year.
It was a challenging debut season for Smith but one he has learned from.
“It was a tough one and we did struggle, not just myself – I made mistakes – but the team also struggled,” Smith said.
“We weren’t the quickest team, although the cars are all the same.
“This year I’m doing the same thing with the same team and the team has learned a lot.”
Like any young racer in the F1 junior categories, Smith makes no secret of his ambition to one day race in F1.
“My long-term goal is to hopefully race in F1 – that is the ultimate goal or dream,” said Smith, who was 22nd in the feature race in the opening round in Bahrain.
“But this year my goal is just to really be competitive in F3 and get some really good results.
“I try not to put a number on it and say I will finish top five in the championship. Just do the best job I can and see where we end up.
“But just to be competitive and know I’m fast because you’ve got to be quick to make F1, so that is the target.”
Smith has set his sights on progressing to F2 next season and was aware there was a lot riding on his campaign this year to make that happen.
“There is a bit of pressure this year because this is my second year of F3 and I am 21, so it’s not like we’ve got plenty of time to chip away at this,” Smith said.
“My goal is to be there (F2) next year and in order to do that I need to have a really strong season this year which is super frustrating because Bahrain was difficult, but I’m very positive we can have a good year.
“Hopefully it will be next year, I can’t see myself doing another season of F3. It’s quite an important season, so if I do well enough, for sure I’ll aim for F2.”
Smith, whose racing idol is Daniel Ricciardo, said there was a lot of sacrifice to chase his racing dreams.
“You don’t just jump in the car on the weekend, it is seven days a week, training, eating well, it’s a whole lifestyle, but I do love it, so it would mean the world,” Smith said.
“I left when I was 18 and I miss out on a lot of social life. I see all my friends back home having fun but I can’t really do that because I am so dedicated to my racing.
“When I come home over Christmas everyone goes ‘Come out and come to the pub’ and I’m like ‘Nah, I can’t really do that’. I’m just on a different pathway, I guess.
“But I think it will pay off. I know if I just keep working hard I will enjoy stuff later on in life.”
CHRISTIAN MANSELL
From: Newcastle
Age: 19
If driving open-wheel race cars at top speeds in one of the world motorsport’s top feeder categories to F1 is not enough of a challenge, Australian young gun Christian Mansell has more to contend with behind the wheel than most.
While training, plying his craft on track and cooling down from races, Mansell needs to keep a constant watch on his blood glucose levels.
Mansell was diagnosed with type one diabetes midway through 2019, the year before he made the move over to the United Kingdom to pursue his racing ambitions.
In the time since, the Newcastle teenager has become adept at managing his condition while he prepares for races, including when he’s on track.
Mansell wears a constant glucose monitor to keep track of his blood sugar levels and can have up to six insulin injections a day to keep his levels stable.
“I’m quite thankful that my life is built up on numbers,” Mansell said.
“At the moment, I have between five and six injections a day, which sounds pretty intimidating at first but you do get used to it and it is just second nature.
“It is a part of my life. It is groundhog day, I can do it every single day and I’m not fussed.
“Essentially I monitor my blood sugar with a constant glucose monitor via Dexcom and I also have insulin for big meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner, sometimes afternoon tea if I’m peckish.
“We are checking (the glucose monitor) as soon as I wake up, after I eat breakfast and then half an hour after I eat breakfast we watch the trend of how it’s moving, how it’s evolving and it’s either have a banana, or drink some water or things like this to either raise, stabilise or lower my sugar levels.
“That’s the beauty of having a continuous glucose monitor, you can see it live right in front of you, which makes a difference. Without it, it would be a million times harder to do what I do.
“Some days are better than others but as far as controlling it on a race weekend, I’ve got it down pat, to a tee.”
Mansell, who races for the ART Grand Prix team in F3, prepares methodically for when he’s in the car to ensure his levels remain as stable as possible while he’s racing.
While he’s on track, Mansell’s engineer and physio keep a close watch on his levels.
“We take precautions, certain numbers, the performance level starts to dip at either end of the spectrum, too high or too low,” Mansell said.
“More so too low, but even when I’m too high with my blood sugar, that concentration starts to seep through and might find myself missing an apex here or there and it’s just like ‘I’ve got to concentrate a bit harder now’ because I might be a bit high with my blood glucose.
“When I’m low … it realistically never happens because there are a lot of contingencies in place to limit that from happening.
“But when you have low blood sugar, your legs start to get a bit fuzzy, you feel awful and it’s not something you really want to happen in a race car.
“So thank god that I have a continuous blood glucose monitor that we stalk 24/7, especially in the build-up before I get in the car.
“We just make sure we are at the level we want it to be at and the performance level between a certain range.
“There is an ideal spot in my body that we have found, my working range, if you would call it and we try and aim for that every single time.”
His diabetes diagnosis has not stopped Mansell’s progress up the motorsport ladder. He moved through the ranks in Britain before making his debut in F3 last year.
Mansell was the top-placed of three Australians in last year’s F3 championship when he finished 12th.
He has made an impressive start to this year’s series when he placed second in the opening feature race of the season in Bahrain.
F1 is his ultimate goal but is first focused on maximising every race behind the wheel in F3, in which he sits third in the drivers’ standings.
“Realistically, this year in F3, if all things considered goes well, then F2 the year after and maybe one or two years after that, it could be four years until F1, it could be five years,” Mansell said.
“I’m not really fussed long it takes. It’s just about not really letting off, always trying to push forward, always trying to make yourself more valuable to an F1 team because they are not just going to pick an average Joe.
“You have to put yourself in the right position, you have got to make sure they pick you for the right reasons and make sure you are there for the right reasons.
“You don’t want to just get on a program and then not end up going anywhere, you have got to make sure that it’s the right fit and make sure you’re on the right career path, which is significantly easier said than done.
“But I think at the moment, I’ll worry about F3 and if anyone comes knocking on my door, I’ll worry about it when I get there.
“Your life can change overnight and we have seen it with all this Oliver Bearman, it has been sensational what he has been able to do.”
Mansell, who looks up to four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, said making F1 would be a dream come true.
“It would mean everything. I would sacrifice near everything in my entire life to get there,” Mansell said.
“Obviously to a point, I don’t care what I need to do to get there, I will try my absolute hardest.
“If I don’t – because I am also realistic and the world is not perfect – if it doesn’t happen, then you can 100 per cent bet that I have tried my absolute hardest.”
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