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Tag: Jehan Daruvala
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Jehan Daruvala takes his sixth podium; Piquet wins Race 1
Jehan Daruvala takes the sixth podium on Saturday in Race 1. Photo Prema Racing Spa Francorchamps, 31 August 2019: Indian racing star Jehan Daruvala finished on the podium taking a well-deserved third in the first race of the FIA F3 Championship, part of the Belgian F1 Grand Prix weekend. This is Jehan’s sixth podium and along with two wins, he is currently second in the championship behind the Russian.
Pedro Piquet claimed his maiden FIA Formula 3 victory thanks to an immense start at Spa-Francorchamps, in Race 1. The Trident man immersed himself in battle with polesitter Jehan Daruvala off the line, making his move on the PREMA ace midway through the first lap, before pushing for a gap. Daruvala eventually finished in 3rd behind teammate Robert Shwartzman, who gained vital points in his race for the Drivers’ title.
Jehan Darulava, right, takes third in Race 1 on Saturday. An FIA image There was action throughout the 30-strong grid when the lights went out at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, as Piquet attempted an overtake on Daruvala who managed to cling on to the position at the first corner. Shwartzman – starting 4th – made the same move on Yuki Tsunoda for 3rd, but the Jenzer man also managed to claw the place back.
Jake Hughes was flung off track when Logan Sargeant nicked the back of his HWA RACELAB machine, while Devlin DeFrancesco collided with Campos’ Alexander Peroni, who ended up rammed into the barriers.Piquet had emerged ahead of Daruvala when a Virtual Safety Car was issued, but it was Leonardo Pulcini who made the greatest ground, claiming a remarkable six spots on his way to P2. Tsunoda made the most of his opportunities at the end of the VSC period, lunging ahead of Pulcini for 2nd. The duo was still within sight of former leader Daruvala, who climbed back ahead of them both shortly after to retake his place behind Piquet.The gap between them was much bigger now though – the Brazilian had taken advantage of the four-way tussle behind him to build a 4s strong gap and put air between them. This enabled him to ease off and avoid the risk of burning out his rubber.Further back, Marcus Armstrong was eyeing a repeat of his success in Budapest, when the Kiwi started 13th and rose to reverse grid pole, before earning his first F3 win in Race 2. It would be a more difficult proposition this time around, starting from P19, but by lap 6, he was already in 11th.The battle for the podium was ongoing, as Jüri Vips and Tsunoda went back and forth for 5th, while Shwartzman managed to leap ahead of Pulcini. Daruvala had been unable to bridge the gap between himself and the back of Piquet’s Trident, with his team urging him to push harder. He struggled to garner the extra pace though and shortly after, his teammate soared past him.The PREMA duo in 2nd and 3rd managed to claw their way out of the four-way tussle they were previously engulfed in, leaving Christian Lundgaard, Vips, Tsunoda and Pulcini to fight it out for P4. Initially, it was Vips who came out on top, but the Dane managed to send it down the side of the Estonian title contender at the final corner.Uncontested, Piquet crossed the finish line for his first win in the championship, followed by Shwartzman, Daruvala and Lundgaard. Vips was followed by Tsunoda – who claimed his joint-best finish – and Pulcini. Armstrong completed a remarkable drive to seal reverse grid pole, ahead of Max Fewtrell and David Beckman.Daruvala’s P3 finish takes him back ahead of Vips in the race for the title, but Shwartzman still leads the Championship by 19 points. Armstrong is 4th with 102, while Lundgaard sits 5th on 85. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA lead by 367 points, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 181, ART Grand Prix on 162, Trident on 85 and HWA RACELAB on 66.Armstrong will start from reverse pole for the second round in a row tomorrow in Race 2 at 9.45am local time, when he will be looking for his second win in as many rounds.FIA Formula 3 Round 6 – Race 1 provisional classificationDRIVERTEAM1Pedro PiquetTrident2Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing3Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing4Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix5Juri VipsHitech Grand Prix6Yuki TsunodaJenzer Motorsport7Leonardo PulciniHitech Grand Prix8Marcus ArmstrongPREMA Racing9Max FewtrellART Grand Prix10David BeckmannART Grand Prix11Teppei NatoriCarlin Buzz Racing12Liam LawsonMP Motorsport13Logan SargeantCarlin Buzz Racing14Keyvan AndresHWA RACELAB15Ye YifeiHitech Grand Prix16Giorgio CarraraJenzer Motorsport17Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport18Felipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz Racing19Niko KariTrident20Bent ViscaalHWA RACELAB21Jake HughesHWA RACELAB22Lirim ZendeliSauber Junior Team by Charouz23Andreas EstnerJenzer Motorsport24Simo LaaksonenMP Motorsport25Sebastian FernandezCampos Racing26Raoul HymanSauber Junior Team by Charouz27Fabio SchererSauber Junior Team by Charouz28Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing29Devlin DeFrancescoTridentNOT CLASSIFIEDAlex PeroniCampos RacingOVERALL FASTEST LAPPedro Piquet (Trident) – 2:08.911 on Lap 4FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTSPedro Piquet (Trident) – 2:08.911 on Lap 4About Jehan Daruvala: The 20-year-old Jehan began his career in Karting at the age of 10. Since then he has won the Indian National Karting Championship, the Malaysian Junior Yamaha Karting Championship, the FIA CIK Asia Pacific KF3 Championship, and the British SuperOne National Karting Championship. Jehan remains the only Indian on the podium of any FIA World Championship when he was second runner up of the FIA CIK World Karting Championship. Jehan also remains the only Indian to win a Grand Prix, when he won the New Zealand Grand Prix and later went on to become the only Indian to win a race in the erstwhile FIA F3 European Championship, which used slower cars. Earlier this year Jehan was selected by Prema Racing, one of the world’s most successful Junior Racing teams’ to drive for them in this year’s new, FIA F3 Championship. Currently, he has two wins and six podiums, with this third, and is currently second in the F3 leaderboard.
