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Category: F3
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Double pole for Frederick; Kush Maini to start P9: British F3
Donington, 24 October 2020: Carlin’s Kaylen Frederick secured a double pole position in qualifying on the Donington Park National circuit this morning (Saturday), before the opening race of the weekend was rescheduled to Sunday morning due to weather conditions.
Indian racing driver Kush Maini of Hitech team was among the 9 of the 16 drivers who laps were cancelled for `exceeding track limits’ and as a result will start on P9.
Qualifying
Frederick secured his fifth and sixth pole positions of the season during a frantic 20-minute session held this morning. In one of the closest sessions seen in BRDC British F3 history, Frederick’s race one pole margin of 0.145 seconds was comparatively large, considering that 0.156 seconds covered the drivers from second to 10th, with just over half a second separating the top-15.Hillspeed duo Oliver Clarke and Sasakorn Chaimongkol claimed second and third for the race one and three grids on a weekend where the team celebrates their 50th anniversary, while title challenger Ulysse De Pauw secured fourth place for both contests as well.
Fortec’s Roberto Faria demonstrated his progress in British F3 by taking sixth on the grid for race one in just his third weekend. Championship leader Kush Maini was only ninth for Hitech after having several laps deleted for track limits, while title contender Louis Foster was eighth fastest.
Race one rescheduled to Sunday morning
Qualifying took place in cool but dry conditions, but persistent heavy rain in the hour before the scheduled race start meant that sessions for championships running before BRDC British F3 on the timetable were red flagged. With other championships racing at Donington Park this weekend only competing today (Saturday), and some scheduled to decide their championships this afternoon, in the interests of fairness and safety, it was agreed that British F3 race one would move to Sunday morning, rather than waiting for a potential window in the weather this afternoon.Sessions for the other championships competing this afternoon were all heavily affected by the weather also, with multiple red flags or lengthy safety car periods. The weather forecast for Sunday is significantly better than today.
A revised Sunday timetable has been issued by event organisers MSVR, with the new race times for BRDC British F3 shown below.
09.05 – Race one
12.05 – Race two
14.55 – Race threePole position driver Kaylen Frederick said: “In practice we were looking quick in dry and wet conditions, so I was happy for it to go either way. It was pretty tricky out there, the wind was moving around a lot which made it really tricky to put together a bunch of quick laps because the references were always changing.
“But I think I did a great job of adjusting what I needed to and I put all my quick sectors together and did a bunch of laps that were pretty much good enough for pole. I had an amazing car, I’ve had one for the whole weekend so far. We put it all together and it’s produced a great result.”
BRDC British F3 Championship, Donington Park National circuit, Qualifying top-six:
1. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, 1m03.066s
2. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +0.145s
3. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +0.163s
4. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.171s
5. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +0.204s
6. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +0.211sClick here for full result.
Qualifying second fastest times (race three grid):
1. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, 1m03.075s
2. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +0.143s
3. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +0.199s
4. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.209s
5. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +0.246s
6. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +0.273sClick here for full result.
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Poor day for Kush Maini and Yash Aradhya at different events
Sunday, the 4th of October proved to be a poor day for Indian racing drivers abroad. While championship leader Kush Maini failed to get on to the podium finishing 10th in Race 3 and completed the difficult day in 7th place in Race 4 but still keeps the Championship lead, which now is only 9 points ahead.
Meanwhile, in France, Indian racer Yash Aradhya who made his debut in the French F4 at Paul Ricard circuit had another day of learning as he finished 14th in Sunday’s race. Aradhya who missed the first three rounds in the FFSA due to visa issues and will take part in the remaining three rounds.
British F3 report
Snetterton, 4 Oct 20: Double R Racing’s Louis Foster and Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw were triumphant in the two BRDC British F3 races held in wet conditions at Snetterton today (Sunday), with both now staking genuine title aspirations.
Their victories ensured that each of the top four drivers in the championship have taken wins this weekend, with Kaylen Frederick (Carlin) and Kush Maini (Hitech GP) victorious yesterday. Just 32 points now cover Maini, Frederick, Foster and De Pauw in that order in the championship standings, with only six races remaining in 2020.
Race three
Foster claimed his third win of the year in treacherous conditions this morning. Heavy rain ensured a safety car start, which Foster controlled expertly and finished over two seconds clear of Frederick, with Benjamin Pedersen third.Foster took advantage of a clear visor to build a lead of 1.2 seconds at the end of the first racing lap, with the lead duo immediately establishing a clear advantage over Pedersen in third. Frederick began to put the leader under serious pressure, closing up to the Double R car’s rear wing at the end of lap five and the pair separated by less than half a second.
But a couple of quick laps allowed Foster to pull out a margin of over two seconds, and claimed his third victory of the year by 2.271 seconds, despite a fastest lap from Frederick on the final tour. Championship leader Maini finished 16th, allowing Foster and Frederick to claw back ground in the title battle.
Race four
Foster started from pole in race four, his third front of the grid start of the weekend, but after another safety car start, the race three winner went off the road at Wilson and handed the lead to De Pauw.The Belgian driver then led every lap with Frederick not quite able to get close enough to force a move, finishing just under a second behind at the chequered flag. Carlin’s Nazim Azman claimed a podium having started seventh, despite race-long attention from Hillspeed’s local driver Oliver Clarke.
Foster fought back to finish fifth after two brave around the outside moves at Palmer, and then finished just over a tenth behind Clarke. Maini completed a difficult day with seventh place, and having entered the weekend with a 54 point advantage over Frederick, leaves with a nine point margin and the top-four drivers covered by the equivalent of less than a race win.
