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Category: F3
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Logan Sargeant reclaims lead with dominant F3 win
Spa Francorchamps, 30 August 2020: Logan Sargeant reclaimed the Championship lead in emphatic fashion, taking his second win of the season in a PREMA one-two in the FIA Formula 3 Race 2 at Spa-Francorchamps. The American brushed off a late challenge from teammate Frederik Vesti to finish 0.8s ahead at the chequered flag.
Sargeant lost first place in the standings to fellow PREMA racer Oscar Piastri in Race 1 on Saturday, but battled back in resounding style by rising from third place in the early stages and managing out a convincing victory.
Title rival Liam Lawson recovered from a difficult start to nab the final podium place, but was never really in a position to challenge the top two, finishing nearly 8s behind.
Piastri worked hard but could only manage sixth place after a 5s time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage curtailed his attempts to get further forward.
AS IT HAPPENED
The cars lined up on a cold and foggy morning in Spa, but Richard Verschoor was hot off the line, pulling away smoothly when the lights went out. Lawson looked to be feeling the chill – he was sluggish at the start and had fallen to fifth by the first turn.
Sargeant gladly collected second from the Hitech Grand Prix racer and set about challenging Verschoor for the lead. The PREMA man ensured he got through the first corner cleanly, and then lined up the Dutchman at the second. Darting down the left-hand side of him, Sargeant ran out of road and was forced on a trip through the run-off. He returned to the tarmac ahead of Verschoor but handed back the place as it was gained off-track.
The American only needed one more lap to finish the job, lunging ahead of the MP Motorsport man down the main straight and clinching the position at La Source. His teammate was making moves too. Vesti picked off Lawson first, before flinging his PREMA down the side of Olli Caldwell for a place on the podium. A couple of laps later and he had Verschoor in his pocket as well, firing past the reverse polesitter for second place behind Sargeant.
The field were given a breather as Pierre-Louis Chovet dumped his Hitech into the barriers and brought out a Virtual Safety Car. The Frenchman was quickly out of the car, and out of the race.
Caldwell couldn’t sustain his early pace when racing resumed and began to plummet down the order, falling all the way to ninth behind teammate David Beckman. It was a similar story for Verschoor, whose time in first place had become a distant memory. The MP man dropped to sixth as a DRS train of Théo Pourchaire, Lawson and Alex Smolyar all dived ahead.
Pourchaire was so busy battling for second, that he was caught off guard by Lawson behind him. The Hitech driver had quickly caught up and put his DRS to use with a gentle dive down the side of him.
The ART Grand Prix driver then immediately fell into the clutches of teammate Smolyar, dropping from third to fifth in a matter of corners. It didn’t get any better for him in the final laps, as Piastri flung around the side of him two laps later.
Having looked so measured out in front since passing Verschoor, Sargeant was under pressure for the first time on Sunday as Vesti began to reel him in. The American was trying to manage the gap, but couldn’t keep him out of DRS range. PREMA certainly weren’t about to hold them back, as Vesti’s engineer told him on the radio, “you can do this, come on!”
In the end, Vesti couldn’t make it work, and was forced to settle for second at the chequered flag behind Sargeant. Nearly 8s back, Lawson claimed the final podium place ahead of Smolyar. Piastri’s 5s time penalty, for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his earlier overtake of Verschoor, dropped him to sixth behind Pourchaire. Verschoor managed seventh, ahead of Lirim Zendeli, Beckmann and Sebastián Fernández.
Sargeant now leads teammate Piastri by seven points in the Drivers’ Championship, with 152 overall. The Australian is second ahead of Beckmann on 111 points, just 0.5 ahead of Lawson. Pourchaire sits in fifth place. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA remain first with 387.5 points, ahead of Trident on 199.5 and ART Grand Prix on 172. Hitech are fourth ahead of MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – LOGAN SARGEANT (PREMA RACING)
“Fortunately, we were able to get the win today, which was super important after the technical problems that we had yesterday. It was a tough race as I had Fred pushing really hard behind me, but we were able to withstand the pressure and take our second win of the season.”
F3 Top-three – Podium result: 1. Logan Sargeant, Prema Racing, 37:52.233; 2. Frederik Vesti, Prema Racing, 37:53.034; 3. Liam Lawson, Hitech Grand Prix, 38:00.969.
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Trident’s Lirim Zendeli takes maiden F3 win
Spa, 29 August 2020: Trident’s Lirim Zendeli took his first ever FIA Formula 3 win with a faultless lights-to-flag performance around the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, finishing 4.7s ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire.
