ART Grand Prix's Laurens van Hoepen achieved his first Pole Position in F3 with the fastest lap time of 1:33.935. The Dutch driver finished ahead of his teammate Nikola Tsolov and Leonardo Fornaroli of Trident, who took P3. How Free Practice UnfoldedMari Boya started his weekend on the front foot, ending up the quickest for Campos Racing with a 1:34.236 in Practice. The Spanish driver topped the leaderboard ahead of teammates Martinius Stenshorne and Luke Browning, rounding out the top three. The drivers headed out onto the track after around 15 minutes of the session, with Alex Dunne setting the first time to beat with a 1:34.986. Practice 1) M Boya 1'34.236 2) M Stenshorne +0.176 3) L Browning +0.288 4) N Leon +0.405 5) L Fornaroli +0.491 6) S Montoya +0.522 7) C Shields +0.590 8) S Ramos +0.672 9) G Mini +0.719 10) A Dunne +0.750 F3 QualifyingA late Red Flag ended title contender Luke Browning's qualifying session after he sprang into the barriers early in his final attempt, which ended everyone's session. However, Laurens van Hoepen and his teammate Nikola Tsolov benefited heavily, taking Pole and P2 in the qualifying session. Qualifying Results 1) L Van Hoepen 1:33.935 2) N Tsolov +0.233 3) L Fornaroli +0.238 4) N Leon +0.239 5) S Ramos +0.247 6) J Dufek +0.479 7) L Browning +0.502 8) S Meguetounif +0.589 9) T Tramnitz +0.596 10) C Mansell +0.647 11) C Voisin +0.672 12) T Inthraphuvasak +0.750 13) N Bedrin +0.762 14) D Beganovic +0.870 15) G Mini +0.937 16) O Goethe +1.003 17) M Esterson +1.107 18) J Loake +1.126 19) C Wurz +1.152 20) M Boya +1.170 21) M Zagazeta +1.175 22) A Lindblad +1.290 23) A Stenshorne +1.451 24) P Wisnicki +1.453 25) C Shields +1.582 26) A Dunne +1.723 27) K Sztuka +1.815 28) S Floersch +1.916 29) T Smith +2.558 ![]() Anny Wooldridge Writer at F1 Journal
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History made in Formula 3 as Red Bull junior and home hero Arvid Lindblad would complete the double at Silverstone as he took victory in a frantic feature race on Sunday. Lindblad would become the first driver to complete the double at Silverstone in Formula 3 history and as a home driver it would mean a great deal in what was a race that threw up very mixed conditions and a lot of pit lane action. Lindblad would head inherit a win after Callum Voisin of Rodin Motorsport would drop to third after Voisin picked up a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. It would be Voisin's first ever Formula 3 points and his maiden podium as Gabriele Mini would finish second. Mini would make it a Prema 1-2 as he took the championship lead from Luke Browning, who drops to third, after an eighth place finish. How the Formula 3 feature race at Silverstone unfoldedIt would be time for the Formula 3 feature race on Grand Prix Sunday, which would start the action for the day after what had been a great day of action so far. In the sprint race, a day previous on Saturday, it was Arvid Lindblad who dominated the race to take his third win of his rookie season in FIA Formula 3. He would finish ahead of Noel Leon and Matias Zagazeta, who would be the first driver to take a podium from Peru in Formula 3 history. It would be mixed conditions for the race on Sunday, for the Formula 3 feature race and a mix of tyre choices as all drivers decided to start on the wet tyres except the Rodin Motorsport drivers Piotr Wisnicki and Callum Voisin. It would be home hero and championship leader Luke Browning who would start from pole position after a great lap at the very end of Friday's qualifying. He took pole ahead of Max Esterson and Sami Meguetounif. The drivers would head on the formation lap and many took inspiration from Rodin Motorsport and at the end of the formation lap Arvid Lindblad would lead a procession of cars who would take to the pits for dry tyres. With limited cars on the grid, the feature race was ready to go The lights would go out and the race would be underway and a great start for Browning saw him get off the line well and he would maintain the lead from Max Esterson and Sami Meguetounif who were the top three on the grid. It would be interesting to see just how quickly Voisin and Wisnicki would make their way up through the field. On the opening lap Voisin would get up to fourth place with Wisnicki up to 15th as the safety car would be deployed due to Cian Shields, who had come to a stop at turn 3. A few more of the drivers would make a stop for slicks but rain was coming. It would be uncertain whether it would be the right strategy. Once the race would restart, it would be Voisin on a charge who would be heading on a charge towards the front of the field. He would soon clear Leonardo Fornaroli and and Luke Browning and would be into the race, it could be a huge gamble. The drivers on the dry compound were really making progress with Arvid Lindblad, who took to the grid on the formation lap, made his way up to fourth before the safety car was deployed. Tim Tramnitz would be up to third before the safety car would be brought back out there would be a huge crash. Alex Dunne would rejoin the circuit in an erratic manner after going wide out of Aintree and driving back onto the circuit without full control. In worry of being hit, the Van Amersfoort of Sophia Floersch took evasive action and cut across Dino Beganovic who collected her. Floersch would then head into the barriers on the left of the Wellington Straight. The Safety car would be brought back out as the German driver reported she was okay. Vosin would be in the lead during the safety car stoppage as he had made use of his dry tyres. However, just prior to the safety car it had started raining and this left Tim Tramnitz as a driver who would change back to the wets. The issue for Voisin is that the driver would be under pressure from the drivers on the wet tyres at the start. He would also be awarded a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage when passing Max Esterson. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak would also be handed a 10-second time penalty for a Safety Car infringement which would be added to the end of his race time, should he not have to stop again in the very changeable positions. Lap 8 and Voisin would get the race back underway with zero grip and he would then be right under pressure and passed by Browning into Abbey. The drivers on the wet tyres were on the better tyre at this stage as the likes of Lindblad and Voisin would tumble down the field. Voisin would be 20th after one lap of green flag racing. There would be overtakes all the way through the field in what was a frantic feature race at Silverstone. The Safety Car would however be brought back out after a huge incident between three cars out of Stowe. Josh Dufek went wide on the exit after being forced wide by Kacper Sztuka and would be sent into a spin. He would then collect Sebastian Montoya who would the barriers near pit entry, as would Alex Dunne who tried to take evasive action. A huge incident that would be looked at, after the session, and thankfully all three would be okay. All three would be out of the race. The safety car would be deployed and the pit lane entry would be closed due to the closeness with the incident and in distance to the pit lane. Rain was rumoured to increase as Noel Leon was told as he had made up some great ground and would be in a great position to take a double podium. The track was looking to have dried by the end of the safety car and it would be interesting to see how the drivers would fare at the restart. The safety car would come in and when the race restarted, it would be on a timer and there would be 13 minutes of racing to go. Browning would get a clean start and would aim to get as far down the road as possible. The wet tyres would look to have the advantage as initially Tim Tramnitz would take fifth after passing two cars at the very beginning of the restart. However, the change would soon come and Callum Voisin, Arvid Lindblad and Gabriele Mini who were all in the bottom 10 drivers still in the race at the restart, but they would be making their way through the field at rapid pace. In the field, Christian Mansell, who took a podium in the Silverstone feature race last year, would drop back a place after going deep at Brooklands, after he shared a side-by-side battle down the Wellington straight. Mansell would be down to 11th as Beganovic later in the race would receive a five-second time penalty for multiple track limit infractions. Leon was another driver who had pace and moved up into second place after passing championship contender Leonardo Fornaroli. Voisin behind though was on a charge and was making overtakes corner by corner and looked to be charging towards the front of the field once more. He was up into fourth before long after overtaking Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport. Although he had a 10-second penalty to come, he was showing some blistering pace and was up into second place after passing Noel Leon. Voisin would not be alone on his charge as he was being pursued by the two Prema cars of Arvid Lindblad and Gabriele Mini. The 2.8 second gap between Browning and Voisin would disappear in simply no time and would make a delightful pass to take the lead of the race and would have to do all he could to pull a gap of 10 seconds, if he was to take victory on home soil for his maiden victory in Formula 3. The British rookie would however be pursued by the other British rookie of Lindblad, who himself was under pressure from his Alpine Academy Prema teammate, Gabriele Mini. The time was ticking down as further down the field, Tommy Smith made it up into fourth place for Van Amersfoort, although he would be a way down on the others. Also, Piotr Wisnicki is up to fifth after making another charge up through the field. The Polish driver started last and 30th on the grid. The three out front were quite a distance clear of the rest of the field and were trading fastest laps at the top of the time sheets. A lot of action was happening up and down the field but as the time ticked down the drivers would be onto the final lap of the race. As they took the flag it would be a day of history for the top five. Out front it would be delight and heartbreak for Callum Voisin. He would be delighted to take his maiden points and his first ever podium in FIA Formula 3, on a circuit that he has known well after competing on it in previous years, in previous categories. He would cross the line to take the flag but would end up dropping to third with the 10-second time penalty. Voisin would lose the win but after discussions on team radio with the driver, it seems Rodin Motorsport are set on appealing the decision. Arvid Lindblad however was making history of his own. He had driven a flawless weekend and had continued his fantastic rookie development and showcased his fantastic skill and racecraft once again to the motorsport world. Lindblad at just 16 year of age took the win to take his fourth win of the season, in his rookie season, and pulls level with Zak O'Sullivan and Franco Colapinto with the most Formula 3 victories, in the championships short history, since the inaugural season in 2019. The British talent also becomes the first driver in Formula 3 history to complete the double at Silverstone. What a momentous achievement for him on his home round. A fantastic weekend for him which would move him up to second in the championship. What an achievement! It would be a Prema 1-2, with Gabriele Mini taking the championship lead, after coming across the line to take second place and the fastest lap. A great haul of points and a great decision from Prema to move onto the dry tyres, which has paid off for them superbly. Callum Voisin would being up the rear of the podium in third place. A great race behind for the Australian driver, Tommy Smith, who after a long process of learning and developing took the flag to claim his first every Formula 3 points in an excellent fourth place. This would also be the case for the Rodin Motorsport of Piotr Wisnicki who would take fifth place in the race for his first ever points. Oliver Goethe would take sixth for Campos ahead of the trident of Leonardo Fornaroli, as no grip on the tyres for Luke Browning saw him drop to eighth. A disappointing result for the home hero, who came into the lead of the championship. Nikita Bedrin for AIX Racing and Noel Leon would complete the points scoring and the top 10. Arvid Lindblad though has been on another level lately. Yes he was on the right tyre at the right time but he and Prema made the ball call to pit for the dry compounds when rain was threatening to come. It was a great drive from him and after such a fantastic weekend of performance he was now right in the championship fight. Nine points separating the top three as they have a week break after a fantastic triple header, which produced so much great action. The driver making it count the most would be Arvid Lindblad who has brought himself right into contention and is in now touching distance of the lead, with his teammate Gabriele Mini in possession of the lead by six points. Luke Browning down to third after coming into the weekend leading the championship. Action will return in just short of two weeks time as Formula 3 heads to the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary for round eight of 10. 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship: Round 7 - Silverstone feature race provisional result
Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal After the rescheduled Formula 3 sprint race at Silverstone, on Saturday, were handed post-race penalties by the Stewards. Oliver Goethe, Charlie Wurz and debutant James Wharton would all receive penalties from the Race Stewards after the sprint at Silverstone, for round seven of 10 in the 2024 championship. Wharton of Hitech, who would be driving in place of Martinius Stenshorne for the Silverstone round, would receive a time penalty while Wurz and Goethe would receive grid penalties for the feature race to come on Sunday morning. The sprint race in Formula 3, on Saturday, would be rescheduled after the race would be postponed due to adverse wet weather conditions. The race was supposed to start in the morning at 09:20 local time but would instead be run at 18:00 local time. It would be a third win of the year for Arvid Lindblad who would take victory for the Prema Racing team at his home event. The Red Bull junior finished ahead of Noel Leon, who was second to take victory. History was made in third place as Matias Zagazeta would become the first driver from Peru to score points and claim a podium in the FIA Formula 3 Championship Australian driver James Wharton would finish 13th initially on debut after a decent drive through the field, with many incidents going on around them.However, Wharton would be penalised after the race which would drop him down the order. Wharton would be handed a time penalty of 10 seconds for a collision with Van Amersfoort Racing's Tommy Smith. The two Australians would end up colliding and this would be investigated by the Stewards. The Stewards, to investigate, would speak to both drivers and their team representatives as well as reviewing all video evidence. They would determine that Wharton was wholly responsible for the collision being caused. This would result in Wharton being given the 10-second time penalty dropping him from 13th to 18th. In other news, Charlie Wurz would be handed a post-race penalty, by the Stewards post-race, after an incident during the sprint race between himself and the MP Motorsport of McLaren junior driver Alex Dunne. This would be quite a peculiar between Wurz in his Jenzer and the MP Motorsport of Irish talent Alex Dunne. Dunne would overtake Wurz on lap 11 on the limits. However, MP were of the opinion that Wurz had gained the place unfairly and Dunne dutifully let the Austrian by. Straight away on lap 12, down the wellington straight, Dunne would attempt to re-overtake the Jenzer of Wurz. However, in the Irishman's attempt, he would be squeezed onto the grass by Wurz and would lose control of the car and in doing so collected the Jenzer with his McLaren liveried MP Motorsport car. Wurz would come to a stop at Brooklands, while Dunne would carry on with front wing damage but would have his sprint race ruined. After reviewing the incident after the race, the Stewards would find the Jenzer Motorsport driver, Charlie Wurz, at fault for the collision. The Stewards would determine, after reviewing all relevant video evidence, that Wurz was wholly responsible for the collision between the pair that caused a virtual safety car. For his punishment, Wurz would be handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident. However, as Wurz failed to finish the race, this would be converted into a five-place grid penalty for the feature race to take place on Sunday morning at Silverstone. Dunne ended up finishing the race in 22nd overall. Thirdly, Oliver Goethe would be handed a penalty for an incident in the race that saw him and Max Esterson come together at the infamous Copse corner. The pair came together in the early stages of the race with both ending in the gravel out of the, and the safety car was brought out. The incident would be investigated by the Stewards after the race. Once they had spoken to both drivers and team representatives, as well as reviewing all relevant video evidence, they determined that Car 10 (Goethe) was wholly responsible for the collision between the pair. Due to Goethe being wholly responsible, in the eyes of the Stewards, he would be handed a 10-second time penalty, which similarly to Charlie Wurz, would be converted to a five-place grid penalty for the Sunday feature race. After a whole host of decisions for the ever busy Stewards, it would not be long before they would be back overseeing action in FIA Formula 3. Action will return at the Silverstone weekend, in Formula 3, on Sunday morning as the series will go racing for the round seven feature race which will have home hero and championship leader, Luke Browning, start on pole position. The race will commence at 08:20 local time Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal British driver Arvid Lindblad took a memorable win in front of his home crowd, on Saturday, took victory in the Formula 3 sprint race at Silverstone. Lindblad would take his third win of the year as the only repeat winner of the 2024 Formula 3 winner so far. The Red Bull Driver Academy Prema driver would take a super win to bring himself well into contention for the title. The 16-year old would finish ahead of Mexican driver Noel Leon of Van Amersfoort racing, while history would be made for Peru driver Matias Zagazeta. Zagazeta would become the first Peruvian driver to score points and take a podium as he finished third at Silverstone. Championship leader Luke Browning would suffer a puncture during the race and drop out of the points. He would start on pole position for the Sunday feature race, How the rescheduled Formula 3 sprint race unfoldedIt was time for racing, on Saturday evening, for Formula 3 at Silverstone in support of the British Grand Prix. Formula 3 was here for the fifth time in six years to compete in round seven of 10 in the 2024 championship. There had already been a lot of brilliant action in the weekend with qualifying being down to less than a tenth between the top three. Luke Browning of Hitech would take pole position at his home event at Silverstone, with Max Esterson and Sami Meguetounif qualifying second and third. Noel Leon, of Van Amersfoort Racing, would start on the reverse grid pole after qualifying 12th. He would start on the front row with British driver Arvid Lindblad alongside him. The race would be suspended from its initial start of 09:20 due to adverse wet weather conditions that had made the Silverstone circuit far from safe for racing. The sprint would be rescheduled for 18:00 that evening. All 30 cars would take to the grid for the start of the race and it was time for the sprint race of round seven. Lights would go out and it would be a fantastic start from Arvid Lindblad who would take the lead through Abbey as the front row as well as Matias Zagazeta were three wide into turn one but it would be Lindblad to take the lead. Zagazeta would be up into second ahead of Leon, who had a tough start to the race. Battles would be happening all the way through the field on the opening lap with Christian Mansell, who would initially be ahead of Callum Voisin, but those two would change position on lap 2. In the latter stages of the opening lap it would be a pass made by Leon, who would make an excellent start to the race. A disaster of a start for Sophia Floersch as she picked up damage in a tangle on the opening lap and would be forced to pit for repairs. Lap 3 and the virtual safety car would be deployed as Santiago Ramos would pick up a puncture