Jak Crawford took the feature FIA F2 race win in wet conditions but could be under investigation, as Mario Boya wins in F3 under red flag.
F2 (feature) –
It was a bad launch for pole-sitter Victor Martins as Crawford jumped up from third on the grid to take the lead on the run to Turn 1, with Dunne in second. Martins managed to retain third ahead of Roman Stanek as Joshua Duerksen settled into fifth for AIX Racing. Arvid Lindblad and Browning continued their battling from the Sprint Race as they went side by side through Stowe on Lap 2, with the Williams Driver Academy member taking P8 with a switchback at Vale.
Dino Beganovic then followed his Hitech teammate through on the next lap at Turn 4, dropping the Campos Racing driver down to 10th. Browning continued his charge through the field on Lap 4, going down the inside of Richard Verschoor at Copse corner to P7. Beganovic once again followed his lead, going past the MP Motorsport driver at the final corner. The Hitech pairing were flying and on Lap 5. Browning used the switchback at Turn 4 to overtake Sebastián Montoya for sixth, with Beganovic again following him through a few corners later.
Back at the front, Crawford had built a 1.8s gap to Dunne, and they were also pulling away from Martins in third, who was 3.2s behind Dunne, as Duerksen and Browning closed in on Stanek in fourth. The Paraguayan took P4 from his Invicta Racing rival on the run to Copse, with Browning taking advantage of Stanek going wide to take fifth. As had become customary during the race, Beganovic again followed Browning through a few corners, going to the inside of Stanek at Vale to go up to sixth.
Lap 11 got underway with the Hitech duo was right on the tail of Duerksen, but the AIX driver resisted each one of their attempts to overtake. Behind them though, Lindblad made slight contact with Verschoor in the battle for P9 at the exit of Turn 5, and this allowed Leonardo Fornaroli to take 10th from the Campos rookie. Browning’s pressure on Duerksen finally paid off, as he went up the inside of Luffield to move into fourth place.
DRS was enabled on Lap 15 of 29, just as the sun started to come out, with the track beginning to dry out, prompting the teams to ask the drivers about changing to slicks. This was helping Browning as he had closed to within DRS range of Martins, who was struggling on his Wet tyres, although their battle was helping Duerksen close in from fifth. The British driver finally made his way past his fellow Williams junior, sailing round the outside of Martins at Luffield on Lap 18.
Back in the fight for the win, Crawford’s lead that had been 1.8s was now just 0.6s, although Browning was closing in fast on the DAMS driver and Dunne. Lindblad and Kush Maini were the first drivers to pit. The former was on Wet tyres, while the latter put on the Hards. Gabriele Minì then stuck on the Softs, but struggled to warm them up and going side-by-side with Oliver Goethe, who pitted for the Wets. The pair collided, sending the PREMA Racing driver into a spin.
From third, Browning made the bold call to pit for a second set of the Wet tyres, as Crawford and Dunne went side-by-side into Turn 4, although the race leader kept the position. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed with Minì and Stanek having stopped on track, and Crawford pitted for a second set of the Wet tyres on Lap 23. The VSC then turned into a full Safety Car on Lap 25, prompting several drivers, such as Dunne, Martins, Duerksen and Beganovic to pit for another set of Wet tyres.
The Safety Car was called in on Lap 27, as the rain began to fall once more. Crawford had retaken the lead ahead of Dunne, Browning, Duerksen and Beganovic. Racing resumed with Duerksen spinning into a stoppage down the Main Straight, while Martins, who had sustained front wing damage, was falling through the field. With the AIX car needing to be cleared, the Safety Car was called upon once more, and with no time to return to racing, Crawford crossed the line to win ahead of Dunne, with Browning joining them on the podium. Beganovic finished fourth, ahead of Montoya, while Fornaroli finished sixth for Invicta. Verschoor wound up in seventh, ahead of the Campos pairing of Lindblad and Josep María Martí, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagómez taking the final point in P10.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1941820836500897966
F2 (sprint) –
It was a great start from Kush Maini, who took the lead from pole-sitter Fornaroli ahead of Turn 1. However, the Invicta driver kept battling and retook the place with a brave move into Copse corner. Montoya and Stanek each gained three places at the start and were running in third and fourth by the end of Lap 1. Lap 2 of 21, and Fornaroli had pulled out a one second gap on Maini, who was coming under pressure from Montoya, Stanek and AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen.