The German ensured there could be no repeat of his last lap denial at Silverstone, when Bent Viscaal past him on the final turn of the race, by putting a solid gap between himself and Pourchaire in P2.
Trident’s day got even better when David Beckmann took the final podium position, while Olli Caldwell claimed his third points finish in seventh.
Alex Smolyar also sealed his best ever finish in F3, taking fourth ahead of new Championship leader Oscar Piastri. The Australian made the most of mechanical troubles for Logan Sargeant, getting ahead in the final few laps and taking first place in the standings with it. The American eventually dropped down to eighth.
AS IT HAPPENED
Heavy rain had fallen over the circuit during the night, but the track was dry when the lights went out, and Zendeli got a clean getaway off the line.
The Trident zipped forward, while Pourchaire got himself stuck in a bunch behind him. The Frenchman initially went left, but there was no room to manoeuvre, so swung to the right, and found himself surrounded. He hung on to P2 but had lost ground in his fight for first.
The top five remained unchanged on the opening lap, but Richard Verschoor lost a place to Liam Lawson after going wide on the run down to the first corner.
There was a brief Virtual Safety Car period when Alessio Deledda lost control at the chicane and beached his Campos in the gravel trap. Zendeli made little fuss of the restart, darting back off ahead of Pourchaire, who was battling to remain in DRS range.
The second Trident of Beckmann was locked in battle with Smolyar for the final podium position. The German jostled ahead at the restart, but the ART Grand Prix driver wasn’t backing down and wrestled himself back in front. Their duel continued for another lap, but Pourchaire pulled out of DRS range from the Russian and there was little Smolyar could do to prevent Beckmann lunging past at Turn 7.
Piastri had no trouble getting ahead of Verschoor for sixth, but the battle to catch his title rival, Lawson, was proving a little more troublesome. The duo went wheel-to-wheel and kissed tyres, which forced them both wide. Piastri found himself ahead when they returned to the road, but let the Hitech man back in front in a bid to avoid a potential penalty.
Sargeant warned his team he was having issues from fifth, as Piastri overtook Lawson cleanly. The Kiwi was also on the radio telling Hitech he was having issues. Sargeant was desperately battling to avoid the same outcome, well aware that if the Australian passed him he would take the Championship lead.
Eventually Sargeant succumbed, as Piastri roared down the left of him ahead of Eau Rouge, making it stick as he entered the turn. The third PREMA of Frederick Vesti compounded the American’s misery, sliding past with ease – Sargeant was now facing a fight just to remain in the points.
Out in front, Zendeli eased to an untroubled first victory, 4.7s ahead of Pourchaire, with the second Trident of Beckmann taking the final podium position. Smolyar clinched fourth ahead of Piastri, with Vesti sixth and the final Trident of Caldwell in seventh. Sargeant dropped back to eighth, ahead of Lawson and Verschoor, who had also tumbled down the order.
Piastri now sits in first place in the Drivers’ Championship on 140 points, five ahead of Sargeant. Beckmann is up to third with 109.5, while Lawson is fourth on 101, and Pourchaire fifth on 100. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA remain first with 353.5 points, ahead of Trident on 194.5 and ART Grand Prix on 157. Hitech Grand Prix are fourth, followed by MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – LIRIM ZENDELI (TRIDENT)
“It’s been a really good weekend, with pole position and a win. The team have done a really, really good job. They gave me a car to get pole and they gave me a car today stay in front. I am just really happy, and I hope tomorrow we can keep the pace and maybe even make some places up.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Verschoor will start from reverse grid pole in Race 2 tomorrow, while Sargeant will attempt to reclaim the Championship lead from Piastri, from third on the grid. Lights go out at 9.45am local time.
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Oscar Piastri wins Race 2 from fifth, ahead of Per
Barcelona, 16 August 2020: Oscar Piastri got his title bid back on track in Race 2 at Barcelona with his second FIA Formula 3 win, and his first since the opening race of the season. The PREMA driver put in the hard yards at the start, launching all the way from fifth to first inside of the first lap, to finish ahead of Alex Peroni, who scored his third podium of 2020.
The Campos driver briefly took the lead from pole-sitter Matteo Nannini at the first corner, but couldn’t match Piastri’s pace and settled for second place. Nannini held onto third for his maiden podium.
Championship leader Logan Sargeant ensured he scored good points, making up four places to fifth inside of the opening lap.
AS IT HAPPENED
Starting from reverse grid pole for the first time, Nannini didn’t enjoy the getaway he’d have hoped for when the lights went out. The Jenzer Motorsport racer suffered from wheelspin and was pulled into a pack of five drivers all gunning to steal first.