Race one winner Foster said: “Kaylen behind me probably couldn’t see much, looking at those conditions! But equally on my side I was entering every corner first and there were so many puddles, I didn’t know where was safe and where wasn’t. On lap one at the exit of turn seven there was this massive puddle that we didn’t spot and I nearly spun round on it. I aquaplaned all over it, so it was quite difficult to lead the pack, they could just follow where I was going. But the car was amazing, Double R did a great job and it really clicked on towards the end.”
Race two winner De Pauw said: “Finally, I got that proper win! It was not in easy conditions, Foster went off at turn two and then from there I just controlled the race. Kaylen behind wasn’t faster than me, I was controlling him. I could see he was not able to get a move on me, so I just controlled the race, managed to bring it back to the finish line in P1, so it feels really good. After a tricky weekend where qualifying was really strange, we managed to recover pretty well and score some strong points again. So I want to say a massive thanks to Douglas Motorsport for a great car, the conditions were really hard and I always had a car that was able to fight for podiums and for the win as we saw now, so a big thanks to them.”
BRDC British F3 Championship, Snetterton race three top-six:
1. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, 8 laps
2. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +2.271s
3. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +12.101s
4. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +12.664s
5. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +13.343s
6. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +14.954sClick here for full result.
BRDC British F3 Championship, Snetterton, race four top-six:
1. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, 9 laps
2. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +0.896s
3. Nazim Azman, Carlin +14.924s
4. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +15.413s
5. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +15.535s
6. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +24.909sClick here for full result.
BRDC British F3 Championship, top-six standings after race 18 of 24:
1. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, 349pts
2. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, 340pts
3. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, 328pts
4. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, 317pts
5. Nazim Azman, Carlin, 278pts
6. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, 256ptsClick here for full standings
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Kush Maini wins Race 2, extends Championship lead
Snetterton, 3 Oct 2020: Talented Indian racer Kush Maini of Hitech GP team claimed his third win of the year with a dominant drive in Race 2 at Snetterton on Saturday.
The Indian driver finished over four seconds clear of Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw, who climbed from ninth on the grid to second, with Chris Dittmann Racing’s Josh Skelton taking third.
The top three finished nearly five seconds clear of Double R’s Louis Foster, who started 12th and claimed fourth with a last lap move on Lanan Racing’s polesitter Piers Prior who was fifth. Foster’s teammate Benjamin Pedersen was another to make big gains, starting from the back row of the grid and finishing sixth ahead of Douglas Motorsport’s Manaf Hijjawi, with Lanan’s Bart Horsten eighth.
Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke claimed ninth at his home circuit ahead of race one podium finisher Nazim Azman (Carlin).
Earlier Report:
Championship contenders Kaylen Frederick and Kush Maini were victorious in the two races at Snetterton today (Saturday), on a day that saw both encounter highs and lows thanks to tricky track conditions. Frederick took advantage of a fast start in a very wet race one to claim his fifth win of the year, but a first lap incident in race two forced him to fight back to 12th in the reverse grid encounter.
Maini had an off track excursion of his own in race one, finishing 11th, but then fought back in this afternoon’s contest, held in slightly drier conditions. He surged from third on the grid to the lead on lap one, and then pulled out a decent margin to claim his third win of the year, reversing the damage to his title aspirations suffered in race one.
Qualifying
Double R Racing’s Louis Foster claimed a double pole in qualifying this morning, with a series of lap times towards the end of the session ensuring he secured front of the grid starting slots for races one and three.Foster was over six tenths of a second clear of Frederick, with fellow Double R-runner Benjamin Pedersen securing third on the grid for race one. Sasakorn Chaimongkol (Hillspeed), Manaf Hijjawi (Douglas) and Nazim Azman (Carlin) completed the top six in qualifying for race one.
Foster’s second quickest time secured him pole for tomorrow morning’s race three, a quarter of a second quicker than Chaimongkol, with Frederick set to start third. Pedersen, Hijjawi and Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw were fourth, fifth and sixth on second quickest times.
Race one
Frederick made a better start than pole man Foster to lead the field down to Riches on the first lap. The American led by 1.2 seconds at the end of lap one, a position he maintained at the end of lap two. Frederick then began to pull away, establishing a lead of over two seconds next time around, and had the gap up to almost five seconds at the end of lap six.With the win in the bag, Frederick was able to ease off slightly, with Foster clawing the gap back to just over three seconds at the chequered flag. Azman completed the podium after resisting pressure from Hillspeed’s local man Oliver Clarke in the closing stages, with De Pauw and Hijjawi completing the top six.
Behind them, Josh Skelton claimed seventh for Chris Dittmann Racing, while Bart Horsten delivered one of the drives of the season so far to surge from 18th and last on the grid to eighth for Lanan Racing. A mistake on the penultimate lap dropped Maini from eighth to 11th.
Race two
Indian driver Maini made amends in race two. Starting from third on the grid, he blasted past Alex Fores (Chris Dittmann Racing) and pole sitter Piers Prior (Lanan) on lap one, and immediately built a lead, while further back, Frederick starting 13th was swiped off the road and forced into delivering a recovery drive.Maini built a lead of over seven seconds with two laps remaining, but Douglas Motorsport’s De Pauw was a man on a mission. Having started ninth, the Belgian had picked off his rivals before moving into second on lap eight. He then lapped considerably quicker than the leader to bring the gap down to 4.2 seconds in two laps, claiming second place with Skelton third for Chris Dittmann Racing.
Foster was another to make continuous progress, climbing from 12th on the grid to take fourth, including a last lap move on pole man Prior, with Pedersen also carving through the field, taking sixth from a starting position of 17th.