In the battle for the final spot in the points, Arvid Lindblad, having started in P11, was up to eighth, but coming under pressure from compatriot Luke Browning. Back at the front, Maini had a difficult start to Lap 4, locking up into Village, and bringing Montoya even closer, although the DAMS driver was able to resist the Colombian’s attempts to overtake. After a failed move into Stowe, Browning finally got past Lindblad with a dive to the inside of the Campos Racing rookie at Turn 4 on Lap 7.
On the next lap, Alexander Dunne, running in 11th, locked up into Turn 3, giving Gabriele Minì the chance to overtake him at the next corner. However, the two collided, leaving the Rodin Motorsport driver with a puncture, although the Italian was later given a 10-second time penalty by the Stewards for causing a collision. Minì continued on in P12, while Dunne came in to put on a set of the Softs.
At the front though, Fornaroli’s lead over Maini was 1.1s at the start of Lap 11, with Montoya staying within DRS range of the DAMS in front. The drivers had settled into management though but on Lap 14, Maini, Montoya, and Stanek started to set personal best times, as Verschoor, having overtaken Lindblad, closed in on Browning. Montoya then finally made his move past Maini for P2, going down the inside at Stowe on Lap 15.
The DAMS driver lost DRS to Montoya on Lap 16 and had Stanek to fend off next. The two went side-by-side through Stowe and into the final chicane, but Maini kept P3. Stanek attempted another move through Stowe on Lap 18, but again found the door shut by Maini. But their squabbling brought the cars down to Verschoor in P9 into play, as the battle for the final spot intensified.
Maini was fighting hard but was seven seconds behind Montoya at the start of Lap 20, as Lindblad in 11th, as well as Minì and Josep María Martí all joined the fight. Stanek finally made his way past Maini at Stowe to take P3 heading onto the final lap. After a several lap-long battle, there was contact between the two Williams liveried cars of Martins and Browning in seventh and eighth at Luffield. The Briton continued on his way in seventh, but Martins dropped out of the points behind Verschoor.
Out in front though, Fornaroli was untroubled and took the chequered flag to claim his maiden Formula 2 victory. Montoya was second, with Stanek third, Maini fourth and Duerksen holding Crawford by a thousandth across the line to seal fifth. Browning recovered from his contact with Martins – who finished in P9 – to place seventh, with Verschoor taking the final spot in the points in eighth.
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of Saturday afternoon’s Silverstone Sprint Race, Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning has been penalised for causing a collision. On the final lap of the race, Car 7 of Browning collided with the ART Grand Prix Car 14 belonging to Victor Martins at Turn 7. After the race, the Stewards investigated the matter using video evidence and also heard from both drivers and Team Representatives.
It was determined that Browning had been solely to blame for the collision as the driver of Car 7 at no point had its front axle alongside Car 14, and so did not have right to space at the exit. But even at the point of contact, Car 7 had plenty of space to the left. As a result, the Stewards handed a 10-second time penalty to Browning, dropping him from seventh to 12th in the final classification. It moves all cars that finished behind him in the original classification up one position each, with Martins now taking the final points position in P8.
F3 (feature) –
Pre-race rain split strategies on the grid with some taking Wet Pirelli tyres and others fitted with Hard slick tyres and as the formation lap started, the rain intensified. Those on the wets got the best start but Nikola Tsolov, Ugo Ugochukwu and Rafael Câmara each tumbled down the order with the track too wet for their slick tyres. It left Boya to take the lead ahead of Nael and Léon in the top three, with Sprint winner Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Laurens van Hoepen following in fourth and fifth.
Despite a spin on the opening lap, Alessandro Giusti proved how much of an advantage those on Wets had, as he moved back up to P16 with a pass on Ugochukwu and Tsolov on Lap 2. Laptimes were 10 seconds slower for those on Hards versus those on the Wets. Van Hoepen moved up to fourth with a dive to the inside at Vale, while Boya began to stretch his advantage to beyond two seconds by the start of Lap 5. Christian Ho and James Wharton moved themselves up to seventh with moves on Inthraphuvasak, dropping the Campos driver down to eighth.
