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Tag: Frederik Vesti

  • Frederik Vesti scores third F3 win; 3-way battle for title

    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.

  • Frederik Vesti wins from ninth; Prema clinches team title: F3

    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).

  • F3: Vesti wins for Prema but loses half points to rain

    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