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Happy I finally got the pole a few extra points is always good, says Jehan Daruvala
Jehan Daruvala (centre) at the FIA post-qualifying press meet on Friday. An F3 image FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to today’s FIA Formula 3 press conference following qualifying here at Spa. We are joined by the top three qualifiers for tomorrow’s opening race. On pole position Jehan Daruvala of PREMA Racing, in second place Pedro Piquet from Trident and in third place Yuki Tsunoda from Jenzer Motorsport. Jehan, you’ve had two wins already this season but finally your first pole position in Formula 3. How does it feel?
Jehan Daruvala: I’m very happy. I’ve always been in the fight for pole the whole season and to finally get it feels good because I’ve missed out and been really close a couple of times. It’s a few extra points which is also good. More than that it’s a big thanks to the team and the best way to bounce back after a disappointing weekend in Budapest.
FIA Formula 3: Could you talk us through your qualifying and your final lap that led to pole position? Traffic seemed to be a real challenge for everybody out there today.
Jehan: It was quite a complicated qualifying session. On the first run, I was about six or seven-tenths off but the majority of that was in Sector 1. I was thinking that the best way to fight for the pole was to get behind a fast car. I got into a good place and there was a big fight. It was almost like a race to get into a good position. I managed to get behind [Devlin] DeFrancesco who was fast on the first set and that was perfect for me. The lap was good and I’m happy to be on pole.
FIA Formula 3: Congratulations. Pedro moving on to you now. You pulled out a stunning early lap in qualifying and sat on provisional pole for quite a while. To then end up P2 is it a case of mixed feelings, or are you happy to be on the front row?
Pedro Piquet: Of course here in Spa, second or third, it’s a bit of a gamble in the first lap because of the long straight. The first lap was really good. It was a good warm-up with no confusion, no traffic, so that came out okay. Unfortunately for the second run, everyone was looking for a tow and everyone was backing off. The warm-up for myself was not the best. The lap, in the end, was okay for P2. I even got a guy with a flat tyre! Because of the people backing off I got a guy in Turn 5 and I had to avoid a bit. But yeah, it was good. I think for tomorrow it’s a big run to Turn 5 so a lot of things can happen, even from behind.
FIA Formula 3: As Jehan touched on, when you were going through that traffic did it feel a little bit like a race, sort of preparing for tomorrow even?
Pedro: Not really like a race because some people were backing off as well, letting you past, and before my second set I just wanted a clean lap for myself. I got one, almost, but it was quite confusing.
FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Yuki, welcome to your first FIA Formula 3 press conference. A really strong result today to finish third. How did your qualifying go?
Yuki Tsunoda: Yeah this is my first time in the top three and I am very happy. Qualifying was quite crazy. On the first push on the second set there were a lot of people to make the gap or make the position. I was at the back of the group and I felt that it would be impossible to make a lap like that in that group. I tried to overtake everybody and tried to drive by myself and that was good. The plan was really good and the car was also so good from free practice.
FIA Formula 3: Going into this weekend your best qualifying result was only ninth so to make this big jump up, does that really show the progress that both you and Jenzer have been making this season?
Yuki: At the beginning of the season I was qualifying in places like P27 or something like that, and it was not good for everybody in the team or myself. I’ve improved when it comes to warming up the tyres and that’s showed in today’s result. I think tomorrow will be quite different starting near the front so I’m really looking forward to that.
FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Jehan moving back to you now. You’ve got good history here at Spa. You won here from pole last year, you know what it takes. Does that give any extra confidence going into tomorrow’s race?
Jehan: I think everyone knows it can be pretty tricky here from pole but my main focus is to get a good start and see what happens. You can’t really work out what’s going to happen tomorrow, I’ve just got to see what happens and even if I fall back one or two positions I’m quite confident that the car is good enough to win. That’s the main goal.
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Daruvala back on form with pole in Spa-Francorchamps: F3
PREMA Racer qualifies ahead of Piquet and TsunodaJehan Daruvala (IND) of PREMA Racing, celebrates after taking pole position at Spa on Friday, 30 Aug 2019. An FIA F3 image Spa Francorchamps, 30 August 2019: Indian racing sensation Jehan Daruvala scored his first pole position of the season with a scintillating late tour of Spa-Francorchamps in Friday’s FIA Formula 3 Qualifying. The Prema Racing ace was the best of a late sprint to pole, beating out Trident’s Pedro Piquet and Jenzer Motorsport’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Crucially for the Indian, it adds four points to his tally, as he chases Russian Robert Schwartzman & Juri Vips from Estonia, in the championship battle.
The ultra-competitive nature of the FIA F3 championship has seen a wide range of drivers performing through the season and Jehan was sixth different pole sitter in the six rounds of the season so far.
The moment qualifying started, almost all cars were on track jostling for position and after the first set of laps, it was former Brazilian F3 champion Pedro Piquet who was on provisional pole. Jehan’s quick laps were only good enough for seventh. Jehan was the slowest of the top eleven on the straights at that time and when he pulled into the pits, the team altered setup reducing Jehan’s downforce.
All drivers had changed tyres and were back on track. The changes to his car suited Jehan when he returned to track and he immediately put in his personal fastest in sector 1. Sector 2 was where Jehan was sensational, posting a time faster than everyone else. A quick sector 3 sealed pole for Jehan with a lap time of 2:05.125. Such was Jehan’s pace that he managed to have the highest lap time margin for pole the entire season!