After falling to the tail of the 18 car field after his dramas on lap one, Frederick recovered to 12th, including a gain of five places on lap eight, and very nearly claimed 11th at the flag, finishing 0.150 seconds behind Hitech’s Reece Ushijima.
Race one winner Frederick said: “The conditions were really tricky with a lot less grip than in qualifying, so judging the start was quite hard and even I got some wheelspin, and I had a relatively good start compared to everyone else. So the start was really key there, making sure you got traction and from that point I built up my lead and just kept looking forward. At the end I took a couple of chill laps to make sure we brought it home. There was no point in trying to set the world on fire in those last few laps.”
Race two winner Maini said: “After qualifying I’ll take that. We limited the damage but we don’t want to win the reverse grid race, we want to win the main ones. But today I’ll take it because we haven’t been the quickest and we’ve struggled a bit in the wet. But we did the job in the second race and I think tomorrow race three will be tough. We will see what the weather is like for the grid for race four. I’m happy with that but obviously today has not been my best day.”
BRDC British F3 Championship, Snetterton race one top-six:
1. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, 10 laps
2. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +3.125s
3. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +15.281s
4. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +17.166s
5. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +18.124s
6. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +23.351sClick here for full result.
BRDC British F3 Championship, Snetterton, race two top-six:
1. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, 10 laps
2. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +4.421s
3. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +9.028s
4. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +13.940s
5. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +14.351s
6. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +18.716sClick here for full result.
BRDC British F3 Championship, top-six standings after race 16 of 24:
1. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, 328pts
2. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, 282pts
3. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, 274pts
4. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, 263pts
5. Nazim Azman, Carlin, 244pts
6. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, 239ptsClick here for full standings
For more championship information visit www.britishf3.com.
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Kush Maini wins Race 3 for season’s second win: British F3
Leicestershire, 20 Sept 2020:
Hitech GP’s championship leader Kush Maini claimed his second win of the year in race three at Donington Park, after coming out on top of a lap one battle with championship rival Kaylen Frederick. Ulysse De Pauw finished second for Douglas Motorsport, while Frederick crossed the line third, but was handed a five second time penalty for exceeding track limits, with Carlin teammate Nazim Azman promoted to the podium as a result.
Frederick had to settle for fourth after the penalty was applied, with Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol fifth and Reece Ushijima sixth for Hitech. Bart Horsten secured seventh for Lanan Racing ahead of Douglas Motorsport’s Kiern Jewiss, with Benjamin Pedersen (Double R) and series newcomer Frank Bird completing the top-10 for Fortec Motorsports.
At the start, Frederick had a good launch to lead the pack down to Redgate, holding off Maini, while De Pauw and Chaimongkol went wheel to wheel on the approach to the turn, with Chaimongkol edged onto the grass but avoided contact.
Maini then got a good run on Frederick down the Craner Curves and dived up the inside of his championship rival at the Old Hairpin. Frederick refused to budge, so the pair went wheel to wheel through Starkey’s Bridge and Schwantz with Maini on the outside, before making the move stick on the inside of McLeans.
Further round, a drama at the chicane for Frederick then allowed De Pauw through into second at the Melbourne Hairpin. The American tried to regain the position around the outside of Goddards, but De Pauw held firm, with the squabble allowing Maini to pull out a gap of 1.3 seconds at the end of lap one.
That set the tone for much of the rest of the race, with Maini able to pull out a steady gap while De Pauw fended off Frederick. The American threatened again at the Old Hairpin on lap two, but allowing Chaimongkol onto his tail, with the Thai going on the attack. In doing so, the Hillspeed driver in turn came under attack, with Azman squeezing through into fourth at the Melbourne Hairpin at the end of the lap.
Kush Maini after winning a fighting Race 3 on Sunday. A British F3 image by Jakob Ebrey With all that drama going on, Maini had extended his lead to over two seconds, and he was able to pull out further over the following laps, with the margin reaching 3.2 seconds at the end of the eighth tour.
De Pauw managed to trim the gap over the next two laps, but Maini was never under threat and claimed victory by 2.771 seconds. Frederick was a constant menace for the Belgian driver, finishing 0.359 seconds adrift of the Douglas Motorsport machine at the flag, but was then penalised after the race for exceeding track limits, with Azman instead standing on the podium having fended off Chaimongkol. The result increases Maini’s championship lead to 54 points with 10 races still to go.
Chaimongkol in fifth enjoyed an action packed race, going wheel to wheel with Azman on several occasions as well as fending off Jewiss in the early stages. The British driver looked on course to claim a top-six result from an otherwise trying weekend, but faded on the last two laps, with Ushijima moving past into sixth on lap 10 with a move at Coppice. Horsten then gained seventh with a last ditch dive at Redgate on the final lap, with Jewiss just holding off Pedersen at the line to take eighth ahead of the American.
Bird ended his maiden British F3 weekend with a top-10 having started 12th, and was almost a second clear of race two winner Louis Foster (Double R) at the chequered flag. Bird’s fellow newcomer and Fortec teammate Roberto Faria was less than half a second further back in 12th, and over four seconds ahead of Mason in 13th for Lanan.
Alex Fores ended his debut weekend in 14th for Chris Dittmann Racing, finishing a lap ahead of teammate Josh Skelton, who pitted on lap four to replace a broken front wing. Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke was another driver in the wars after pitting early on with a puncture, and was the final classified finisher.
The race ran over 11 laps rather than the originally scheduled 12, after Douglas Motorsport’s Manaf Hijjawi stopped at the top of the Craner Curves on the formation lap. The start was delayed and the field embarked on another green flag lap reducing the race distance by one lap accordingly.
BRDC British F3 is back in action in two weeks time at Snetterton in Norfolk, with four races on 3-4 October.
Winner – Kush Maini, Hitech GP:
“I knew I had to get him [Kaylen Frederick] on the first lap because it’s too hard to follow around here. I got a good start thankfully and put him under pressure into turn one, which messed up his run down to the Old Hairpin. I got a run on him, lunged him into the Old Hairpin, he kept around the outside and then wheel to wheel to McLeans. I braked really late and he had nowhere to go, so I got the move done and I’m really happy.Kush Maini returns after the win in Race 3. Photo by Jakob Ebrey “When you have fresh air it’s a lot easier to drive, and I just put my head down and enjoyed the drive. I didn’t really push to pull away, I literally just wanted to enjoy the drive and it was really nice.
“There’s still way too many races left [to think about the championship] so we’re just going to keep up this form.”
Winner – Kush Maini, Hitech GP:
“I knew I had to get him [Kaylen Frederick] on the first lap because it’s too hard to follow around here. I got a good start thankfully and put him under pressure into turn one, which messed up his run down to the Old Hairpin. I got a run on him, lunged him into the Old Hairpin, he kept around the outside and then wheel to wheel to McLeans. I braked really late and he had nowhere to go, so I got the move done and I’m really happy.“When you have fresh air it’s a lot easier to drive, and I just put my head down and enjoyed the drive. I didn’t really push to pull away, I literally just wanted to enjoy the drive and it was really nice.
“There’s still way too many races left [to think about the championship] so we’re just going to keep up this form.”
BRDC British F3 Championship, Donington Park race three provisional result:
1. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, 11 laps
2. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +2.771s
3. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +7.303s
4. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +8.130s*
5. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +8.291s
6. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +11.669s
7. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +13.103s
8. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +14.314s
9. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +14.799s
10. Frank Bird, Fortec Motorsports, +19.081s
11. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +20.051s
12. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +20.487s
13. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +24.631s
14. Alex Fores, Chris Dittmann Racing, +25.865s
15. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1 lap
16. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +1 lap
DNF. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, 2 laps
DNF. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, 0 laps -
Kush Maini to start P2 on the Grid for British F3
Leicestershire, 20 Sept 2020: The final race of BRDC British F3’s second visit of the year to Donington Park starts at 16.05, with Carlin’s Kaylen Frederick set to line up on pole position. Indian racer Kush Maini will start on P2 on the grid.
Earlier in Race 1 on Saturday, Kush Maini finished third and extended his Championship lead.
The grid for the race three is determined by each driver’s second fastest time in qualifying, with Frederick securing a double pole position in yesterday’s session. The American championship challenger was over a quarter of a second faster than his opposition when it came to second best times, and he heads the grid in front of Hitech GP’s championship leader Kush Maini, with a tantalising battle between the championship contenders in prospect.
After qualifying third Kush Maini said on Saturday: I would have liked a better result to be honest after testing, the team has done amazing this weekend. A few issues in qualifying, no excuses, could have been, would have been, should have been, but didn’t, so we’ll just look at the race. P3 is still a good starting spot and points are the key, so we’re going to be focussing on a good start and see where we are. It’s all to play for in the races.
“The car has been really good and the team have been really good. Obviously at this track we have the two hairpins at the end where you can pass, so if we have the pace we will be fighting for positions so I’m looking forward to it.
“If I get up behind him [Kaylen Frederick], then I’m going to be elbows out because the championship means nothing yet. I’m going to be going for the win.
Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw, already a podium finisher this weekend will start third ahead of Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol, with Nazim Azman (Carlin) and Bart Horsten (Lanan) completing the top-six on the grid.
Reece Ushijima heads up row four for Hitech GP ahead of Double R’s Benjamin Pedersen, with Kiern Jewiss (Douglas) and race two winner Louis Foster (Double R) completing the top-10.
Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke has been combative this weekend, and will need to be again from 11th on the grid, ahead of Fortec’s Frank Bird, who will be aiming for a top-10 result on his debut weekend.
Race two podium man Manaf Hijjawi starts 13th for Douglas Motorsport ahead of Chris Dittmann Racing’s Josh Skelton, with Lanan’s Piers Prior and Fortec’s Roberto Faria in 15th and 16th.
Josh Mason, another podium finisher this weekend will start 17th for Lanan ahead of Chris Dittmann Racing’s Alex Fores. The race will again be streamed live, and will be viewable by clicking here.
The full grid line-up is shown below.
BRDC British F3 Championship, Donington Park, race three grid:
1. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, 1m24.855s
2. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +0.271s
3. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.275s
4. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +0.351s
5. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +0.442s
6. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +0.451s
7. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +0.496s
8. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +0.592s
9. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +0.600s
10. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +0.705s
11. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +0.758s
12. Frank Bird, Fortec Motorsports, +0.779s
13. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +0.786s
14. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.866s
15. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +0.874s
16. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +0.957s
17. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +1.111s
18. Alex Fores, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.237s -
Oscar Piastri clinches F3 Drivers’ Championship
Mugello, 13 Sept 2020: Oscar Piastri clinched the FIA Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship in an incredible battle to the wire at Mugello, as Liam Lawson dominated Race 2 for his third win of the season. The New Zealander finished 7.8s ahead of David Beckmann, while Théo Pourchaire fought his way to third to fall agonizingly short of the title, finishing just three points shy of Piastri in the standings.
Logan Sargeant started the day second in the Championship order, level on points with Piastri, but was forced out of the race on the very first lap after a coming together with Trident’s Lirim Zendeli. A tantalizing two-way fight for the crown ensued between Piastri and Pourchaire, which did not disappoint.
Piastri began the day in 11th, but battled up to seventh at the chequered flag to ensure the title was his despite Pourchaire’s best efforts.
