Brad Benavides Interview

In Conversation with Brad Benavides

Brad Benavides is an American Formula 3 driver competing for Carlin in this year’s F3 Championship. We caught up recently to chat about the beginning of his debut year in the global championship, what would make this year a success for him and more. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

What first got you into motorsport?

What first got me into motorsport? Well initially, when I first was really aware of racing and motorsport in general was when I moved from the U.S to Guatemala when I was ten. The house that we rented literally neighbouring a racetrack and so I’d always listen to the sound of the go-kart engines or the ¼ mile engines and basically, it was sort of growing in me – the urge to go and try go karts or cars or whatever really. I’ve always been very drawn into racing, or I’ve always really liked anything that’s on four wheels basically and so on my eleventh birthday, my Dad got me a go-kart because he knew how much I liked them and how much I wanted to get into that sport and that was basically how I started. That was my absolute root into motorsport.

Image: Brad Benavides

You’ve raced in a few different categories – how does it feel to now be racing in Formula 3?

Well, I’ve raced in a lot of different categories but really for me, it’s all just been preparation for me for something greater and now that I’m in F3, to be honest, it’s like when I stop for a second and realize how far I’ve come, how far we’ve come – me and my family – it’s obviously very glorifying and I’m proud of it. My philosophy is that it doesn’t stop here. I’m always looking forward to superiority and that I can never reach perfection. There’s always, no matter what, a version of me that I still haven’t reached and I’m always pushing. So really, to be honest, in every category that I’ve ever raced, I’ve always had this mindset and so my focus in essence has been pretty much the same. Definitely feels great to be racing in F3 though at such a high level of motorsport!

How was the first race weekend in Bahrain for you?

The first weekend for me in Bahrain was a mega experience. To be honest I’ve never really raced at such a high level (like the level of the other drivers is so high) and obviously I’m racing together (on the same weekend) as F1 so my first encounter into that structure meant that I was nervous but now that I look back at it, I was so extremely happy – it was one of my best weekends that I’ve ever had. Just pure happiness – I was completely in my zone, and I was having a great time.

Image: Brad Benavides

Which circuit do you think will be the most challenging for you this year?

The track that will be the most challenging for me this year – I don’t really think that one track will be more challenging than the other because at the end of the day, it’s like a compromise. The more corners a track has it technically means that it’s harder to dial down the ideal lap, but it’ll be harder for everybody you know? And the less corners that a track has then the more crucial it is to really dial it down perfectly in each of those corners and perfect the lap. But then again, it’s easier for everybody to do that then and dial down the lap. There’s not going to be one track more challenging than the other – at least that’s my philosophy. It’s just about how well you can prepare for each track and each race to maximise the results. In that light, we have a triple header in September so I’m guessing that between the last and the penultimate round, those ones are gonna be quite challenging because it’s literally after two race weekends back-to-back. So, I think that could be possibly a very challenging round but then again, it’s challenging for everybody, so I just have to keep making sure I prepare better than everyone else and that’s the main idea.

What would make 2022 in Formula 3 a successful year for you?

2022 for me would be a good year in F3 if I could end the year ahead of my teammates in the points and be more consistent than I am right now. I want to learn and maximise as much a I can and just end the year on a very strong performance, at least on my side. At the moment, I’m on a good trajectory towards that but I just need to keep my head down, keep working strong and hard and hopefully all my goals will fulfil themselves this year.

Image: Brad Benavides

What do you like to do to relax?

So usually what I do to relax is I like to play video games, I like to go to the movies with my family or maybe with a friend. I like to go on a jet skie, ocean activities, beach activities- things that have to do with adrenaline are always part of my vacations so definitely mountain bikes for example. Obviously, it’s always got to be within the proper margin of safety because I can’t mess up my body parts – that would impact in my races! But basically, my relaxation is just having fun and both calm and sport/adrenaline activities.

If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose and why?

If I could have a super-power, it would have to be to control time because with that, I could really reach perfection with what I have currently. Just changing my perception and the way I literally live within time. I’d live in a fourth dimension of time and that way I could literally perfect every single moment and know what’s to come and be able to embrace it and maximise it and really be happy with it. I could literally become a world power like that and still be human!

Formula 3 returns this weekend when it goes racing in Austria.

Author: Thiemo Albers-Daly