“Finally pole position! I have been thereabouts all season, fighting for pole, and then I got it so I’m very very happy for myself and the team. It’s great to bounce back after a bad weekend at Budapest. It was a chaotic session, but I managed to stay out of trouble. The car was great. After the first set of laps, I knew I didn’t put it together so I just wanted to focus on the driving and get a good lap. We tweaked something in the middle of the session which also helped. To be on pole at Spa is amazing, hopefully, I can turn it into a win.” said Jehan.
Piquet was second followed immediately by Tsunoda & Championship leader Shwartzman, Jehan will start on pole for Race 1 today while top 8 in Race 1 will be reversed for the start of Race 2. Jehan sits 3rd currently in the championship, 16 points behind Shwartzman and 4 points behind Vips.
Earlier, Christian Lundgaard led the cars out into the 35-degree track temperature, but it was Piquet who was hottest in the early stages, beating out both the Dane and Leonardo Pulcini for provisional pole. The Brazilian racer was swiftly backed up by his Trident teammate Devlin DeFrancesco, who looked much improved in Round 6 and was eyeing his best Qualifying of the season.The two held their positions as the cars ducked into the pits for fresh boots and were the first back out on track for the final fifteen minutes of the afternoon. Armed with fresh tyres, the times started to tumble and the duo’s positions were under threat. Jüri Vips – hopeful of taking the title lead this weekend – was the first to steal provisional pole, with a time of 2.05.625.The Estonian’s time on top was short lived as Piquet, Tsunoda and Robert Shwartzman leapt ahead of him in quick succession. With less than five minutes remaining and one shot at pole, Daruvala managed the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps two tenths quicker than them all and claimed his position in P1.In the third PREMA, Marcus Armstrong was hoping to follow up his first win of the season in Budapest, with another strong weekend. The Kiwi complained of traffic on track and eased off in the hope of finding space, but it never came and he was left to settle for 19th.When the chequered flag was waved, Daruvala was followed by Piquet, while Tsunoda secured his best Qualifying position of the season in 3rd. Shwartzman and Jake Hughes completed the front five ahead of Vips, DeFrancesco, Pulcini, Logan Sargeant and Liam Lawson.Daruvala will be hunting down his first win since Round 2 when Race 1 gets underway at 2.05pm IST (10.35am local time) on Saturday morning.About Jehan Daruvala: The 20-year-old Jehan began his career in Karting at the age of 10. Since then he has won the Indian National Karting Championship, the Malaysian Junior Yamaha Karting Championship, the FIA CIK Asia Pacific KF3 Championship, and the British SuperOne National Karting Championship. Jehan remains the only Indian on the podium of any FIA World Championship when he was second runner up of the FIA CIK World Karting Championship. Jehan also remains the only Indian to win a Grand Prix, when he won the New Zealand Grand Prix and later went on to become the only Indian to win a race in the erstwhile FIA F3 European Championship, which used slower cars. Earlier this year Jehan was selected by Prema Racing, one of the world’s most successful Junior Racing teams’ to drive for them in this year’s new, FIA F3 Championship. He already has two wins and five podiums and is currently third in the F3 leaderboard.FIA Formula 3 Round 6 – Qualifying provisional classificationDRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS1Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing2:05.125112Pedro PiquetTrident2:05.356103Yuki TsunodaJenzer Motorsport2:05.540104Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing2:05.605115Jake HughesHWA RACELAB2:05.614106Jüri VipsHitech Grand Prix2:05.625117Devlin DeFrancescoTrident2:05.640118Leonardo PulciniHitech Grand Prix2:05.701119Logan SargeantCarlin Buzz Racing2:05.7091110Liam LawsonMP Motorsport2:06.0601111Alex PeroniCampos Racing2:06.1871012Max FewtrellART Grand Prix2:06.2071113Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport2:06.2551114Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix2:06.2701115Ye YifeiHitech Grand Prix2:06.2741116Bent ViscaalHWA RACELAB2:06.2891017David BeckmannART Grand Prix2:06.3331018Giorgio CarraraJenzer Motorsport2:06.3961119Marcus ArmstrongPREMA Racing2:06.4001020Teppei NatoriCarlin Buzz Racing2:06.4201021Niko KariTrident2:06.4751122Keyvan AndresHWA RACELAB2:06.5371023Felipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz Racing2:06.6061024Raoul HymanSauber Junior Team by Charouz2:06.6141025Sebastian FernandezCampos Racing2:07.2511026Andreas EstnerJenzer Motorsport2:07.4751027Simo LaaksonenMP Motorsport2:07.5031028Fabio SchererSauber Junior Team by Charouz2:08.0141029Lirim ZendeliSauber Junior Team by Charouz2:08.076930Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing2:08.89810 -
Hughes fastest in Spa-Francorchamps Free Practice; Jehan Daruvala 15th: F3
Jake Hughes (GBR) HWA RACELAB. An FIA F3 image Spa-Francorchamps, 30 August 2019: Jake Hughes showed no signs of a summer break hangover, carrying on his good form from Round 5 and topping today’s Free Practice in Spa-Francorchamps. The HWA RACELAB man was electric on his penultimate tour of the Belgian circuit to finish ahead of Trident’s Niko Kari and Campos Racing’s Alex Peroni in a new look top 10.
