Victor Martins passed Kush Maini at the start to win sprint FIA F2 race in Barcelona, as Mario Boya secures home win in F3.
F2:
Maini suffered wheelspin off the line from Pole and dropped to fourth while Martins profited to take the lead on the run to the first corner. Ritomo Miyata swept around the outside at Turn 1 to go from fourth to second, ahead of Correa and Maini. Onto Lap 2 and Maini made a late dive to the inside of Correa at the opening corner to recover one position.
Teammate Gabriel Bortoleto followed him through at Turn 4, going around the outside of the DAMS driver for fourth. In the battle for seventh, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar fought hard early on, though the Campos Racing driver was unable to find a route through on the PREMA Racing talent.
By Lap 10, Martins was able to escape from DRS range of Miyata behind and led by 1.5s, while the Japanese driver held a 1.1s advantage over Maini in the podium places. Antonelli had dropped out of DRS range to Paul Aron ahead and after a long time of trying, Hadjar finally cleared the PREMA driver into Turn 1 on Lap 12.
Jak Crawford was opportunistic and capitalised, squeezing his way by into Turn 4 to take the final points-paying position in eighth from the Italian. With 10 laps to go, track limits became a problem for Miyata, and the Rodin driver was assigned a five-second time penalty for one too many breaches. He earned a second time penalty in his struggle to remain ahead of Maini to bring that total up to 10-seconds with five laps remaining.
Further back, Hadjar lost seventh to Crawford as both DAMS cars looked to be taking better care of the tyres than those ahead. Correa was pressuring Bortoleto for the final podium place, but the Brazilian was able to fend him off to maintain position. Onto the penultimate lap and a sizeable lock-up into Turn 5 was evidence of how hard Bortoleto was pushing to keep Correa behind. However, it gave the American a run into Turn 10 and after diving to the inside, he claimed fourth on the road.
Aron was next to clear Bortoleto, rounding the Invicta driver at Turn 3 on the final lap to take P5, as two corners later Crawford followed through to take sixth from him. Martins though was untroubled in front to take his first F2 victory since Silverstone in 2023. Maini moved up to second and Correa was third with Miyata’s time penalties.
Aron was fourth ahead of Crawford, Bortoleto, Hadjar and Miyata, who was eighth in the end after his 10-seconds worth of penalties were applied, though he added the fastest lap point to his scoring result.
Results: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1804499401647263895
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 2 Barcelona Sprint Race, Juan Manuel Correa is amongst several drivers to have been given a post-race time penalty. Firstly, The DAMS Lucas Oil driver finished the race third, but following a post-race investigation by the Stewards, was found to have breached track limits for a fourth time.
As a result, it means Correa has been handed a five-second time penalty, dropping him to 8th in the order. This promotes Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron onto the podium in third position. Dennis Hauger has also been handed a post-race time penalty of 10 seconds for the same infraction. After reviewing video evidence, the Stewards determined that the Norwegian driver accumulated his fourth and fifth track limit violation, earning him two separate five-second time penalties as a result.
Originally, the MP Motorsport driver finished in ninth position but with the application of his five-second time penalties, he drops to 12th. PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been handed a five-second time penalty for his fourth track limits infraction. The Italian driver was 10th in the Sprint Race but with his penalty applied, it drops him to 15th position.
MP’s Franco Colapinto was also found to have accumulated a fourth and fifth track limits breach during the race. The Argentinian driver was handed two separate five-second time penalties as a result, dropping him from 11th to 18th. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagómez has been awarded a five-second time penalty for his fourth track limits violation. Having originally finished 15th, he falls to 17th in the final classification.
Rodin Motorsport driver Zane Maloney has been given an additional five-second time penalty for his sixth track limits violation, after already serving a total of 10-seconds during the race. The Bajan driver originally crossed the line in 19th position but with his penalty applied, it drops him to 20th position in the standings.
Finally, Trident’s Roman Stanek has also been handed another five-second time penalty for his fifth track limits infraction having served his first five-second penalty for the infringement during the race. The Stewards reviewed video evidence after the race and determined he had breached track limits a fourth time. The Czech driver remains 22nd with his penalty applied.
F3:
It was as you were at the start with Trident’s pole-sitter Santiago Ramos leading teammate Sami Meguetounif away with the home favourite Boya in third ahead of MP’s Dunne. But there was plenty of battling in the midfield with Christian Mansell, Gabriele Minì, Luke Browning and Nikola Tsolov going four-wide down the main straight, with the Australian driver taking 13th ahead of his rivals.
Ramos and Meguetounif were now squabbling for the lead at the start of Lap 3, but the Trident pair collided at Turn 1. The Frenchman spun off while the former was forced to pit with a puncture. This promoted Boya into the lead ahead of Dunne and Goethe, but the Safety Car was quickly called upon with Callum Voisin and Nikita Bedrin stopping on track after colliding at the same corner.
The action resumed on Lap 7 and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel León was on the move again. The Mexican driver got past Arvid Lindblad at Turn 5, putting him sixth after starting in P13. Lindblad was struggling at the restart with Leonardo Fornaroli and PREMA Racing teammate Dino Beganovic later overtaking him, dropping him in P9.
As Lap 10 got underway, Dunne was now right on the back of Boya, with Goethe just behind. They had separated themselves from the field as Martinius Stenshorne made the move past Laurens van Hoepen for P4, with León later following him through to fifth. On Lap 14 of 21, a DRS train had now been formed from Boya in the lead to Sebastián Montoya in the final points paying position – the Colombian having gone from P27 on the grid to P12.
But it was soon to be bad news for the Campos driver after he made slight contact with Minì at the exit of Turn 4. The PREMA driver sustained a puncture causing him to lose control of his car which sent him into Montoya, with both ending up in the gravel, and the Safety Car was called upon once again.
However, with so few laps remaining, the Safety Car was withdrawn at the end of the final lap to leave Boya unchallenged to cross the line for his first victory in the Championship ahead of Dunne, who becomes the first Irishman to score a podium in Formula 3. They were joined on the rostrum by Goethe while Stenshorne finished in P4 ahead of van Hoepen and León, with Fornaroli in seventh ahead of Beganovic. Lindblad ended up ninth ahead of MP’s Tramnitz, who claimed the final point in P10.
Results: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1804448218329026949
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race in Barcelona, Trident’s Sami Meguetounif and AIX Racing driver Nikita Bedrin have been handed post-race penalties. Firstly, Meguetounif has been assigned a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision. The Frenchman collided with teammate Santiago Ramos at Turn 1 on Lap 3 of the Sprint Race, leaving the Mexican driver with a puncture and putting Meguetounif out of the race.
Following the race and after examining video evidence and hearing from both drivers, the Stewards ruled that Meguetounif had been wholly responsible for the contact. As a result, they opted to hand him a five-place penalty. Meguetounif is set to serve the penalty in the Barcelona Feature Race.
Finally, Bedrin has also been handed a post-race grid penalty. The AIX driver made contact with Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin at Turn 1, leaving both out of the race. After hearing from both drivers and examining all available evidence, the Stewards determined that Bedrin had been predominantly responsible for the contact. As a result, the Stewards elected to assign a three-place grid penalty to Bedrin. He is also set to serve the penalty in the Barcelona Feature Race on Sunday.
[Note: The story is as per press release]