Charlie Wurz was the first of those to have started on dries to bail on their Hard tyres, and he pitted on Lap 7 to fit the Wets. Martinius Stenshorne followed suit a lap later, as the laptime deficit between Wets and Hards remained at seven-seconds per lap. Tsolov and Câmara remained on track and with a dive to the inside entering Vale, the Championship leader passed the Campos driver for P17 on Lap 9.
Câmara, Tsolov and Ugochukwu were into the pitlane on Lap 10 to finally fit the Wet tyres with the rain intensifying. Louis Sharp spun off the road at the final corner despite running on Wets, and the Rodin Motorsport driver’s stoppage brought out the Safety Car on Lap 11 as rain continued to hit harder. While the Safety Car remained on the track, van Hoepen was handed a five-second time penalty for a false start. The Dutch driver was running in fifth.
With the rain remaining heavy, the Red Flag was out on Lap 14, and the race was not resumed. It meant Boya was a Feature Race winner for the first time ahead of Nael and Léon, with Roman Bilinski finished fourth for Rodin. Van Hoepen was P5 on the road but once his penalty was applied, he dropped down to P7. This promoted Ho up to P5 and Wharton to sixth, with Santiago Ramos, Bruno del Pino and Inthraphuvasak completing the top 10.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1941790719728861198
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of Sunday’s FIA Formula 3 Silverstone Feature Race, several drivers have been penalised. Firstly, Tasanapol Inthraphyvasak has been given a 10-second time penalty for not engaging the start set-up procedure. After receiving a report from the Technical Delegate, the Stewards spoke to the driver, a team representative and a Technical Delegate.
A defined set-up procedure activation must be used during all formation starts and Car 11’s data shows that the driver did not engage the start set-up procedure. The driver of Car 11 admitted he forgot to engage the start set-up procedure for the formation lap, and did not realise his error until he released the clutch. As a result, the Stewards awarded Inthraphuvasak a 10-second time penalty, dropping the Campos driver from 10th to 13th in the final classification.
Noah Stromsted has also been given a 10-second time penalty for an unsafe release on Tim Tramnitz. The Stewards examined video evidence, and spoke to both drivers and their representatives. It was then determined that Car 4 had been released from its pit stall into the path of Car 17. The pair collided and Car 17 suffered damage from the collision. The Stewards determined that Car 4 had been released unsafely, and due to the subsequent collision with Car 17, elected to apply a 10-second time penalty.
This drops Stromsted from P26 to P28 in the final classification. Nicola Lacorte has been handed a post-race time penalty for a starting infringement. The Stewards heard from the driver and a team representative, while also examining video and GPS evidence. It was then determined that the driver of Car 29 passed Cars 15 and 23 on the formation lap in violation of Article 37.8 of the FIA Formula 3 Sporting Regulations.
Car 23 regained its position, but Car 29 was still ahead of Car 15 at the Safety Car Line 1. The driver of Car 29, noting the wet conditions, explained that he was on wet tyres and Car 15 and 23 were on dry tyres, and he passed them to prepare his tyres for the race start. However, the Stewards determined that the driver of Car 29 should have re-established the grid order before reaching Safety Car Line 1. As a result, Lacorte has been handed a 30-second time penalty. This drops him from P11 to P15 in the final classification.
Lastly, Gerrard Xie has also been given a 10-second time penalty after a Hitech TGR mechanic left equipment (bag of dry ice) on the grid after the 15-second signal, in contravention of Article 37.5 of the FIA F3 Sporting Regulations. As such, a 10 second stop-and-go penalty has been converted to a 30-second time penalty, which has been added to his final race time. This drops Xie from P23 to P25 in the final classification.
F3 (sprint) –
Inthraphuvasak covered off fellow front row starter Christian Ho into Turn 1. But the DAMS Lucas Oil driver lost out to Van Amersfoort Racing’s Théophile Nael, who moved up to second after going around the outside of Ho at Brooklands. TRIDENT teammates Charlie Wurz and Rafael Câmara went side-by-side for P10 through Maggotts and Becketts all the way down to Club corner, with the Austrian just about fending off his teammate.
Nikola Tsolov had a difficult opening lap also, dropping down to 29th having had contact with PREMA Racing’s Brando Badoer at Turn 4. The Italian got stuck in the gravel, bringing out a Safety Car on Lap 2. Racing got back underway entering Lap 5, and Inthraphuvasak fended off Nael but behind them, Stenshorne dived to the inside of Ho at Turn 4 to take third position. Câmara got his move on Wurz at Brooklands finished off into Luffield to take P10. Nael took the lead on Lap 6 down the inside at Turn 4, but ran outside of track limits in the process of getting the move completed.
Further back, Boya moved up to sixth with a DRS pass into Stowe on Noel Léon on Lap 7. Laurens van Hoepen improved to fourth as he set up a switchback out of Stowe on the following lap to open the door to a pass on Ho into Vale. At halfway, Nael led Inthraphuvasak by 0.5s, and the Thai driver had Stenshorne for close company just another 0.7s back in third. Following their earlier battle, Nael returned the place to the Campos driver on Lap 10, able to slot in just ahead of the Hitech behind.
Ugo Ugochukwu was able to dispatch Tim Tramnitz as the MP Motorsport driver began to slip back from his P8 starting position, and on Lap 11 Câmara dived down the inside into Turn 4 as well. The move caused the German to run wide, opening the door for Wurz to also come through for P10. Ugochukwu’s charge continued on Lap 13 as he rounded teammate Léon at Stowe with a brave pass for seventh.
Just ahead of them and into Turn 4, Boya passed Ho for fifth place to put two Campos’ in the top five. Lap 14 and Nael was beginning to fall back from Inthraphuvasak, and a big snap of oversteer through Copse allowed Stenshorne to close in. With DRS into Stowe, the Hitech driver moved up to second. Ugochukwu was up to sixth on Lap 16, as he cleared Ho into Brooklands with a dive down the inside of the DAMS driver.
In the podium battle, Laurens van Hoepen got to within DRS of Nael and the pair battled from Stowe into Vale, and on exit the pair ran to the edge of the track. It opened the door to a charging Boya, and the Campos driver cut back down the inside of both at the final corner for P3. Entering the final lap, Stenshorne had cut the gap down to 1.2s, but there was no catching Inthraphuvasak, who claimed his first victory in FIA Formula 3 ahead of the Norwegian.
Boya’s pass entering the penultimate lap gave him third and put two Campos cars on the podium, while Nael and van Hoepen’s battle from the previous lap earned the Frenchman a 10-second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track. It dropped him out of the points and gave fourth to the ART Grand Prix driver. Behind them, Ugochukwu wound up fifth having started from 11th ahead of Ho and teammate Léon. TRIDENT teammates Câmara and Wurz followed in eighth and ninth places, while Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Bilinski completed the points in 10th.
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race at Silverstone, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Théophile Nael and PREMA Racing’s Brando Badoer have both received a post-race penalty. Firstly, Nael has been handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. During the race, Nael was alleged to have gained a lasting advantage in his attempt to overtake Car 11, Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak at Turn 3.
Following the race, the Stewards examined video evidence and heard from both drivers and their team representatives. They determined that while Car 20 eventually returned the position to Car 11, it was only done so after four racing laps, and the Stewards were not satisfied that the advantage gained after four further laps had been surrendered. In accordance with Article 39.3 a) of the FIA Formula 3 Sporting Regulations, a five-second time penalty was applied, with the Stewards viewing the handing back of the position to be a mitigating factor.
In addition to his in-race time penalty, the additional five seconds drops Nael from P12 in the classification down to 19th. Finally, Badoer has received a grid drop of three places. During the opening lap, the Italian driver made contact with Car 12 of Nikola Tsolov. Following the Sprint, the Stewards heard from both drivers along with the PREMA and Campos Racing team representatives and analysed available video evidence.
They determined that Car 1 had been wholly at fault for the contact, and as a result, elected to apply a lesser penalty, taking into considering the highly dynamic and crowded conditions presented early on Lap 1 that somewhat mitigated Car 1’s culpability. Badoer will serve the penalty at the next race in which he competes.
[The story is as per press release]