Around half of the grid set out onto the track when the session got underway and it was Lirim Zendeli who put in the first lap, before Devlin DeFrancesco set the standard at 2:11.153. Giorgio Carrara – in just his third FIA Formula 3 outing – then took the time to under 2m 10s, as the rest of the field began to filter out onto the track.From then on, Pedro Piquet began to dominate the session, initially taking the lead on his first flying lap, before beating his own time to secure first at the halfway point. The order beneath him remained in a constant state of evolution – Logan Sargeant, Ye Yifei and Leonardo Pulcini were amongst the drivers to prop up the Brazilian and sit in second place.Round 5’s top performers, ART Grand Prix, began to get their bearings in the second half of Free Practice and Christian Lundgaard leapt to first, followed closely by teammate David Beckmann.With less than 15 minutes to go, the teams dived in the pits for a freshen-up. Most returned with seven minutes on the clock, but Lundgaard’s departure from the pits was stalled as he required a new steering wheel.Upon the Dane’s return, Fabio Scherer had climbed a mammoth 27 places to steal his place at the top of the standings with a laptime of 2:06.912. This was short lived as Liam Lawson, Yifei and Peroni all took turns in first place.Looking to make a statement, Hughes set a purple Sector 2 and sailed around the track with less than five minutes on the clock in search of P1. The Brit fought off traffic on a crowded track to set the quickest time of the morning.With time left for just one more lap, no one was able to topple the HWA RACELAB driver’s time of 2:05.929, as Kari and Peroni settled for places in the top three. Yifei, Richard Verschoor and Lawson completed the top five, followed by Bent Viscaal, Scherer, Raoul Hyman and Andreas Estner.Action will resume for Qualifying at 5.50pm local time and the new look top ten will hope to carry their positive starts into the all-important race for pole.FIA Formula 3 Round 6 – Qualifying provisional classificationDRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS1Jake HughesHWA RACELAB2:05.929132Niko KariTrident2:06.462153Alex PeroniCampos Racing2:06.479154Ye YifeiHitech Grand Prix2:06.512165Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport2:06.544176Liam LawsonMP Motorsport2:06.629157Bent ViscaalHWA RACELAB2:06.895148Fabio SchererSauber Junior Team by Charouz2:06.912179Raoul HymanSauber Junior Team by Charouz2:06.9151510Andreas EstnerJenzer Motorsport2:06.9681711Keyvan AndresHWA RACELAB2:07.0131212Lirim ZendeliSauber Junior Team by Charouz2:07.0231613Simo LaaksonenMP Motorsport2:07.0331614Giorgio CarraraJenzer Motorsport2:07.1581615Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing2:07.7421516Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix2:07.7971217David BeckmannART Grand Prix2:07.8971418Pedro PiquetTrident2:07.9131419Marcus ArmstrongPREMA Racing2:07.9301520Yuki TsunodaJenzer Motorsport2:07.9811521Leonardo PulciniHitech Grand Prix2:07.9821322Max FewtrellART Grand Prix2:08.1211423Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing2:08.1671524Juri VipsHitech Grand Prix2:08.2831425Devlin DeFrancescoTrident2:08.3311626Logan SargeantCarlin Buzz Racing2:08.8261327Felipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz Racing2:08.8571428Teppei NatoriCarlin Buzz Racing2:08.9131329Sebastian FernandezCampos Racing2:10.4571430Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing2:10.73414 -
Armstrong leads from lights-to-flag for first win; Jehan Daruvala finishes P7
Budapest, 4 August 2019: Marcus Armstrong ruled Race 2 in Budapest with a lights-to-flag finish that saw him cross the line a massive 12s ahead of Leonardo Pulcini for his first ever FIA Formula 3 win.The PREMA man had spent a mammoth 97 Laps inside of the top three ahead of Round 5, but was yet to have a victory to show for it. He set the record straight on Sunday with a dominant drive around the Hungaroring, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix racer Pulcini and HWA RACELAB’s Jake HughesThe Kiwi brushed off an attack at the start from the Italian, who attempted to pass him on the second turn. The duo kissed tyres, which forced Pulcini to ease off and allowed Armstrong to scuttle on ahead.There was little movement in behind, with most of the top ten clinging onto their original positions. Felipe Drugovich in particular was hanging onto 3rd by a thread. He was being hounded and harried by the dazzling red PREMA of Robert Shwartzman, but just about survived the opening few laps.The battle continued as the lap tally hit double figures and still Drugovich would not falter. PREMA urged Shwartzman to overtake, but he was struggling to find the speed or the space. Eventually he gathered enough power to pull side-by-side with the Carlin Buzz racer, who remained just millimetres in front.Just as Drugovich thought he had held on, his tyre was struck by the front-wing of Shwartzman, which tore into his rubber and caused a puncture. He quickly dropped back and would eventually retire from the pits. Shwartzman was momentarily in 3rd, but his front-wing was battered and his bruised PREMA couldn’t sustain the pace and he too dropped back, before also retiring from the pits. Stewards swiftly deemed the collision a racing incident that required no further investigation.This handed Jüri Vips the podium place he came so close to clinching in Race 1. Initially, it was Max Fewrtell in behind, but the Briton slowed and fell out of contention. This allowed Hughes into 4th and a chance at a second podium place. Race 1 repeated itself as the HWA racer bombed down the side of the Estonian on the straight and into the first corner for 3rd.The chaos going on behind had allowed Pulcini to put 18s between himself and 3rd place, while Armstrong topped the pack by 12s, meaning the duo crossed the line unchallenged. In 3rd remained Hughes, with his second podium of the weekend, as Vips and Christian Lundgaard completed the top five. Yuki Tsunoda finished 6th, ahead of Jehan Daruvala, who had managed to climb into the points for the first time this weekend. Logan Sargeant, Liam Lawson and Bent Viscaal completed the top ten.Having missed out on the points in Race 2, Shwartzman’s lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship has been slashed to just 12, ahead of Vips, who is on 112. Jehan Daruvala is only eight behind, while Armstrong has 98. Lundgaard completes the top five with 73. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA retain their stranglehold with 326, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 165 and ART Grand Prix on 147. HWA RACELAB are fourth with 66 and Trident 5th with 58.With the title chase closer than ever and just 20 points separating the top three in the Championship, the next round in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium will be unmissable, when racing returns at the end of August.2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship – Race 2 provisional classificationDRIVERTEAM1Marcus ArmstrongPREMA Racing2Leonardo PulciniHitech Grand Prix3Jake HughesHWA RACELAB4Juri VipsHitech Grand Prix5Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix6Yuki TsunodaJenzer Motorsport7Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing8Logan SargeantCarlin Buzz Racing9Liam LawsonMP Motorsport10Bent ViscaalHWA RACELAB11Devlin DeFrancescoTrident12Niko KariTrident13Fabio SchererSauber Junior Team by Charouz14Keyvan AndresHWA RACELAB15Andreas EstnerJenzer Motorsport16Alex PeroniCampos Racing17Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport18Simo LaaksonenMP Motorsport19David BeckmannART Grand Prix20Lirim ZendeliSauber Junior Team by Charouz21Giorgio CarraraJenzer Motorsport22Ye YifeiHitech Grand Prix23Sebastian FernandezCampos Racing24Max FewtrellART Grand Prix25Raoul HymanSauber Junior Team by Charouz26Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing27Pedro PiquetTridentNOT CLASSIFIEDRobert ShwartzmanPREMA RacingFelipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz RacingTeppei NatoriCarlin Buzz RacingOVERALL FASTEST LAPMarcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing) – 1:35.307 on Lap 4FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTSMarcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing) -
Christian Lundgaard’s perfect weekend continues with maiden F3 win; Jehan Daruvala 11th
Danish driver joined on Budapest podium by British duo Fewtrell and HughesChristian_Lundgaard_(ART_Grand_Prix) claims his maiden F3 win on Sunday. FIAF3 image Budapest, 4 August 2019: Christian Lundgaard took his first ever FIA Formula 3 win in style today, marching round the Hungaroring in 1stfrom lights-to-flag. The Danish driver continued his so far flawless weekend with his third P1 finish of Round 5, ahead of ART Grand Prix teammate Max Fewtrell and HWA RACELAB’s Jake Hughes.
The Dane may have clung onto 1st at the start, but there was plenty of movement behind him when the lights went out. Fellow Renault Academy driver Fewtrell hugged the back of him off the line to hop up to second. Niko Kari also benefitted from Jüri Vip’s sluggish start from P2, lunging to third whilst the Estonian dropped to 5th. Championship leader Robert Shwartzman also suffered frustration as he dropped four places to 8th.As those in front looked to consolidate their positions on a dry afternoon in Hungary, drama played out at the back of the field. The rear tyres of Raoul Hyman and Liam Lawson’s machines collided, which sent the former into a dizzy spin. Thankfully, the Sauber Junior driver was able to recover, but Pedro Piquet in P4 wasn’t so lucky, suffering a brake issue which forced him into retirement in the pits.Out in front, Lundgaard set the fastest lap on his way to collecting a tidy 3s lead, with Fewtrell and Kari still in procession. The Finn was clinging onto 3rd by the skin of his teeth, but seriously struggling with grip and looked to be fighting a losing battle with Vips in behind. Kari briefly skidded off track as he continued to suffer, but managed to claw it back and fend off the Estonian once again.The Trident racer would have to do it all again two laps later when he locked up and went wheel-to-wheel with the Hitech man for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, he scrambled back in front, but he was in increasing danger. Vips waited three more laps to eventually make the move stick, as both he and Hughes dashed past Kari. Shwartzman followed through a lap later and Kari started to freefall.Just when it looked like any further drama had been put to bed, Hughes appeared in the wing-mirror of Vips to steal the final podium place on the penultimate lap, weaving around the Estonian and bombing down the inside.At the chequered flag, Lundgaard was over-the-moon to cross the finish line ahead of teammate Fewtrell. Hughes took 3rd place, with Vips settling for fourth. Shwartzman managed fifth, ahead of Felipe Drugovich who scores his first championship points, and Leonardo Pulcini. Marcus Armstrong managed to creep into the points in 8th, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Logan Sargeant.Shwartzman’s Championship lead has been cut to just 20 points, with the Russian leading Vips who has risen to 2nd on 104, ahead of Jehan Daruvala on 102. Armstrong remains 4th on 81, ahead of Lundgaard on 67. PREMA continue at the top of the Teams’ Championship, with 307 points, cleanly ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 145. ART Grand Prix are third on 141, ahead of Trident on 58 and HWA RACELAB on 56.With the Driver’s Championship now tighter than ever and a PREMA back on reverse pole, tomorrow’s race will prove to be a tense affair when it kicks off at 10am local time.2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship – Race 1 provisional classificationDRIVERTEAM1Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix2Max FewtrellART Grand Prix3Jake HughesHWA RACELAB4Juri VipsHitech Grand Prix5Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing6Felipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz Racing7Leonardo PulciniHitech Grand Prix8Marcus ArmstrongPREMA Racing9Yuki TsunodaJenzer Motorsport10Logan SargeantCarlin Buzz Racing11Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing12Devlin DeFrancescoTrident13Alex PeroniCampos Racing14Sebastian FernandezCampos Racing15Niko KariTrident16Fabio SchererSauber Junior Team by Charouz17Liam LawsonMP Motorsport18Simo LaaksonenMP Motorsport19Ye YifeiHitech Grand Prix20Bent ViscaalHWA RACELAB21Teppei NatoriCarlin Buzz Racing22Andreas EstnerJenzer Motorsport23Raoul HymanSauber Junior Team by Charouz24Keyvan AndresHWA RACELAB25Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing26Giorgio CarraraJenzer Motorsport27Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport28David BeckmannART Grand PrixNOT CLASSIFIEDLirim ZendeliSauber Junior Team by CharouzPedro PiquetTridentOVERALL FASTEST LAPChristian Lundgaard (ART Grand Prix) – 1:36.055 on Lap 22FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTSChristian Lundgaard (ART Grand Prix) -
Lundgaard claims maiden pole; Jehan Daruvala P17
Christian Lundgaard followed up his dominant Free Practice form to secure his first pole position in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, with a stomping tour of the Hungaroring circuit. The ART Grand Prix man finished ahead of Hitech Grand Prix’s Jüri Vips and teammate Max Fewtrell, as ART ruled the morning session.