Lawson’s win wasn’t enough to net him fourth in the Championship, with the Kiwi falling to fifth after Frederik Vesti followed up his Race 1 win with P9 and the fastest lap in Race 2.
AS IT HAPPENED
Lawson was confident and composed off the line, smoothly getting away from Sebastián Fernández who tucked in behind him. However, all eyes were locked firmly on the three-way title battle between Piastri, Sargeant and Pourchaire.
Level on points with Piastri, but starting ahead of his teammate on the grid, Sargeant had one hand on the crown heading into the first corner, only to see his title bid fall apart. The PREMA racer touched wheels with Zendeli at the second corner of the first lap, and the pair were dumped into the gravel trap and forced to retire.
Piastri had been handed an almost dream scenario. The Australian had made up four places when the lights went out and found himself in seventh place, ahead of Pourchaire, with Sargeant out of the race.
The Safety Car led the field around the track for the next three laps as the PREMA and the Trident were cleared away by the marshals. The order was given an almighty shuffle at the restart, as Piastri stuttered and fell back to P10. Pourchaire grabbed sixth, but that wasn’t enough for him to win the title.
As it stood, Pourchaire needed at least third place to take the title, but was stuck behind the HWA RACELAB of Enzo Fittipaldi. He was given a slight helping hand as Alex Smolyar was passed by the Brazilian, and then didn’t put up much of a fight as Pourchaire followed through.
This was the impetus the Frenchman needed, finally getting ahead of Fittipaldi and moving into fourth, directly behind teammate Fernández. Vesti, immediately in front of Piastri, was told to either get on with overtaking Jake Hughes, or to let his teammate through.
Smolyar had started to fall through the field, dropping behind Hughes and into the pathway of Vesti. The Russian proved much easier to overtake than the Briton, as the Dane dashed ahead and into eighth.
Pourchaire managed to finally tussle his way in front of Fernández for third, who was reluctant to surrender a maiden podium. This briefly put Pourchaire first in the Championship, but Piastri darted ahead of Smolyar to reclaim it seconds later. The Australian followed this up with a move on his teammate for eighth and Pourchaire now needed at least second, or fastest lap bonus points.
Piastri already had his hands on the title as they entered the final corner, but the Australian wanted to make sure of it. Fernández had tumbled down the order and Piastri fired past the Spaniard down the main straight and across the line.
So intense was the title battle, that it could have been easy to forget that Lawson was after a third win of the year. The Kiwi had been so calm, measured, and controlled out in front, that his victory had never looked in doubt. In the end, Lawson crossed the line with a solid 7.8s advantage on Beckmann.
Pourchaire clinched the final podium spot, with Fittipaldi in fourth for his best ever F3 result. Richard Verschoor sealed fifth ahead of Hughes and Piastri. Fernández held on to eighth, with Vesti in ninth and Smolyar 10th.
Piastri secures the crown with a tally of 164 points, three ahead of Pourchaire. Sargeant falls just four points short in third, with Vesti fourth on 146.5. Lawson takes fifth on 143. In the Teams’ standings, champions PREMA finish the season with 470.5 points, ahead of Trident on 261.5. ART Grand Prix are third, with Hitech Grand Prix fourth, and HWA RACELAB fifth.
KEY QUOTE – LIAM LAWSON (HITECH GRAND PRIX)
“Just had the last race of the year in Mugello and we were able to win, which was a really nice way to end the year. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the overall results, as it is frustrating not to achieve our goal this year, but it is still nice to finish the year in this way.
“It has been very, very up and down, but I am very, very happy to win the last race of the year, so a massive thank you to Hitech and Red Bull for making this year possible.”
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Frederik Vesti scores third F3 win; 3-way battle for title
Mugello, 12 Sept 2020: PREMA’s Frederik Vesti won for the second time in as many rounds by taking an emphatic FIA Formula 3 Race 1 victory over Jake Hughes in Mugello. It wasn’t enough to keep the Dane in title contention though, with the battle for the crown now a three-way fight between Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant and Théo Pourchaire.
Vesti started the day sixth in the standings, knowing that only a victory and the fastest lap would be enough to remain in the title battle. He clinched the win, but missed out on the extra two points, meaning he is now out of contention by just half a point.
Pourchaire claimed the final podium position to keep his own title bid alive and set up a final race brawl between himself and the PREMA duo of Sargeant and Piastri.
Sargeant spent most of the race in fifth place and in possession of first in the standings, with Championship leader Piastri lingering just outside the points.
However, the American was thwarted by Enzo Fittipaldi, who scored his best finish in F3. The HWA driver stole fifth from the PREMA racer in the dying laps, dropping Sargeant back to second, but level on points with Piastri.
Liam Lawson and David Beckmann join Vesti in falling out of title contention. Eighth place wasn’t enough for the German, while Lawson only took a point, finishing 10th.
AS IT HAPPENED
Zendeli had no problems getting off the line, coolly peeling away from Hughes. The HWA RACELAB driver got away cleanly, but couldn’t match the pace of the Trident down the straight.
Sargeant knew that he had a strong package in Mugello, having qualified second on track, but started from P5 on the grid following a grid drop penalty from Round 8. The American made light work of the race start, instantly gaining a place from Fittipaldi, as the Brazilian slipped down to sixth behind Pourchaire.
With Piastri starting from 16th, due to his own grid penalty, Sargeant knew that he had a fantastic opportunity to leapfrog his teammate in the standings but needed to balance risk versus reward. So, when Pourchaire challenged him for fourth, he thought better of fighting too hard and the Frenchman pulled ahead of him at the first turn of the second lap.
Piastri would have hoped to gain a few places himself in the opening laps but got caught up behind Matteo Nannini. He eventually flashed past the Jenzer Motorsport man, and from there he fizzed ahead of Alex Peroni and Dennis Hauger for P13.
The battle for first place was heating up as Zendeli struggled to get out of DRS range from Hughes. The duo were fighting for seventh in the Drivers’ standings, but Hughes only had eyes on the race win, saying in yesterday’s press conference: “I’m not interested in P7 or P8 – it doesn’t really matter to me. I came here for a lot more than that.”
The HWA man pulled alongside Zendeli at the entry to Turn 1, but the two touched tyres and wobbled slightly. They remained on the tarmac with Zendeli clinging on to the lead.
Hughes attempted a near identical move at the same place two laps later and this time was successful. Zendeli couldn’t defend against the DRS advantage, as the Briton angled his HWA around the outside of him to dive past.
The battle was far from over. Zendeli fought back and darted through at the first corner to reclaim first. The German hung on for another four laps, before Hughes got ahead again.
There was plenty going on behind them too. Sargeant and Pourchaire went wheel-to-wheel in the fight for fourth. The American briefly got past the ART driver, but was then out-braked into the first turn, surrendering the position to the Frenchman once more.
Vesti had been keeping pace with the front two, patiently biding his time and waiting for any potential mistakes. He got his chance when Zendeli fell out of DRS range from Hughes, and didn’t need a second invitation, using the advantage to fly past at Turn 1.
Within a lap, Vesti had caught up with the race leader and was hounding the back of the HWA man. The Dane’s earlier patience was paying off, and with better tyres he was able to fling his PREMA down the side of Hughes and into first place.
Hughes made a late attempt to reclaim first, but Vesti hung on at the line by three tenths of a second. Behind their battle, the Championship fight had been continuing to bubble. Pourchaire grabbed third place in the closing laps as Zendeli dropped to fourth.
Sargeant fell to sixth behind Fittipaldi, with Alex Smolyar holding on to P7. Beckmann claimed eighth, ahead of Sebastián Fernández.
Piastri had managed to fire up to 11th in the order but could not get ahead of Liam Lawson for the final points position.
Piastri and Sargeant are now tied on 160 points in the battle for the crown, with the Australian only ahead on countbacks. Pourchaire is nine points behind in third place. Vesti is fourth, ahead of Lawson and Beckmann, with the trio all now out of title contention.
In the Teams’ standings, champions PREMA are first on 462.5 points, ahead of Trident on 249.5 and ART Grand Prix on 237. Hitech Grand Prix are fourth, ahead of HWA.
KEY QUOTE – FREDERIK VESTI (PREMA RACING)
“We won a crazy race with really high degradation. It was really difficult to manage throughout the race. On the last lap, I passed for the lead after a great battle with Jake Hughes.
“I am really happy to win and it is great points for the Championship. We now have three Race 1 wins from the season and I am really happy. A big thanks to PREMA and all of my partners.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Lawson may be out of the running for first, but the Kiwi will start from reverse grid pole in Race 2 on Sunday and could mathematically still take third in the Championship.
Starting from fifth on the reverse grid, Sargeant is the highest placed of the title contenders, as Pourchaire will line up in seventh, and Piastri P11.
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Hughes clinches victory ahead of Lawson in dramatic F3 Race 2
Monza, 6 Sept 2020: Sunday’s action in Monza was the type of race which comes around once, maybe twice in a decade. A race so manic, so chaotic, that it’s difficult to make sense of it. Round 8’s FIA Formula 3 Race 2 was that race. Jake Hughes won from sixth, Lawson sealed second from P5 and Pourchaire completed the podium from ninth, but that barely even scratches the surface of the story.
None of top three from the grid finished in the points, all three of the PREMAs retired, Alex Smolyar took fourth from 20th, Alex Peroni nabbed sixth from 16th, Pierre-Louis Chovet clinched seventh from 18th for his first F3 points, while Olli Caldwell snuck into the points from P29.
At one point, Oscar Piastri was on course to stretch his Championship lead, but a four-car collision forced him to retire and robbed him of points.
Logan Sargeant was handed first place in the Drivers’ standings as a result, with the PREMA racer somehow finding himself in fifth having started from 26th. But it proved to be temporary, as the American was also forced to retire after a coming together with teammate Frederik Vesti, which dramatically took them both out of the race.
All the while, Hughes calmly stretched his lead out in front, letting the drama play out behind him, keeping his nose clean ahead of Liam Lawson. The duo would close out first and second, with Pourchaire making a late assault on the podium to finish in third place.
AS IT HAPPENED
Starting from reverse grid pole on just his fourth F3 outing, Michael Belov stuttered off the line and fell behind his more experienced rivals at the first corner. Round 7 race winner Lirim Zendeli fired his Trident up from fourth when the lights went out, taking a tow into Turn 1 and sending it down inside of the Charouz driver.
Enzo Fittipaldi’s getaway was decent as well, just not quite as strong. The Brazilian dove down the opposite side of Belov and powered his way ahead, but Zendeli’s Trident had the racing line and claimed first place.
Hughes and Lawson were well away themselves, launching past Belov from fifth and sixth to steal third and fourth. Piastri took a couple more laps but made his way past the Charouz driver too.
Zendeli was furiously trying to break the tow down the back straight, but Fittipaldi was hot on his heels and giving him no respite – his engineer telling him on the radio to chase the lead and forget about his tyres for now. The duo went back and forth in their fight for the win, as Fittipaldi initially mugged the German of P1 at the second chicane, before Zendeli recovered it on the main straight.
Lawson had tussled his way ahead of Hughes and was sitting patiently behind the battling front two, who continued to dice back and forth between first and second.
The Hitech racer was right to remain patient. The front two went side-by-side through the final corner as Fittipaldi edged ahead, but Zendeli fought back on the main straight and clipped the HWA’s rear left tyre.
Fittipaldi wobbled and tumbled back, quickly realising he had a puncture, while Lawson skipped ahead of them both for the lead. Zendeli escaped any damage himself but slumped to sixth.
Behind them, Piastri had wrestled his way up to fourth and was eying a third race win but his hopes were dashed by Clément Novalak, who had a weekend to forget having taken out Piastri’s teammate, and Championship rival, Sargeant in Race 1.
The Carlin Buzz racer locked up into Turn 1 and tagged the back of Piastri’s PREMA. The Australian was spun 180 degrees and collected Belov, leaving David Schumacher with nowhere to go. All bar Belov were dumped out of the race and forced to retire.
The main beneficiary of all this? Piastri’s title rival, Sargeant. The PREMA racer had begun the day in P26, seemingly with little of a points finish, but found himself up in sixth place with the Championship leader out of the race – an exact reversal of Race 1. “Let’s go I can win this,” screeched the American on team radio.
The marshals were quick to clear up the debris during a Virtual Safety Car period, and Hughes darted off into the distance at the restart having quietly taken the lead from Lawson during all of the chaos.
Sargeant instantly fired ahead of Zendeli, but was held up by teammate Vesti. The American was getting frustrated and attempted a lunge down through the inside of Parabolica, but the Dane refused to surrender the position and forced Sargeant to back off, with the two nearly coming to blows.
Having very nearly collided, Sargeant opted to ease off, knowing how disastrous a pointless finish would be to his title hopes. With DRS, Zendeli and Pourchaire both worked their way past him.
The pair got past Vesti too, which revived the PREMA duo’s battle, but this time it would end in disaster. The American clambered past, but Vesti clipped his right rear tyre and dumped his teammate into the gravel with an instant puncture. Vesti had suffered damage to his front wing and both drivers were out of the race.
Throughout all of this, Hughes was blissfully skipping towards the finish line, building up a 1.8s buffer to keep Lawson at bay. Pourchaire made a late dash past Zendeli for the final podium spot, with the Trident then losing a place to Alex Smolyar as well.
Alex Peroni sealed sixth. Chovet was seventh, ahead of Roman Stanek, Caldwell and Richard Verschoor.
In the Drivers’ Championship, Piastri remains in first place on 160 points, eight ahead of Sargeant. Lawson is up to third with 135 and Pourchaire fourth on 134. David Beckmann is fifth with 124.5. In the Teams’ title fight, champions PREMA are first with 429.5 points, ahead of Trident on 225.5. ART Grand Prix are third, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix and MP Motorsport
KEY QUOTE – JAKE HUGHES (HWA RACELAB)
“It has always been a dream to stand on the top step of this famous podium, I have come close before, but now we have finally done it. Credit to the team, the car was flying and it made the second half of the race quite comfortable.
“The first half was pretty messy, with quite a lot going on, but I am really, really happy. Especially, after Spa interrupted our good run of form. Now, I am looking forward to Mugello.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Just eight points separate the top two in the Drivers’ Championship heading into the season finale at Mugello, where we will crown the second F3 champion. After the chaos of Round 8, who takes the title is still anyone’s guess.
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Frederik Vesti wins from ninth; Prema clinches team title: F3
Monza, 5 Sept 2020: Frederik Vesti drove a phenomenal race from ninth on the grid to seal his second FIA Formula 3 win of the season and emphatically clinch the Teams’ Championship for PREMA Racing on home soil with a round to spare.
The Dane left it late at Monza, having carefully picked off those starting in-front of him, to dispatch of Théo Pourchaire with two laps to go and cap off arguably his best performance in F3.
Pourchaire settled for second at the chequered flag, but drove a sublime race of his own, putting a difficult Friday behind him to rise from sixth.
Vesti’s PREMA teammate Oscar Piastri made up the most places of the top three, stealing a podium place late on having started all the way back in P15. In doing so, the Australian regained the Championship lead from teammate Logan Sargeant. The American suffered a disastrous race, finishing 26th after contact from Clément Novalak spun him off track.
Despite an initially strong getaway, pole-sitter Liam Lawson fell down the order, before contact with fellow front row starter Matteo Nannini rid him of any momentum he had left, eventually finishing in P6.
AS IT HAPPENED
A manic Qualifying session, which saw no fewer than nine drivers handed post-session penalties, was followed up by a manic start to the race. Lawson surged off the line in controlled fashion, but there was all sorts of action behind him.
Jake Hughes flung off the line and was initially looking down the left of the Hitech Grand Prix driver, but locked up and fell back to fourth. From second, Nannini looked right, and then left, but couldn’t see any way past Lawson. The Italian tried his luck again around the second turn, but again just couldn’t find the room.
Pourchaire – who had initially taken pole on Friday before being handed a five-place grid drop – enjoyed a sterling start, firing his ART machine off the line and into third at the end of the first chicane.
It didn’t take the Frenchman long to nip ahead of Nannini either, who had lost momentum in his attempts to overtake Lawson. In amongst all of this, Sebastián Fernández spun at the first turn and fell to the back of the grid.
Three laps in and Pourchaire was challenging Lawson for the lead. The Frenchman was on the warpath and had already set the fastest lap in his bid to bridge the gap. He lined up behind the Hitech on the main straight, using DRS to pass the Kiwi for the lead at Turn 1.
Just behind them, Hughes had managed to tussle ahead of Nannini into third, and then dispatched of Lawson a lap later for P2.
Sargeant misjudged the first corner and was forced to funnel through the run-off area, coming out directly in-front of PREMA teammate, and main title rival, Piastri, in 12th. The two managed to fight intothe top ten, and thrice swapped places – with Piastri coming out on top.
Nannini’s chances of a podium disappeared as a battle for third place with Lawson ended in collision. The Italian attempted to take the inside line going into Turn 1, but the space wasn’t there and the two touched front-wings. Nannini suffered damage and was forced to pull over and retire.
The Kiwi had lost precious time and now had Vesti following in his wheel tracks. The PREMA made a move around the second chicane and both men were briefly forced off track – Vesti at the turn and the Kiwi down the straight – with Lawson just about clinging on to the final podium spot.
The action was brought to a halt by a Safety Car as Fernández dumped his ART in the gravel trap. Pourchaire kept an eye on Hughes at the restart, but the Briton was too busy defending an attack from Vesti to bother the race leader. The Dane had already fired ahead of Lawson and successfully slipped ahead of Hughes as well.
The Championship battle was blown wide open as Sargeant was tagged by Novalak and spun off track. The American managed to get going again, but had plummeted to last, with his main rival Piastri up to sixth.
PREMA enjoyed a sterling Lap 20, as Vesti finally made a move on Pourchaire for the lead. The Dane held his nerve at the first chicane and braked later than the Frenchman, gathering it together at the exit to steal first place.
Behind them, Piastri had already nicked fifth from Beckmann and then fourth from Lawson, and now had Hughes in his sights as well. It took the Australian another lap, but he managed to edge ahead of the Briton.
Vesti coolly held on at the chequered flag ahead of Pourchaire and Piastri. Beckmann fought up to fourth at the end to push Hughes down to P5, while Lawson fell to sixth. Lirim Zendeli, Bent Viscaal, Enzo Fittipaldi and Michael Belov completed the top ten.
Piastri now leads the fight for the Drivers title by eight points, on 160, ahead of Sargeant who has 152. Pourchaire is up to third on 124 points, ahead of Beckmann and Lawson. PREMA have clinched the Teams’ Championship with a mega tally of 429.5 points, ahead of Trident on 217.5 and ART Grand Prix. Hitech are fourth, ahead of MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – FREDERIK VESTI (PREMA RACING)
“We won from P9 today and it feels mega. I am very happy to be back on the top step of the podium. Last week in Spa, we finished second in Race 2 and now I am happy to be back on the top step.
“I would like to thank PREMA for a great car and for the great progress we have made.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
On just his fourth F3 start, Belov will line up at the front of the grid for Charouz Racing System on reverse grid pole in Race 2 tomorrow, at 9.45am (local time).
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Kush Maini takes maiden win in British F3, extends lead
Brands Hatch, 31 August 2020: Hitech GP’s Kush Maini secured his first win of the 2020 season after having picked up 5 other Podiums over the last 10 Races with a controlled drive in the final race of the weekend, and extended his championship lead at the Famous Brands Hatch Circuit in the UK on Sunday. Kush started from his second pole position of the championship which was achieved by the average of the two fastest laps in the preceding 3 races of the weekend. Kush was second in Race 1 and third in Race 3.
The Indian claimed victory by 0.782 seconds over Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw, and earned Hitech GP’s first win in BRDC British F3 in the process.He also set the fastest lap of the race . Double R Racing’s Louis Foster claimed the final spot on the podium, four seconds further back from the lead duo.
Maini made a great start from pole position to hold the lead down to Paddock Hill Bend, but there was drama for Chris Dittmann Racing’s double race winner Ayrton Simmons, who got a good initial getaway from second place only to cruise to the first corner, with the rest of the field having to take avoiding action. That drama allowed De Pauw to climb into second and Foster to third, while Jewiss gained two places to rise to fourth.
Simmons wasn’t the only driver in trouble, as the Douglas Motorsport car of Manaf Hijjawi also didn’t complete the first lap, with the safety car called to enable the stricken car to be collected.
The race resumed at the end of lap five, with Maini making a strong restart to lead the field away. The Hitech driver pulled out an immediate lead of over a second to De Pauw, setting a string of fastest laps to extend the gap to almost two seconds by the end of lap 10. De Pauw closed the gap down towards the end but Maini was never under real pressure, and clinched his opening win of the year.
Maini Said “We’ve been waiting for that first win after five podiums, but I didn’t want to rush it. I just wanted to gather points and I knew the win would come sooner or later, and finally it came so I’m really happy.
“For me I don’t look at the championship until the last two rounds to be honest, because in this championship anything can happen like you saw.
“They’re so brilliant, Hitech gave me a faultless car. They’ve taken 9 podiums in 11 races the win now, and the championship lead, in their debut year. It’s amazing and I really want to thank them for this amazing oppurtunity.”
Maini’s win means he now holds a championship lead of 29 points, having entered the weekend 29 points behind then leader Kaylen Frederick. Jewiss’s run to fourth place in the race means he sits second in the standings, 18 points clear of Skelton, who has climbed into third. Foster is another to rise up the order, sitting in fourth place and a single point ahead of Frederick, who ended a difficult weekend with 11th place in race four.
The BRDC British F3 Championship returns to action on 19-20 September at Donington Park.
BRDC British F3 Championship, Brands Hatch GP, race four result:
1. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, 12 laps
2. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.782s
3. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +4.994s
4. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +5.645s
5. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +7.849s
6. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +9.448s
7. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +10.362s
8. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +10.540s
9. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +10.644s
10. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +11.610s
11. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +11.845s
12. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +12.075s
13. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +13.031s
14. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +14.205s
DNF. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, 0 laps
DNF. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, 0 laps