Richard Verschoor nosed in front off the line, but Nannini squeezed him when they went wheel-to-wheel down the straight and he was forced to ease off the throttle.
This allowed Peroni down the outside and edge into first, but Piastri had launched from fifth and clawed his way ahead of them all by the exit of Turn 4 to take the lead for himself.
Nannini managed to fight back ahead of Peroni to reclaim second, as the front five cars settled into a train with Sargeant enjoying a sterling start himself, leaping four places from ninth to fifth.
They were all given a breather when the safety car was brought out for an incident further back. Dennis Hauger came to blows with Leonardo Pulcini and spun the Carlin Buzz Racing driver around on track. Both were able to get going again, but they’d given Max Fewtrell and Olli Caldwell nowhere to go and they were both forced into the gravel trap in an attempt to dodge the collision.
Piastri peeled away when racing resumed, and quickly built up a DRS robbing 1s lead, with the front five unchanged. In second, Nannini had Peroni all over the back of him. The Jenzer man managed to fight on for another five laps, but he eventually surrendered the position as the Campos driver flung down the side of him on the main straight and made it stick into Turn 1.
Piastri had built up a strong 3s gap out in front, but this was cut to zero by a second safety car outing, after Federico Malvestiti ditched his car in the gravel. The PREMA racer kept Peroni at bay when racing restarted and went back to work rebuilding the gap.
The Australian calmly closed out the win, with a 1.1s gap on Peroni, as Nannini held on to third. Verschoor sealed fourth, ahead of Sargeant. Théo Pourchaire, Liam Lawson, Enzo Fittipaldi, David Beckmann, and Jake Hughes took the final points positions.
Sargeant retains the lead of the Drivers’ Championship by a single point. The American has 131, with Piastri in second on 130. Lawson is third on 99, ahead of Beckmann and Pourchaire. PREMA lead the Teams’ Championship with 331.5 points, ahead of Trident on 144.5. ART Grand Prix are third, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix and MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – OSCAR PIASTRI (PREMA RACING)
“I am very happy with that. It had been a pretty average weekend so far, but we made up for it in that one. A massive thank you to the team for a great car, not just today, but all year.
“We are definitely back with some strong points in that one and I am looking forward to the next three – let’s try and win this one.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Sargeant and Piastri will pick up their Championship battle in the final set of triple headers, in Spa-Francorchamps in just under two weeks’ time, With just three rounds to go, and only one point separating the top two, it should prove to be a thrilling climax.
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Jake Hughes takes maiden F3 win of the season
Jake Hughes continued his resurgence in FIA Formula 3 to take his maiden win of the season, his first ever on a Saturday, in Barcelona. The HWA RACELAB driver battled past pole-sitter Logan Sargeant at the midway stage and dashed off into the distance.
Sargeant, the Championship leader, went on to lose a further position to title rival Liam Lawson who punched ahead of him for P2. The American did at least gain further ground on teammate Oscar Piastri in the race to the crown, with the Australian driver finishing back in sixth.
Clément Novalak kept up his fine recent form to score fourth ahead of David Beckmann, who kept his own title ambitions alive with another top five finish.
Meanwhile, Jenzer Motorsport scored their first point of the season as Matteo Nannini sealed tenth place and reverse grid pole for Race 2 tomorrow.
AS IT HAPPENED
Sargeant was calm and controlled off the line in the morning heat of Barcelona, as were Hughes and Lawson from second and third. Piastri didn’t enjoy as strong a start, as he was leapfrogged by Novalak in the only change to the front two rows. Sebastián Fernández struggled from fifth, as he dropped six places to 11th.
The race had an early safety car as Bent Viscaal was shrugged off the road and dumped in the gravel. Sargeant fired off in the lead when the race went green again, as Piastri dived back ahead of Novalak down the inside.
Hughes set the fastest lap in his bid to catch up with Sargeant, and was eventually able to power around the outside of the American with the aid of DRS into the lead. The Briton was then able to do what Sargeant wasn’t, skipping ahead to get out of DRS range.
This would turn out to be in vain, at least in the short term, as the gap was cut short by another safety car on Lap 9, after Frederik Vesti slowed to a stop on track. Hughes maintained the lead at the restart, but Piastri went wide and fell to sixth, behind Novalak and Beckmann.
The Briton dashed off into the distance once again, leaving Sargeant in the clutches of Lawson who started attacking the PREMA. The Hitech racer twice attempted a move around the outside of Turn 1, but Sargeant resisted. The New Zealander feinted down the inside of the same corner on the following lap, before making it stick outside for P2.