Marcus Armstrong was the first out on track in dry conditions, but remained wary on his first lap of the circuit, with the tarmac still damp in spots. Once the PREMA man got going, he set the pace at just under 1m 33s, ahead of Alex Peroni.
The Kiwi was able to further secure the position with a storming sector 2 and fend off an assault from stablemate Robert Shwartzman and Championship rival Vips who missed out by a tenth. The Estonian had another shot, but wobbled slightly wide at Turn 10.
Following this, the cars ducked into the pits for a fresh set of medium compounds. Two warm-up laps followed for the majority of the field as they ensured the tyres were at their maximum.
Pedro Piquet was the first to take the lead in the second half, before being quickly usurped by Vips. Out of nowhere, Lundgaard turned on the style when it mattered, and bettered the lot of them, bombing around the Hungaroring in 1:31.761.
With the times flying in, things went sharply downhill for PREMA, who appeared to be suffering a rare off-day. All three drivers were chucked down the order and only Shwartzman was able to make the top ten, netting fourth fastest. Armstrong could only achieve 13th, while Jehan Daruvala’s final lap left him in lowly 17th ahead of Race 1.
This saw Lundgaard’s searing time unbeatable at the chequered flag as he finished ahead of Vips and Fewtrell. Niko Kari managed fifth, behind Shwartzman in fourth. Pedro Piquet, Jake Hughes, David Beckmann, Yuki Tsunoda and Felipe Drugovich completed the top ten.
The cars will hit the track again this afternoon when racing gets underway at 4.45pm local time. Lundgaard will look to hold on and seal a potential first win of the season, but Vips and teammate Fewtrell will be hot on his heels around one of the shorter tracks of the F3 calendar.
FIA Formula 3 Championship – Round 5 Qualifying provisional classification
DRIVER TEAM LAPTIME LAPS 1 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 1:31.761 13 2 Jüri Vips Hitech Grand Prix 1:31.886 13 3 Max Fewtrell ART Grand Prix 1:31.897 13 4 Robert Shwartzman PREMA Racing 1:31.903 13 5 Niko Kari Trident 1:31.074 14 6 Pedro Piquet Trident 1:31.987 13 7 Jake Hughes HWA RACELAB 1:32.037 12 8 David Beckmann ART Grand Prix 1:32.077 13 9 Yuki Tsunoda Jenzer Motorsport 1:32.197 13 10 Felipe Drugovich Carlin Buzz Racing 1:32.356 14 11 Leonardo Pulcini Jenzer Motorsport 1:32.375 13 12 Sebastian Fernandez Campos Racing 1:32.376 13 13 Marcus Armstrong PREMA Racing 1:32.385 13 14 Alex Peroni Campos Racing 1:32.402 13 15 Raoul Hyman Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 1:32.486 12 16 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 1:32.565 14 17 Jehan Daruvala PREMA Racing 1:32.593 13 18 Ye Yifei Hitech Grand Prix 1:32.621 13 19 Logan Sargeant Carlin Buzz Racing 1:32.692 13 20 Liam Lawson MP Motorsport 1:32.695 16 21 Teppei Natori Carlin Buzz Racing 1:32.727 13 22 Fabio Scherer Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 1:32.873 13 23 Simo Laaksonen MP Motorsport 1:32.945 11 24 Lirim Zendeli Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 1:32.987 14 25 Devlin De Francesco Trident 1:33.047 14 26 Bent Viscaal HWA RACELAB 1:33.064 12 27 Keyvan Andres HWA RACELAB 1:33.093 12 28 Giorgio Carrara Jenzer Motorsport 1:33.372 15 29 Andreas Estner Jenzer Motorsport 1:33.469 15 30 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing 1:35.016 13 -
Lundgaard impresses in the opening session ahead of Piquet and Hughes: F3
Hungaroring, 2 August 2019: Christian Lundgaard led the way in the F3 Round 5 Free Practice, topping the timings for the first time this season, at the Hungaroring. The ART Grand Prix ace was followed by Trident’s Pedro Piquet and HWA RACELAB’s Jake Hughes, in a new look top three.Giorgio Carrara – in just his second round at this level – set the standard on an overcast morning in Hungary, racing round the tight and twisty circuit in under 1m 38s. It wasn’t to last as the glistening red trio of Robert Shwartzman, Marcus Armstrong and Jehan Daruvala flexed their muscles to go 1st, 2nd and 3rd.The PREMA trio was broken up by Leonardo Pulcini, who dipped amongst them in 3rd, pushing back Daruvala, who started to freefall, as he headed to the pits, alongside teammate Shwartzman. Armstrong remained out on track and had three goes at bettering the Russian’s time, finally toppling him at the third attempt, lapping at 1:33.859.With all three drivers of the Italian squad back in the pits, Raoul Hyman and Hughes edged in front to take P1 and P2 with 11 minutes to go. However, the trio soon returned to the track and quickly handed us an all PREMA front three once more.Again, it wouldn’t last. Felipe Drugovich, Hyman, Pulcini and Piquet all leapt ahead in the final few minutes of Practice, before Lundgaard seared around the track to top the pack, with a hot time of 1:32.771.All hung in the balance when the chequered flag was waved, as nearly the entire field had the chance to set one final lap. The shake-up ensued, as Piquet and Hughes rose to second and third, with Fewtrell climbing more than ten places to take fourth. Shwartzman and Armstrong managed to recover enough for fifth and sixth, ahead of Pulcini. Jüri Vips leapt from 24th to 8th, while Alex Peroni and Niko Kari completed the top ten.None could run faster than Lundgaard today though and the Danish driver claimed his first P1 position of the season. He will be hoping to maintain his early form when it counts tomorrow, as the cars hit the track at 9am for qualifying.FIA Formula 3 Round 5 – Free Practice Provisional ClassificationDRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS1Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix1:32.771162Pedro PiquetTrident1:32.805173Jake HughesHWA RACELAB1:32.902194Max FewtrellART Grand Prix1:32.916165Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing1:32.971206Marcus ArmstrongPREMA Racing1:33.017207Leonardo