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Christian Mansell heads into this weekend’s round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship with no pressure or expectations, according to Jack Doohan.
Doohan graduated from F3 last season after finishing second in the championship with four race wins.
The son of five-time motorcycling world champion Mick also made two cameo appearances in Formula 2 at the end of 2021, a precursor to a full-time move into the F1 feeder series this year.
It’s a similar position to that Mansell finds himself, with this weekend’s event in Hungary the first of two planned F3 outings with Charouz Racing System in Formula 3.
Currently competing in Euroformula Open, where he is a race winner, it’s the tentative next step on the path towards Formula 1.
“[My] Advice would be no expectations,” said Doohan when asked by Speedcafe.com about Mansell’s F3 debut.
“Coming from Euroformula, at the moment I don’t think there’s really anyone [that] has any expectations of him.
“If he comes in and he’s P30, then everyone will be like ‘hey, just came in straight out of the blue from Euroformula, you can expect that’. If he goes and does an amazing job, that’s just a bonus.
“Everything can only really be a positive, so I think he’s got not much to worry about, just enjoy the experience and the opportunity to get experience before potentially a move next year.
“It’s like me getting the chance last year to compete in the last two rounds of Formula 2,” he added.
“When [the opportunity] comes around, you really need to take it… It’s hard to get.”
Hungary marks the fifth round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, Frenchman Victor Martins holding a single point advantage over Isack Hadjar, while Arthur Leclerc, brother of Ferrari’s Charles, is third just six points off the pace.
Formula 3 follows the same format as Formula 2, with a single practice session feeding into qualifying on Friday.
Saturday heralds a Sprint race before a longer Feature encounter on Sunday to round out the weekend.