Hughes was unrelenting in first and calmly closed out the win ahead of Lawson, with Sargeant forced to settled for third place. Novalak held on to fourth, ahead of Beckman and Piastri. Théo Pourchaire sealed seventh, with Alex Peroni, Richard Verschoor and Nannini taking the final points positions.
Sargeant retains his grip on the Drivers’ Championship with 125 points, 12 ahead of Piastri. Lawson leaps to third on 95, ahead of Beckman and Pourchaire. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing remain first with 308.5 points, ahead of Trident on 142.5 and ART Grand Prix on 120. Hitech Grand Prix are fourth, ahead of MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – JAKE HUGHES (HWA RACELAB)
“I am really, really happy. A massive congrats to the team. We seem to have taken a step since the second Silverstone round and the car was feeling really good. I had good pace at the beginning and was able to get past Logan and then it was about managing after that.
“The safety car made it a bit difficult with tyre temp, but it seemed quite straightforward for us, so hopefully we can have more fun in Race 2 tomorrow.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Nannini will have the chance to take his first F3 victory from reverse grid pole in Race 2 tomorrow, at 9.45am local time.
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Alex Smolyar wins F3 Race 2 to become 6th different winner
Silverstone, 2 August 2020: Alex Smolyar commanded Sunday’s Race 2, converting reverse grid pole into his first ever FIA Formula 3 win to become the sixth different victor of the year, leading from lights-to-flag at Silverstone ahead of David Beckmann and Clement Novalak.
Beckmann may feel aggrieved to have not gained further ground on his Championship rivals, who were all further down the pack, but it was a case of balancing risk versus the reward for the Trident driver, as a train of cars were following in tow, ready to pounce on any mistakes made.
He’ll won’t have been thrilled by Smolyar’s attempts to break his own tow either, but the ART Grand Prix driver kept it on the limit and race control didn’t deem it severe enough for a black and white flag.
Fellow title challengers Frederik Vesti and Logan Sargeant managed fifth and sixth, with Liam Lawson gaining three positions for seventh. Meanwhile, it was a difficult morning for the Championship leader, as Oscar Piastri was forced to retire.
AS IT HAPPENED
Smolyar made a fine start from reverse pole, and he needed it to keep Beckmann at bay. The Trident racer pushed the Russian hard into the first corner, but couldn’t catch up to attempt an overtake.
Sebastián Fernández attempted to fire down the middle off the line, but was blocked by the Carlin of Clement Novalak in third. The Spaniard was then served with a stop/go penalty for being out of position during the formation lap, rendering his strong start inconsequential.
There was a hairy moment for Piastri in the opening laps, as the Championship leader ran wide at Luffield and battled to get back onto the tarmac. This plunged the PREMA out of the points and down to 16th. The Australian’s day didn’t get any better as he was later forced to retire from the pits.
It didn’t take long for his teammate, Vesti, to be told on the radio that all of his Championship rivals, bar Beckmann, were behind him and that he should go on a charge.
Little else changed early on and Smolyar continued to lead the pack around Silverstone until Igor Fraga came to a halt and brought out a safety car, which forced Smolyar to make a second getaway.
The Russian kept his cool at the restart, controlling the pace at the front and setting the fastest lap on his way around. Lawson, who had taken his first Race 1 win on the Saturday, was on the assault and made up four spots to sixth to boost his Championship chances.
Vesti, who had been told to push on by his team, had failed to make any inroads on Peroni in fourth and was quickly being caught by the resurgent Lawson. The Hitech racer attempt a move down the inside and momentarily got ahead, but the PREMA just about clawed the place back.
Smolyar had been unable to pull away, and Beckmann twice eyed up the race leader but didn’t have the confidence in his tyres to commit to a move, with a large train of cars behind him. The Trident was fully aware that any slip up could cost him a podium and crucial Championship points.
In a rather cheeky attempt to break the tow, the ART racer was weaving down the straights, but the Russian was warned by his team over radio that he was over-stepping the mark and race control noted his antics.
The weaving stopped, but Beckmann was still unable pass in the final laps as Smolyar calmly closed out his first win in F3. Novalak completed the podium, ahead of Alex Peroni and Vesti.
Lawson’s charge up the grid was thwarted by Sargeant, who reclaimed sixth from the Hitech. Théo Pourchaire finished in the final points position, to at least depart Round 4 with a point on the board, having finished outside of the top ten in Race 1.
Piastri remains at the top of the Drivers’ Championship with 94 points, but is now only 18 ahead of his teammate Sargeant in second. Beckmann is third on 61.5, followed by Lawson and Vesti. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA lead with 223.5, ahead of ART on 106. Trident are third, followed by Hitech Grand Prix and MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – ALEX SMOLYAR (ART GRAND PRIX)
“My first win and it was a tough one. I had to defend a few times, but I am super happy with the car and super happy that I managed to hold my place.
“It was an amazing race and I hope that it is just beginning and that we can fight more, and even better, for the next races.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
F3 will return in just a weeks’ time for Round 5 of the 2020 season, and the Drivers’ Championship remains wide open, with no one able to pull away as of yet.
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Kush Maini finishes second in Race 2: British F3
Oulton Park, 30 July 2020: Lanan Racing’s Piers Prior took a controlled win in the reversed grid second race of the weekend at Oulton Park. The polesitter led every lap despite sustained pressure from Hitech GP’s Kush Maini, who claimed the team’s maiden BRDC British F3 podium on their first weekend, with F4 graduate Bart Horsten completing a 1-3 for the Lanan team. The top three finished a long way ahead of fourth place finisher, Double R Racing’s Benjamin Pedersen.
Kush Maini, Hitech GP, said: “After being the quickest driver in the majority of the test sessions, obviously after qualifying we were really disappointed as I went off and damaged the car, and didn’t really put a lap in. So we had to start race one at the back but in race two we had good pace and I think Bart and Piers both had four new tyres and we were the only ones with two new, and we could match their pace. The car is back, the car is fast and I’m sure tomorrow we will get some more podiums.”
Chris Dittmann Racing’s Nico Varrone headed a train of cars that pursued Pedersen throughout the race, finishing half a second behind the American, and half a second ahead of Hitech GP’s Reece Ushijima in sixth.
Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke was just three tenths behind at the flag, and in turn three tenths ahead of teammate Sasakorn Chaimongkol. Carlin’s Guilherme Peixoto was just over a second further back in ninth, with Chris Dittmann Racing’s Josh Skelton completing the race two top-10.
Prior started on pole after damaging his front wing in race one held earlier this afternoon, and finishing last in that contest. He benefited from the reverse grid for race two, and took full advantage with a strong start that ensured he kept the lead on the way down to Old Hall, while second place starter Maini moved across the track to defend his position from Horsten, who started third.
The top-three immediately began to operate in their own race, lapping closely together and exchanging fastest laps throughout the race, while building a big gap to Pedersen. Prior’s lead was just under eight tenths at the end of lap one, though Maini trimmed two tenths off that gap on lap two. Maini’s charge continued to gain momentum in the early stages, with less than four tenths covering the pair at the end of lap four, with Horsten only 0.366s further back.
That was to be as close as Maini got though, as Prior was able to pull out a further three tenths on lap five, with the gap hovering between five and eight tenths for the remainder of the race, with the winning margin being 0.639s, while Horsten dropped back a little, finishing 1.2 seconds behind Maini.
The lead trio finished over seven seconds clear of Pedersen, who had to contend with immense pressure for the entire race, as Argentinean Varrone looked to find his way past, with seemingly the rest of the field following by with small gaps between each car.
Despite the close running, the only incident of note came on lap seven as Manaf Hijjawi dropped from ninth to 16th, and then retiring, promoting his pursuers up a position.
Two more races follow this weekend, with race three due to start at 12.30 tomorrow (Sunday) and the final contest at 15.30. Both races will be streamed live on the official BRDC British F3 website and Facebook page
BRDC British F3 Championship, Oulton Park race two provisional result:
1. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, 13 laps
2. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +0.639s
3. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +1.934s
4. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +9.441s
5. Nico Varrone, Chris Dittmann Racing, +10.019s
6. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +10.592s
7. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +10.899s
8. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +11.219s
9. Guilherme Peixoto, Carlin, +12.413s
10. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +13.240s
11. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +14.308s
12. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +15.116s
13. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +16.569s
14. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +16.979s
15. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +20.005s
DNF. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, 6 laps completed
DNF. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, 6 laps.eom
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Kush Maini tops Friday session 2 in British F3
Oulton Park, 31 July 2020: Hitech GP’s Kush Maini returned to the top of the testing timesheets after posting the quickest time in session two on Friday morning.
Maini’s effort of 1m31.945s was slightly slower than this morning’s outright pace, but was enough to ensure he topped the testing times for the fourth time in six sessions so far this weekend. Maini was just 0.025s quicker than session one pace setter Kaylen Frederick (Carlin), with Louis Foster just 0.004s further behind for Double R Racing.
Lanan’s Bart Horsten was fourth fastest, the Australian almost four-tenths further back and 0.058s ahead of Carlin’s Nazim Azman, who enjoyed his best session of the weekend so far.
Nico Varrone set the sixth fastest time for Chris Dittmann Racing, less than a tenth clear of Douglas Motorsport’s Kiern Jewiss, with his teammate Ulysse De Pauw in eighth, just 0.013s ahead of Varrone’s teammate Josh Skelton.
Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke completed a top-10 covered by just eight tenths of a second, with Lanan’s Piers Prior 11th and only 0.084s further back. Benjamin Pedersen was 12th fastest for Double R and a tenth clear of Josh Mason, with Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol in 14th and 0.007s away from Mason.
Manaf Hijjawi and Reece Ushijima completed the 16 cars that participated in the session. The third session of the day starts at 14.15 UK time.
BRDC British F3 Championship, Oulton Park, Friday test session two result:
1. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, 1m31.945s
2. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +0.025s
3. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +0.029s
4. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +0.412s
5. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +0.470s
6. Nico Varrone, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.514s
7. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +0.598s
8. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.745s
9. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.758s
10. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +0.822s
11. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +0.906s
12. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +1.056s
13. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +1.191s
14. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed +1.198s
15. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +1.261s
16. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +1.547s -
Theo Pourchaire of ART, become F3’s youngest double winner
Budapest, 18 July 2020: Formula 3’s youngest race winner Théo Pourchaire became the Championship’s first double victor of the season, taking a resounding Race 1 win at the Hungaroring by a mega margin of 11.9s over Championship leader Oscar Piastri.
For the second race in a row, Pourchaire was handed first when the race leaders collided in front of him, but there would be no safety car escort to the chequered flag, as he enjoyed in Spielberg. Polesitter Alex Smolyar and Logan Sargeant came to blows from the front row into Turn 1 on the opening lap of the race.
With more than 20 laps to go, and Championship leader Piastri directly behind him, Pourchaire had to display nerves of steel. Pulling away at a rate of a half-a-second a lap, he displayed a maturity well beyond his tender age of 16.
Despite his involvement in the Lap 1 incident, Sargeant was able to cling onto third and kept MP Motorsport pairing Bent Viscaal and Richard Verschoor at bay behind him, with the Dutch duo more focused on squabbling amongst themselves.
Clément Novalak was mightily impressive around the Hungaroring, making the most of the chaos around him to climb 17 positions for ninth place. Behind him, David Beckmann recovered well from a difficult Qualifying session to climb four places and take the final points position, and reverse grid pole.
AS IT HAPPENED
Rain had continued to fall overnight in Budapest, stopping in time for the race, but this left the track in a damp and dusky condition for F3, and it showed at the start.
Polesitter Smolyar had initially made a strong getaway, but was thrown out of contention when Sargeant lost the rear of his car at Turn 1. The American just couldn’t find the grip as he entered the corner and collided with the front wing of the Frenchman’s ART machine.
Calan Williams and Frederik Vesti were caught up in the collision and ended up tangled into one another at the corner as well, ending their races.
Smolyar and Sargeant managed to get going again despite the damage. The American somehow held on to third, but Smolyar fell to the back of the field.
The safety car was deployed as the damage and debris were cleared off the track. When action resumed, Pourchaire kept the lead, but the running was once again halted after the rear of Liam Lawson’s car caught fire, leaving a trail of oil from Turn 1 to Turn 2.
The race was red flagged to allow the marshals to clear up the oil and get the race back underway behind the safety car. The added wait allowed the track to dry that little bit more and Pourchaire was able to get away cleanly when the SC headed back in. Piastri did have a look down the inside, but opted to air on the side of caution and sat behind.
Pourchaire set two fastest laps in a row to increase his margin at the front of the field to 1.7s, as DRS was enabled.
With the win quickly slipping away from him, Piastri’s focus was forced to switch to defending second from his teammate, Sargeant. The American wasn’t safe himself: he was stuck in a DRS train with Fernandez, Verschoor and Viscaal. Verschoor made the first move, taking the inside line to pass Fernandez into fourth, and he was followed through by Viscaal.
Sargeant managed to pull away from the battling cars behind, but Piastri was struggling. The Australian had changed two of his tyres during the red flag period and hadn’t quite got them up to temperature. Piastri also didn’t have the advantage of DRS that those behind him did, with Pourchaire pulling further and further ahead in front of him, increasing the gap to a massive 10s.
Piastri would hold on though, and the only change to the order on the final laps was for fourth, as Viscaal dived ahead of Verschoor at the very last opportunity, on the final lap.
Pourchaire coolly cross edthe line first ahead of Piastri and Sargeant, with Viscaal in fourth and Verschoor fifth. Fernandez took sixth ahead of Alex Peroni, Dennis Hauger, Novalak and David Beckmann.
Piastri holds on to the Championship lead with 62 points, ahead of Sargeant in second on 49. Pourchaire’s win lifts him to third, six points behind. Vesti and Verschoor complete the top five. PREMA retain P1 in the Teams’ Championship, on 148.5 points, ahead of Trident on 68.5. ART are third, followed by MP Motorsport and Hitech Grand Prix.
KEY QUOTE – THEO POURCHAIRE (ART GRAND PRIX)
“I am really happy to win my second race in Formula 3 – the second race in a row. It is Race 1 this time, so it comes with more points. I qualified in P3 and had a really good start. I was P1 all of the race, and at the end I was quite fast. I want to thank the team for the car and thank Sauber Academy as well.”
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F3: Vesti wins for Prema but loses half points to rain
Spielberg, 11 July 2020: Frederik Vesti is off the mark in Formula 3, taking his first victory in Race 1, but it’s not quite how the Dane would have envisaged it, with the race ending nine laps early due to a hazardous downpour of rain
With more than 25% of the race left to run, only half points will be awarded to the grid, leaving Vesti with a sense of frustration on a weekend where he has shown real pace.
Trident enjoyed their most successful race in the Championship with their driver trio proving their abilities in the wet, as Lirim Zendeli and David Beckmann took second and third for their first F3 podiums, and a late lunge from Olli Caldwell saw him earn his best finish of fourth.
It wasn’t quite such a successful afternoon for the other two PREMAs, as Oscar Piastri fell from fourth to fifth, and Logan Sargeant dropped from third to seventh.
AS IT HAPPENED The weather was far from conclusive ahead of the race start. Patches of the track were wet, but the main straight remained dry with just drops of rain falling on the Red Bull Ring as the cars lined up for the formation lap. This prompted plenty of discussion down the field as to which tyres to start on. The majority of the grid opted to air on the side of caution with the wets, but the likes of Federico Malvestiti and Cameron Das at the back were tempted to risk the slicks. The formation lap put this notion to bed, and they returned to the pits to switch to the wet Pirellis. Poleman Vesti was pretty much untroubled off the line, but his teammates struggled with the conditions. The Tridents however revelled in them. Beckmann calmly hung on to second despite an attempted lunge from Piastri down the left, before teammate Zendeli launched from P6 to P2 and into the rear-view mirror of the race leader, who suddenly had to go on the defensive, just clinging on to first.
The rain was getting fiercer and Max Fewtrell clearly wasn’t happy, telling his team that he could barely see from 15th. The third Trident of Caldwell didn’t appear to be having quite the same struggle, fighting well to pass Logan Sargeant and Theo Pourchaire.
Liam Lawson looked to have a handle on the conditions and eyed up Alex Peroni, but things got a little heated between the pair. Lawson made his move and the two tapped wheels. The overtake was clean, albeit aggressive, but the Kiwi wouldn’t have minded too much as the position was his. The conditions began to get too much tougher and Alex Smolyar was the first to fall foul of the downpour. The Russian lost grip on the final corner and spun into the barriers, bringing out the first safety car of the morning, but certainly not the last. Vesti got away cleanly at the restart, with the field looking reluctant to risk a move in the conditions.
Piastri had brief glance down the side of Beckmann, but opted against it. The safety car wasn’t in the pits for long, as Clement Novalak lost control of his Carlin and suffered a puncture which sent him wayward. Racing resumed and the front three remained firmly locked in place, with nobody wanting to take unnecessary risks. Those further back were slightly less wary and Caldwell made a late move on Piastri for fourth, squeezing past him down the inside of Turn 2. Richard Verschoor also made up a position, tussling his way to sixth, for his fifth overtake of the morning. The safety car would return for the final time the following lap, with Roman Stanek spinning wide and Sebastian Fernandez losing control down the main straight. This was enough for race control to wave the red flag and the decision was made shortly after to end the race early, with conditions only getting worse as the morning wore on. That handed a Vesti a first win in F3, albeit in difficult circumstances. It confirmed a fantastic afternoon for Trident, who took their best ever finish, with Zendeli, Beckmann and Caldwell following Vesti in the order, ahead of Piastri in fifth. Verschoor hung on to sixth, ahead of Sargeant, Lawson and Pourchaire.
Jake Hughes will start on reverse grid pole for HWA RACELAB in Race 2 on Sunday, having climbed from 16th . With only half points given, Piastri remains first in the standings on 35 points, but is just half a point clear of Vesti in second. Lawson is joint third with Zendeli on 25 points, ahead of Beckmann on 21.5. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA are first on 90.5, ahead of Trident on 52.5. Hitech Grand Prix are third, ahead of MP Motorsport and Campos Racing
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Piastri leads PREMA one-two in Spielberg F3 Race 1
Spielberg (Austria), 4 July 2020: It was business as usual for PREMA, as the 2019 Champions got off to a near-perfect start in Spielberg, taking a one-two finish thanks to Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant in Race 1 of FIA Formula 3, held before the F1 Austrian GP qualification on Saturday.
Piastri had stunned at the start to steal the lead from third, and played out a controlled race, rarely looking in danger. Only the Campos of Alex Peroni could break up the PREMA party, with the Aussie racer snatching third ahead of Frederik Vesti, and the fastest lap, for his first ever F3 podium.
Having started the weekend so superbly, polesitter Sebastian Fernandez’s race was over before it even began, as a first lap collision with Piastri forced him to retire from the pits.
Clement Novalak will start Race 2 from pole, under the new reverse grid rules. The Frenchman impressed on his maiden appearance to finish 10th, with less than two seconds separating eighth from 11th.
From left: Sargeant, Piastri and Peroni celebrate on the podium. An FIA F3 image Further back, Igor Fraga caught the eye on his F3 debut. The Brazilian dropped to the back of the grid at the start, but clawed his way up to 16th with a serious of stunning manoeuvres.
As it happened
Anyone expecting a calm start to the Formula 3 season would have been bitterly disappointed, with chaos ensuing right from the off. Sebastian Fernandez stuttered when the lights went out and allowed the Trident of Lirim Zendeli to edge ahead of him from the inside.
Piastri followed the German through down the right and it was that move that provoked a reaction from the Spaniard. Fernandez attempted to reclaim the position from the outside but ran out of room and went spinning into the gravel.
The ART machine was forced into the pits, where the polesitter’s morning ended in retirement. Race control deemed it a racing incident, with no further action required. Piastri got away damage free, with plenty of momentum, and he followed up his move on Fernandez by diving past Zendeli on the outside of Turn 3 for P1.
Another beneficiary of the chaotic start was Peroni. Starting from eighth – on his return to F3 following a horror crash in Monza last year which ended his season early – the Aussie gained a
position as Hughes was forced to start from the pits, having qualified fifth. By the time Piastri took the lead, Peroni had flown to fourth and was hot on the heels of Sargeant in P3.
Despite the Campos in his rear-view mirror, the American’s focus was locked onto Zendeli in P2. When the chance arose, Sargeant made sure he took it. Zendeli was overcautious on the brakes, which allowed both Sargeant and Peroni to dive around the outside of him.
Their battles in behind had allowed Piastri to build a firm 3s lead out in front, as Peroni got within DRS range of Sargeant. The American was just about managing to hold him off, while Piastri stretched his legs.
Further back, the fight for reverse pole was heating up. Under new rules for 2020, the top 10 will all earn points and then be reversed for Race 2. Clement Novalak was the incumbent of that position, but with less than 2s separating eighth from 11th, they continued to fight.
Another PREMA would join the top four, as Vesti darted ahead of Zendeli and set the fastest lap in doing so. The Dane’s move helped to ease the pressure on Sargeant, as he began to tussle with Peroni.
Despite the battles going on, little would change in the closing laps. Piastri fought off concerns about the degradation of his rear tyres to close out a measured drive. The Aussie taking victory on his F3 debut, ahead of his teammate Sargeant, and Peroni.
Fellow debutant Vesti would seal a superb start to 2020 for PREMA with fourth, ahead of Zendeli, who also scored his highest ever finish in F3. Liam Lawson impressed with a drive from 12th to sixth, ahead of David Beckmann, Richard Verschoor, Smolyar and Novalak.
The key quote – Oscar Piastri (PREMA Racing)
“Winning the first race is a great start to the year. It was very scary at Turn 1 at the start and I thought that it was going to be race over 10 seconds into my debut, but thankfully I got through that and made a good move on Lirim [Zendeli] into Turn 3.
“Then, I just controlled it from there. The tyre deg was a bit more than we were expecting and halfway into the race I was struggling a bit with the rears. Logan [Sargeant] was catching me and bringing the train with him, so I had to stay on my toes.
“I couldn’t have started the year any better really and hopefully we can make up a few spots in the reverse grid tomorrow.”
What’s next?
Carlin’s French rookie Novalak will start Race 2 from pole tomorrow at 9.45am local time, with fellow rookie Alex Smolyar and Macau winner Richard Verschoor in behind. Don’t bet against the PREMA’s making up a few positions either, with the Italian’s already in red hot form.