PulciniHitech Grand Prix1:33.091188Juri VipsHitech Grand Prix1:33.178189Alex PeroniCampos Racing1:33.2031910Niko KariTrident1:33.2451811Devlin DeFrancescoTrident1:33.2911912Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing1:33.3022013David BeckmannART Grand Prix1:33.4771614Lirim ZendeliSauber Junior Team by Charouz1:33.4872115Sebastian FernandezCampos Racing1:33.4911916Simo LaaksonenMP Motorsport1:33.5351917Raoul HymanSauber Junior Team by Charouz1:33.5942018Logan SargeantCarlin Buzz Racing1:33.6771919Felipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz Racing1:33.7782020Yuki TsunodaJenzer Motorsport1:33.8222121Bent ViscaalHWA RACELAB1:33.8481622Keyvan AndresHWA RACELAB1:33.8761823Teppei NatoriCarlin Buzz Racing1:34.0301824Giorgio CarraraJenzer Motorsport1:34.0522325Liam LawsonMP Motorsport1:34.2181926Fabio SchererSauber Junior Team by Charouz1:34.2642027Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport1:34.3321728Ye YifeiHitech Grand Prix1:34.4391929Andreas EstnerJenzer Motorsport1:34.4422030Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing1:34.95021 -
All of the vital information ahead of F3’s fifth round at Hungary
The StakesBudapest, 1 August 2019: After the drama of Silverstone, the FIA Formula 3 Championship visits beautiful Budapest for Round 5.Briton Max Fewtrell pleased the passionate home support by going quickest in his ART Grand Prix machine during Friday morning’s practice, and those cheers continued throughout the weekend as Jüri Vips led the charge for home team Hitech Grand Prix to grab pole position in qualifying. Vips continued his fine form to keep PREMA Racing’s Jehan Daruvala at bay and win a second successive Race 1 with a stunning lights-to-flag victory. Hitech looked to have closed the performance gap on a PREMA outfit who had dominated the early season, and that seemed to be confirmed during Sunday’s Race 2. Italian ace Leonardo Pulcini charged through the top order to take the lead with two laps left to secure a maiden F3 victory.Robert Shwartzman (114 points) remains on top of the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of teammate Daruvala (102) in second. Third-placed Vips’ (92) Silverstone success now sees him just 10 points behind. Despite not tasting victory at a race weekend for the first time this season, PREMA (293) bagged more points than any other team to increase their lead at the head of the Teams’ Championship. Hitech (127) have moved up to second, opening up a 35 point gap to ART Grand Prix (92) in third place.The Hungaroring hosts the fifth round of the championship, providing the 30 drivers battling wheel-to-wheel out on track a tough, technical test. The heat of the Hungarian summer could also prove challenging to both man and machine. Pirelli are supplying teams with the medium compound, and the drivers will have to keep one eye on their tyres if they’re to maximise their chances of success in what is sure to be another blistering weekend of F3 action!Warm-Up // Yuki Tsunoda – Jenzer Motorsport
“The Hungaroring is my favourite circuit so I’m really looking forward to going back and racing there. Last year I was doing European F3 testing there and that was the first time I came to Europe. At that time I didn’t have any experience of Europe at all, I only had experience of driving in Japan, and now I think I have driven more laps around that circuit than any other track on the continent. Because of that, I have very special memories of Budapest. The test was also very good for me personally and is a big part of the reason why I’ve come to Europe to compete this year.“There are many challenges at the circuit. There are high-speed corners and lots of ups and downs which is quite nice. It’s fun to drive, especially Turn 5. It feels like a really fast corner considering it’s quite tight. It provides a real challenge but I like that. It’s probably my favourite corner in the world – it’s that good!“It can be difficult to manage the tyres at Budapest because there are so many corners and there’s no real opportunity to rest them. If you push too much at the beginning, the tyres can really drop away, so you have to try and save them more in Hungary than you perhaps do at other circuits. It’s physically tough to drive too, so you need to be fit.“The last testing session I did at Budapest was quite good. I think our car looks strong, we just need to improve the balance, but hopefully, I can get the top three or top five in qualifying. I’d love to take P1 in the race so hopefully, I can do that.”Mario Isola, Pirelli Head of F1 and Car Racing“This the last FIA Formula 3 round before the summer break but we’re already entering the final stages of the championship, which provides even more pressure to obtain a strong result in Hungary. It’s a track that many of the drivers will be familiar with from their karting days and testing: very tight and narrow, with the tyres constantly working. As a result, managing the medium compound in hot conditions will be vitally important, while maintaining a focus on strategy will be key too because it’s very tricky to overtake. It’s also going to be one of the most important qualifying sessions of the year: finding a gap on what’s often a crowded circuit will be essential.”Season Stats