and lose a lot of his tyre which would fall off the car and onto the circuit. The VSC would be deployed to get the tyre removed from the circuit. There would not be long before the drivers went racing again as the debris was quickly cleared from the circuit. The following lap and there would not be much green flag racing the safety car would be brought out after a collision between Oliver Goethe and Max Esterson saw both cars go off into the barrier at Copse in a big shunt. Thankfully both drivers would be okay and they would be able to climb out of their cars. However, there would be time spent while the safety cars were out to move the tyres. Safety car would be brought in and the race would resume on lap 8 of the race. There would be drama at the restart as Luke Browning was off the road and slow. He had collided with the MP Motorsport of Tim Tramnitz who went wide at turn 4. Browning would suffer a puncture as both would be forced to pit as Tramnitz would have front wing damage. With lap 10 of the race and Lindblad had maintained the race lead at the restart but had Noel Leon within a second and with DRS on him. Lindblad had to be wary as he was trying to take victory at Silverstone - his home venue. MP Motorsport's Alex Dunne was on a charge and took sixth place from the Jenzer Motorsport of Charlie Wurz and the Irishman took sixth. He was on a charge and was up into fifth on Christian Mansell. However, shortly after the MP Motorsport of Dunne gave the place back to Wurz but then would re-overtake the Austrian down the Wellington straight. Dunne would try to overtake with wheels on the grass and was trying to get ahead. The gap would be narrowing the two collided that caused more drama in the sprint race, on Saturday evening a Silverstone. Wurz would be out at Brooklands, while Dunne would continue on. Lindblad would have the lead at the VSC with Leon, Zagazeta, Callum Voisin, Mansell, Nikola Tsolov, Gabriele Mini, Sami Meguetounif, Sebastian Montoya and Laurens Van Hoepen rounded off the top 10. The green flag would drop and soon Lindblad would be extending the margin to 1.8 seconds over the Van Amersfoort car of Noel Leon who was in second. Onto the 15th lap and a train was beginning to form for the final points position as the Formula 3 sprint race at Silverstone entered the final stages with Lindblad in the lead. Moving onto the following lap and the Red Bull junior, Prema driver, Arvid Lindblad would be pulling clear out front with some great pace. A nightmare for Christian Mansell who would receive a five-second time penalty for track limits, which would massively effect his race result. The ART driver had a good race but it was not to be. Tommy Smith, of Van Amersfoort Racing, would receive a 10-second time penalty in the latter stages after an incident earlier on in the race. On the final lap, the two Alpine Academy drivers would be battling through the Brooklands, Luffield and Woodcote complex and would be fighting for position. Tsolov however would make a robust defence and squeezed Gabriele Mini out and off the road. Mini, who was a fair bit alongside, through the Woodcote corner. This would be looked into after the race had concluded. Out in front, it was a delightful drive from Arvid Lindblad. The British driver had been magnificent out front and conquered any challenges that had come his way. On home soil, Lindblad would take the win for Prema. The 16-year old would take his third win of the year and had brought himself into right contention for the championship, with a dominant display from the Red Bull junior driver. Lindblad would win clear of Mexican driver Noel Leon would come home in second place for Van Amersfoort Racing.While just behind Jenzer Motorsport's Matias Zagazeta would be creating Formula 3 history. Zagazeta would become the first driver from Peru to score points and take a podium in Formula 3 history. A truly magical and special moment for Zagazeta and it would be Jenzer Motorsport's first podium of the season. Zagazeta would take his first Formula 3 points as would Rodin Motorsport's Callum Voisin who finished fourth to also take his first Formula 3 points. Nikola Tsolov would complete the top five. Gabriele Mini would finish sixth ahead of former teammate Sebastian Montoya, who was seventh. Sami Meguetounif, Laurens Van Hoepen and Leonardo Fornaroli would complete the top 10. After a fantastic race of action attention would turn to the feature race action, which is a longer race, taking place on Sunday morning with home fans cheering for Brit Luke Browning, who would start from pole position. 2024 Formula One Championship: Round 7 - Silverstone sprint race provisional result
Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal The Saturday Formula 3 sprint race at Silverstone was postponed due to the strong wet weather conditions. Formula 3 was set to go racing on Saturday morning at 09:20 local time for the sprint race, for round seven of 10 in 2024. However, heavy rain had covered the Silverstone Circuit and it was a very wet circuit, with no sign of the conditions lightening up or the track drying. Berd Maylander, the Safety Car driver, went out onto the circuit to try and pcreate somde dry lines on the circuit and to check whether it would be suitable for racing or not. The track conditions were deemed to be unsafe with the Safety Car having a bit of a skid on the lap it was out on the circuit. Race Control would move the race provisional race start time back a further 25 minutes, to 09:45 in an attempt for the track to try and dry and the rain to try and stop falling, so racing could get underway. Sadly, this was not the case. After Berd Maylander would head onto the circuit to check it, Race Control would put a further message out saying the race would be postponed. This would mean that if possible, the event would have to be rescheduled for a different point in the weekend. It would be Noel Leon who would be supposed to start from pole position after the top 12 were reversed. Leon was supposed to pole for the second time in his Formula 3 career, after the Imola sprint race in May. British driver Arvid Lindblad would have started second at his home event, for Prema. The organisers would work hard to have the sprint race rescheduled. If failing to do so,the next action would be on Sunday morning for the feature race. Championship leader and home hero Luke Browning is set to start from pole position. Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal After Formula 3 qualifying at Silverstone, on Friday, four drivers were handed grid penalties for Saturday's sprint race. Mari Boya, Sami Meguetounif, Max Esterson and Nikola Tsolov were all handed grid penalties after qualifying, by the Stewards, for impeding incidents. All grid penalties would be applied to the Saturday sprint race grid, which will be the next race which all four drivers participate in. Championship leader Luke Browning would take pole position at his home event at Silverstone with a great lap to see him be ahead of the second and third place drivers in Max Esterson and Sami Meguetounif who were second and third respectively. The top three would be separated by less than a tenth with Meguetounif and Esterson being in trouble with the Stewards after the qualifying and would receive a grid penalty as both were found to be at fault for their respective incidents. Esterson of Jenzer Motorsport would be handed a three-place grid penalty for the sprint race after he was found to have impeded Prema driver Dino Beganovic in the qualifying session. After the Stewards had spoke to both drivers, their team representatives as well as reviewing relevant evidence, they determined that Esterson (Car 18) would be wholly responsible for the impeding incident. As a result the American driver will take a three-place grid penalty for Saturday morning's sprint race. As for third in qualifying Sami Meguetounif of Trident, he too would be handed a three-place grid penalty for the Silverstone sprint race on Saturday morning. Meguetounif, who won the Imola feature race, would be handed a grid penalty for an impeding incident. The French Trident driver would be handed a grid penalty for impeding Van Amersfoort Racing's Sophia Floersch. Meguetounif, after a post-qualifying session investigation, where the Stewards spoke to all relevant personnel and reviewed all relevant evidence to make a decision on the incident. Once the investigation was complete, the Stewards would determine that Meguetounif should have been more aware of his surroundings and faster cars approaching. The Stewards would find him at fault and would therefore hand him a three-place grid penalty. Spanish Campos racer Mari Boya would join Meguetounif and Esterson in being handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding. Likewise Boya would be off to see the Stewards for allegedly impeding Sophia Floersch - similar to Sami Meguetounif. After the incident was reviewed further in detail, the Stewards would determine that Boya would be found to have clearly impeded Floersch like Meguetounif did. Boya would be handed a three-place time penalty which would come into effect for the Saturday morning sprint race. Last but not least, ART driver and two-time Formula 3 race winner Nikola Tsolov would be handed a three-place grid penalty after an impeding incident - the Stewards decided. Bulagrian Tsolov would be under investigation for potential impeding of the Rodin Motorsport of Piotr Wisnicki. The Stewards would ultimately determine a three-place grid penalty would be the fitting punishment for Tsolov who had it determined that he should have more awareness with faster cars approaching behind him. Four drivers were handed penalties that will all take place for Saturday's sprint race grid. This would be when Formula 3 action next returns. Action will return on Saturday morning for the sprint race with Mexican driver Noel Leon starting from pole position. Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal Luke Browning put in an amazing latter stages lap to take pole position in Formula 3, on home soil, at Silverstone on Friday. Browning takes his second pole position in as many Formula 3 rounds after taking pole last time out in Austria. Browning took a narrow pole ahead of the Jenzer Motorsport car of Max Esterson and Sami Meguetounif who were the top three. Esterson and Meguetounif were second and third respectively and the top three were separated by less than a tenth. The Williams Academy Hitech driver leads the championship coming into his home event. How Formula 3 qualifying unfolded at SilverstoneFormula 3 arrived at Silverstone for round seven of 10 in the 2024 season with the final four rounds in the air. The Championship leader Luke Browning was arriving at his home round with an 11 point lead over Gabriele Mini. On the Friday's earlier practice session it was the American driver Max Esterson, who was fastest for Jenzer Motorsport. With a threat of rain in the air drivers were keen to get on with it as the early lap times could be the best times set in the session if the rain was to come and soak the track. Without any hesitation all 30 drivers headed out onto the circuit in an attempt to get a good first lap in. After two installation laps the drivers were to get on with it as the AIX Racing of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak reporting rain. Noel Leon set the first benchmark lap time for Van Amersfoort with a 1:45.475. That was the lap the others had to all aim to beat. Gabriele Mini came close and went second quickest but would miss out by 0.087s. However, Mini would fail to stay there as Alex Dunne would put in a great lap to go second quickest by just 17 thousandths ahead of Gabriele Mini. Some drivers would be prepped for second flying laps as with th threat of rain, time would not want to be wasted by any of the drivers. However, no one could improve on the second run as Dino Beganovic and championship leader Luke Browning. However disaster for the drivers who needed to improve as the rain was becoming heavier and the rain was making the track wet and there was a lack of grip out there. All the drivers headed back to the pit lane as there was no laps to be set that would mae a difference to the order. A few drivers would go out onto the circuit with 10 minutes remaining to try and get a feel for the circuit in the current condition with the rain and the drivers were testing the track with the tyres. However, no lap times were threatening the order.and least of all provisional pole man Noel Leon of Van Amersfoort. Leon would be on course to take his maiden Formula 3 pole position, a great achievement for what it would be for him. However, the dry lines were developing as the rain had mostly stopped on circuit. This saw many drivers out on circuit in the latter stages but the two who would not head out at the top of the time sheets, Noel Leon and Alex Dunne as they thought it was job done. It was far from job complete and it would be game over as loads of drivers were improving massively as Arvid Lindblad was the first driver to beat the lap time and there were many drivers queuing up. Beganovic needed a lap but after a mistake in the final corner was unable to make it count and would end the session down in 19th. British rookie Callum Voisin would be the next to take provisional pole in an extraordinary turn of events as Leon and Dunne were slipping down the order as the times kept tumbling in the session. There were still drivers to come including Leonardo Fornaroli who would then take provisional pole at Silverstone! He took pole in 2023 but with a lap time of 1:45.265 he was in prime position to take it in 2024. However, not on Luke Browning's watch. The boy from Britain, on his home event, was not content with Fornaroli taking pole for the feature race at his home event and potentially gaining ground in the championship. A stunner of a lap from Browning saw him light the timing pages up. He set a 1:44.992 to take provisional pole in the very latter stages of the Formula 3 qualifying. Esterson was fast behind him but could he break Browning's heart? No! Browning was on pole position in Formula 3 in front of his home crowd at his home event at Silverstone. A fantastic lap from the Williams Academy driver and he pulled a lap out of the bag at a crucial point. Max Esterson, who topped practice, fought Browning extremely closely for pole position, and he just missed out on pole position by 0.045s. So close for Esterson but that is his best qualifying result in FIA Formula 3 to date. Sami Meguetounif would also put in a great lap in third place and would also be less than tenth of Browning's lap. Despite such an impressive time, Fornaroli was fourth for Trident but it would be a great points scoring opportunity for him in both races. Laurens Van Hoepen for ART would complete the top five. Charlie Wurz was sixth for Jenzer ahead of ART Grand Prix's Christian Mansell in seventh, who was ahead of his own teammate Nikola Tsolov in eighth. Callum Voisin was ninth for Rodin with Matias Zagazeta making it all three Jenzer Motorsport cars in the top 10. Arvid Lindblad would manage 11th and while Noel Leon thought he would be starting from pole for Sunday's feature race but instead would be starting from reverse grid pole for Saturday's sprint race. A crazy session that was thrilling and intense with the ending and the drivers who chose to go out in the latter stages made it pay off superbly well and are in great positions for the races to come across the weekend. It was Luke Browning though, who was the driver to get it the most accurate when it mattered to take his second pole position in a row in Formula 3 and will start from the front on Sunday's feature race from pole. On Grand Prix Sunday, in front of his home crowd he will have the joy of starting from pole. The sprint race, which will be on Saturday morning, will be the next action in the Formula 3 weekend. The race will commence at 09:20 local time. 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship: Round 7 - Silverstone qualifying provisional result
Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal American Jenzer Motorsport driver Max Esterson topped a rainy Formula 3 practice session on Friday morning at Silverstone. Esterson would top a practice session to be the second Jenzer driver in the previous two rounds to top a Formula 3 practice session with Charlie Wurz topping practice session. It would be a very wet session, with tricky conditions. Esterson would finish fastest ahead of British driver Cian Shields, who was second for Hitech. Nikola Tsolov who was for ART. Championship leader Luke Browning chose not to run in the practice session at his home event, in order to save both of his wet tyre compounds for later sessions across the weekend. How Formula 3 practice unfolded at SilverstoneTime for round seven action of 10 in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, with action taking place at the iconic Silverstone Circuit, home to the very first Formula One Grand Prix. This would also be the third and final round of a triple header after two previous rounds in Barcelona and Austria with the championship battle still really tight at the top with four rounds remaining. Championship leader Luke Browning will be feeling confident as this is his home event and will be hoping to capitalise on the extra mental strength he would receive from his home supporters. Browning of Hitech has an 11-point lead coming into the round ahead of Gabriele Mini who is second as it stands. Browning will have a change of teammate in the three-driver lineup he is a part of for this weekend. Unlike usual Martinius Stenshorne will not be competing with the Hitech team due to him being banned from racing at Silverstone due to him having raced there in another series. The FIA determined this as gaining an unfair sporting advantage and therefore would ban him from participating at Silverstone in Formula 3. In his place would be James Wharton, an Australian racing driver who would be making his Formula 3 weekend debut.in place of Stenshorne. A great opportunity. The 45-minute practice session would get underway on an early rainy morning at Silverstone in typical British fashion The session would begin with only a select few of the drivers heading out onto the circuit, as some not wanting to risk their cars too early on and wanting to just ease themselves in the session. Jenzer Motorsport's Max Esterson would be the first driver to set a lap time with a 2:02.391 but this would be likely beaten as the track would ramp up and improve as the session went on. Prema's Arvid Lindblad, who like Browning, is at his home round this weekend. He would find pace to shoot up to the top of the time sheets with a 2:02.079. The Red Bull junior driver would love to add to his two race victories so far. The track was showing signs of improvement with Mari Boya the next driver to go to the top of the time sheets. He would set the timing sheets alight as he would send his Campos fastest overall. Boya's time of 2:00.873 would be a total of seven tenths faster than Trident Sami Meguetounif, who was second. Nikola Tsolov got his second win of the season in the Austria sprint race and would be the next to go to the top of the time sheets. The Bulgarian driver had been showing a real improvement in form levels, in previous rounds. It wouldn't be long before British driver Cian Shields would go fastest at his home event, for the Hitech team. A 2:00.267 would be the time to beat with 25 minutes remaining in the session. An indication of the track improving would see another change at the top of the time sheets as with 20 minutes to go, Esterson would head back to the top of the times. The rain would start to fall with 15 minutes remaining as some drivers were thinking of trying to do a little bit of running on the dry compound of tyres. Running would still be completed by most of the drivers on the wet tyre compounds as the drivers wanted to get a good feel for the track. Championship leader Luke Browning would decide not to run in the session as it would look like he was strategically choosing not to as he was potentially trying to save his wet tyres for the remainder of the weekend. He would be joined in that method by Van Amersfoort driver Tommy Smith. More running would be completed at the end of the session but no improvements would be made to the top of the timing sheets as the chequered flag would fly and that would signal the end of the practice session at Silverstone. When the session was complete, it was Max Esterson who was fastest in free practice for Jenzer Motorsport, with a decent lap time of 2:00.153. A lap time that would be just over a tenth faster than Cian Shields of Hitech in a great session for the British driver. Nikola Tsolov of Alpine Academy and ART would finish third. Debutant James Wharton would finish in an impressive fourth place with Mari Boya completing the top five for Campos. Christian Mansell got his maiden Formula 3 podium at Silverstone in 2023, he was sixth this year in free practice ahead of British Rodin Motorsport driver Callum Voisin, who was seventh. Nikita Bedrin for AIX Racing ahead of Noel Leon and Sami Meguetounif would complete the top 10. With the wet conditions on circuit and the threat of a rain forecast for the Friday afternoon qualifying session there will be a lot of excitement surrounding the session to place at Silverstone. Qualifying will commence at 14:10 track time. 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship: Round 7 - Silverstone free practice result
Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal Formula 3 returns this weekend with four rounds remaining of the 2024 campaign as the series heads to Silverstone for round eight. It has been a season so far where the championship has been tightly fought all the way through and will be seemingly closely fought all the way to the last round in Monza, Italy in September. British Williams Academy driver Luke Browning took the feature race win last time out in Austria. Browning will come into his home round at Silverstone with the championship lead over the challenging pack. A look at the track - Silverstone, Great BritainRacing action returns for the third leg of the triple header in Formula 3, as the series prepares for round seven of 10 in the 2024 series. Formula 3 will race this coming weekend at the iconic Silverstone circuit - the place of the very first Formula One World Championship Grand Prix. Formula 3 has visited Silverstone every year since the first year of the series in 2019, except for the 2021 season. Silverstone has always produced some great action when Formula 3 has raced there with a lot of overtaking thanks to the great circuit layout. Last year in 2023, there was a flurry of action all beginning on Friday, which is qualifying day but with also the morning practice session starting the weekend off in style. It would be home hero Luke Browning who would top the free practice session, in what would have been a memorable moment for the Brit, who was a rookie at the time. Unfortunately for him, he would not get pole position for the feature race. Instead it would be a memorable session for Trident who secured a 1-2 for Silverstone with Italian Leonardo Fornaroli taking pole position ahead of his fellow rookie teammate Oliver Goethe. The gap was just over a tenth, 0.126s to be exact. Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti would finish third for Campos. Excitement would be for both the sprint and feature races to come that weekend. Up first, was the turn of the sprint race with Colombian racer Sebastian Montoya from reverse grid pole and would be joined by British MP Motorsport driver Jonny Edgar. By the chequered flag it would be a win for Edgar's MP Motorsport teammate, Franco Colapinto, who would take the victory. The Williams Academy driver managed to win the race after passing Montoya and Taylor Barnard who came together on lap 13 straight after the safety car restart. It was a fascinating sprint race with the very interchanging conditions with many drivers using wet tyres and dry tyres and which tyres were more suitable kept changing too. Many track battles came to life with a battle for the final point going all the way to the final corner of the final lap. Colapinto took victory ahead of the eventual 2023 Formula 3 champion Gabriele Bortoleto, who was second, while Australian Christian Mansell took a podium for Campos in third. In terms of the Sunday feature race, where the Formula One Grand Prix points scoring system would be in place for the top 10 with a maximum of 26 available for a driver if they were to clinch victory as well as the fastest lap. At the end of a race that had changing conditions once again at Silverstone. This time the race was the Sunday feature race and it would be the Trident pair to start from the front row. Both would take their maiden Formula 3 win if they were to take victory. It would be Oliver Goethe who would take the flag to win for the first time in the series ahead of his teammate Leonardo Fornaroli, who made it a Trident 1-2! Pepe Marti finished third, where he started, to complete the podium. The Silverstone circuit is made up of 5.891km and 18 corners, which form this iconic layout. The corners and straights have legendary names which are well known around the motorsport world. Corners such as Copse, Maggots and Becketts, Brooklands as well as straights such as the Wellington and Hangar straights. Two DRS zones add to the flurry of overtaking opportunities that this circuit has to offer. The DRS zones run into Brooklands and Stowe, with overtaking opportunities also available into Copse and the Vale chicane. The lap record around this circuit in FIA Formula 3 was set by the Hitech of Juri Vips in the 2019 season. A lap of 1:43.902 is the record that is set. In terms of racing action to come this weekend, there will be 18 laps on Saturday for the sprint race with 22 laps coming on the Sunday in the feature race. Plenty of action to come with a lot of laps for fans to get excited about. James Wharton to make Formula 3 debut for Hitech in place of StenshorneA change to the regular grid will be made this coming weekend at Hitech as McLaren junior Martinius Stenshorne will be replaced by Australian 17-year old James Wharton for this round at Silverstone. Wharton will make his Formula 3 debut in place of Stenshorne, who was handed a ban for this event back in Imola after he was found to be in breach of the sporting regulations as he had competed at Silverstone in another series. This therefore giving an unfair advantage to Stenshorne under the guidelines. The FIA would not budge on the decision meaning that Hitech would have to source a replacement for this round, to fill the space of the car 15 that was driven by Martinius Stenshorne, who had competed at Silverstone in the GB3 championship in the off season. In Stenshorne's place would be Australian driver James Wharton, who is in just his third year of open-wheel racing. Wharton in 2024 has been competing in his rookie season of Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) where currently sits sixth in the standings. Wharton has previously raced in championships such as the Italian Formula 4 and the ADAC Formula 4 Championship. Wharton's only open-wheel racing title came in 2023 as he clinched the Formula 4 UAE Championship. It will be a big chance for Wharton at Hitech with his first experience in support of a Formula One Grand Prix weekend. He will partner up with two Brits as his teammates in Cian Shields and Luke Browning. A look back to the previous round: Round 6 - AustriaLast time out in Formula 3, the championship headed to a staple of the championship's calendar for round six of 10 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. It would be the start of the second half to the season after the first half was completed in the round in Spain, which was the round prior to Austria. Just last weekend is when the cars went racing around the Red Bull Ring. Leonardo Fornaroli would come into the round at Spielberg with the lead of the Driver's Championship with the championship tight like it had been all year. On Friday, practice and qualifying would kick start the action of the weekend before the two races to come on Saturday and Sunday. It would be home Austrian hero Charlie Wurz, who would have the pace in the morning to top the time sheets for Jenzer Motorsport. A great moment for Wurz in front of his home crowd. In the day's later qualifying session, it would be British talent Luke Browning who would take pole position with a fantastic lap time for Hitech. The Williams Academy driver would start from pole position for the Sunday feature race. It would be a British 1-2 with Prema racing's Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad taking second place. Lindblad would miss out by just less than a tenth of a second (0.084s). Tim Tramnitz, fellow Red Bull junior to Lindblad, would take third for MP Motorsport. The Saturday sprint race would be enthralling with a lot of great battling going on up and down the field. Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov would take his second victory of the season for ART Grand Prix. The Alpine Academy driver would beat McLaren junior Martinius Stenshorne who would come across the line to take his second podium of the season for Hitech. Tsolov's ART teammate Christian Mansell would take third place. On Sunday, attention turned to the feature race. It would be a fantastic drive from pole-sitter Luke Browning who would have the measure over his rivals to take victory at the Red Bull Ring and to take over the championship lead. He would have two Prema drivers and two championship contenders joining him on the podium. Gabriele Mini and Dino Beganovic would join Browning up on the podium. Mini would finish second while Beganovic would be third. A difficult weekend for Leonardo Fornaroli, who led the championship coming into the round in Austria. However, after a track limit violation, which saw his lap deleted, he was dropped to 24th overall. He would finish 12th in the sprint and ninth in the feature and would lose the championship lead. After the round, Browning took the lead of the championship by 11 points to Gabriele Mini who moved up to second place. Fornaroli dropped to third and sat 20 points of Browning's tally of 106 points. A lot of excitement as all still to play for! Siverstone round awaitsExciting times in FIA Formula 3 enters the final four rounds of the season as the championship heads to Silverstone for round seven of the championship. The championship is extremely tight heading into the round with still more than three drivers who could take the championship glory by the final round in Monza. Who will take the title is still very much unclear but all is very much to play for. Free Practice will get underway on Friday morning Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal Australian racer James Wharton has been announced that he will replace Martinius Stenshorne at Hitech for the upcoming Formula 3 round at Silverstone. This is due to Stenshorne being handed a ban by theFIA after he competed at Silvesrtone already this year but in a different feeder series, the GB3 Championship. The outcome of this decision was decided in May, that Stenshorne would be banned as he breached the competition's sporting regulations and had gained an unfair advantage competing around the Silverstone circuit in GB3. In place of Stenshorne, will be James Wharton, who currently competes in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) with Prema Racing. It was announced that he would join the team as Hitech announced it via social media on Wednesday morning. Speaking on joining up to Hitech, via their media, Wharton said: "I can't thank Hitech Grand Prix enough for the opportunity and for trusting me to take the wheel at Silvestone this weekend. This is the biggest opportunity I have had in my career so far. It's going to be a challenging weekend, but I can't wait to show what I can do." Wharton will come in to replace Martinius Stenshorne, who has recently been recruited to the McLaren Junior Driver Programme. Stenshorne will be replaced after being banned from this round due to him breaching sporting regulations of the Formula 3 competition and participating at the circuit in a different series. The FIA believes this gives him an unfair advantage after he competed in the GB3 Championship at the Silverstone Circuit. The McLaren junior has had a good start to the season, which is his rookie season in the category. He took his maiden win in just his third race of the year - in the Melbourne sprint race and he has failed to look out of place in the Formula 3 category. He has only picked up one podium since and that was in the most recent sprint race at Austria. Stenshorne currently sits 14th in the standings with three points scores to his name so far this season, but has had a points finish in each of the last two rounds. The Norwegian driver will be replaced by 17-year old Wharton who has been racing in open-wheel racing since 2022. He has spent time driving in championships such as the Italian F4 championship, Formula 4 UAE Championship and this year has made the step to the Formula Regional Middle East Champioship and the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA). In 2023, in his second season of the Formula 4 UAE Championship,managed to clinch the title and this is the only title but he did come close to winning the Euro 4 Championship as he finished second, behind eventual champion Ugo Ugochukwu. The championship also saw Arvid Lindblad compete who is currently competing in Formula 3 and is a two-time race winner in the series. In the current Formula Regional European Championship season Wharton has had a positive start in his rookie season with Prema Racing. His teammates are Ugochukwu and current championship leader Rafael Camara. Wharton took pole position for race 1 at Zandvoort in June and sits sixth in the standings with two podiums to his name. It will be a big chance and a step up for Wharton. It could be a significant learning curve for the Australian, who is making the step up to Formula 3 to cover for Martinius Stenshorne. Wharton will join up with teammates Cian Shields and current championship leader Luke Browning. A memorable weekend awaits Wharton as he will be performing at a Formula 1 weekend, in a support series, for the first time. A lot of learning is to come this weekend for him with the Hitech team. He will be hoping he can impress and get the most out of the weekend possible. Formula 3 practice will kick off the weekend at Silverstone and it will take place on Friday morning. Brandon Whiteside
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