12 The gap between Robert Shwartzman and PREMA Racing teammate Jehan Daruvala at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.29 The number of points Jüri Vips took from Round 4, more than any driver despite not scoring a point in Race 2.7 The number of different drivers who have set the fastest lap so far this season. Christian Lundgaard has set the most with two.28 The average high temperature (in Celsius) in Budapest during a race weekend in August.NoteworthyJüri Vips has led more laps (40) than any other driver on the grid this season. Jehan Daruvala is second with 34 laps led.Between them, PREMA Racing trio Marcus Armstrong, Daruvala and Robert Shwartzman have stood on the podium 13 times this season, more than every other team combined.Armstrong, who is fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, has completed 97 laps inside the top three places – the most of any driver on the grid. Teammate and championship leader Shwartzman has ‘only’ spent 71 laps in the P1-P3.Leonardo Pulcini and Liam Lawson both led an FIA Formula 3 race for the first time at Silverstone. Both drivers earned their first podiums of the season, with Pulcini grabbing his first F3 win.Lawson’s third-place finish at Silverstone was also MP Motorsport’s first podium of the season.Out of eight possible victories this season, PREMA have four, Hitech Grand Prix have three and HWA RACELAB have one.Argentinian-born Giorgio Carrara returns to F3 with Jenzer Motorsport at the Hungaroring, driving the Swiss team’s number 15 car for the second time this season.The F3 qualifying session at the Hungaroring will take place on Saturday morning as opposed to Friday afternoon.Data (GMT+2)Friday
Free Practice: 09.35 – 10.20SaturdayQualifying: 09.00 – 09.30Race 1: 16.45 (22 laps)
Press conference: 17.45SundayRace 2: 10.00 (22 laps) -
Pulcini wins Race 2; Jehan Daruwala suffers setback, slips to 2nd in the championship: F3
Silverstone, 14 July 2019: Leonardo Pulcini denied Championship leaders PREMA a win for the second round in a row, edging out Robert Shwartzman for his first taste of champagne this season, with a blistering drive in Race 2.Starting 7th on the reverse grid, Indian racer Jehan Daruvala did well and was fighting for the third position when he got into an incident and ended any chance of making it to the top-3 and ended last. After suffering this setback, the Indian prospect slipped back to 2nd in the championship behind his teammate. He took the lead in the first race after his 2nd on the podium.The Russian racer made a late charge through the field, but could only rise as high as second, coming unstuck against the dominant Italian who secured his team’s second victory at Silverstone. Reverse grid poleman Liam Lawson completed the top three to earn his first podium in FIA Formula 3.Lawson had gotten away cleanly at the start, with Pedro Piquet and Christian Lundgaard busy squabbling amongst themselves for P2. Pulcini made the best beginning of the lot, lunging ahead of Shwartzman midway through the first lap for 4th, while the Russian took air on the curb.It was not a strong start for the Russian who also caught the tail of Race 1 winner Jüri Vips and lost further momentum. Pulcini already had his eyes on a provisional podium spot but would need two attempts to race round Lundgaard, making the second one stick at the final turn.The Italian arrowed in on Lawson, but carefully calculated his move and patiently waited in the Kiwi’s shadow. The opportunity arose on lap 9 and he seared to the right of the MP Motorsport man and comfortably completed the move. His team urged him to build a 1s gap and then concentrate on his degrading rubber.The three PREMAs were locked in tussle for 5th, but Shwartzman put a stop to the fight with an overtake on Lundgaard at the exit of Chapel which wobbled the Dane and allowed Jehan Daruvala to follow on through.Having been stuck in 5th for the majority of the race, Shwartzman swiftly followed up his first move and blistered past Piquet for third, with his eyes locked on Lawson in P2. The overtake duly arrived around the outside of Stowe, completing an awesome couple of laps for the PREMA man and a remarkable turn-around.His charge ended there as Pulcini had managed to fire 4s ahead, with just two laps to go. Action continued further back when Piquet and Lawson went wheel-to-wheel: the Trident man edged ahead and looked to have nailed down the position, but the Kiwi regained the spot thanks to slick defending moves. Daruvala added his name to the fight for third and clipped the back of the Brazilian as he backed off, sending Piquet into a spin and ending his race.Pulcini held on come the chequered flag for his maiden win of the campaign, ahead of the resurgent Shwartzman and 17-year-old Lawson. Marcus Armstrong and Lundgaard completed the top five, followed by David Beckmann, Yuki Tsunoda and Fabio Scherer.Shwartzman’s podium finish hands him back the lead in the drivers’ championship on 114 points, 12 ahead of Daruvala. Vips is third on 92, ahead of Marcus Armstrong on 77 and Piquet on 43. PREMA Racing still lead the teams’ championship on 293 points, with Hitech Grand Prix second on 127. ART Grand Prix sit third with 92, followed by Trident on 58 and HWA RACELAB on 41.Action will resume at the end of July as the grid head to Hungary where Hitech will aim to continue their pursuit of PREMA Racing, who will be desperate to pick up the pace again at the Hungaroring.FIA Formula 3 Championship – Round 4 Race 2 classificationDRIVERTEAM1Leonardo PulciniHitech Grand Prix2Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing3Liam LawsonMP Motorsport4Marcus ArmstrongPREMA Racing5Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix6David BeckmannART Grand Prix7Yuki TsunodaJenzer Motorsport8Fabio SchererSauber Junior Team by Charouz9Lirim ZendeliSauber Junior Team by Charouz10Felipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz Racing11Ye YifeiHitech Grand Prix12Max FewtrellART Grand Prix13Juri VipsHitech Grand Prix14Logan SargeantCarlin Buzz Racing15Sebastian FernandezCampos Racing16Teppei NatoriCarlin Buzz Racing17Devlin DeFrancescoTrident18Raoul HymanSauber Junior Team by Charouz19Niko KariTrident20Bent ViscaalHWA RACELAB21Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport22Andreas EstnerJenzer Motorsport23Federico MalvestitiJenzer Motorsport24Simo LaaksonenMP Motorsport25Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing26Keyvan AndresHWA RACELAB27Pedro PiquetTrident28Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing
