Max Esterson was fastest in Formula 3 free practice at Silverstone

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 Silverstone

Time 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

1. Max Esterson (United States, Jenzer Motorsport)
2. Cian Shields (Great Britain, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
3. Nikola Tsolov (Bulgaria, ART Grand Prix)
4. James Wharton (Australia, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
5. Mari Boya (Spain, Campos Racing)
6. Christian Mansell (Australia, ART Grand Prix)
7. Callum Voisin (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
8. Nikita Bedrin (Italy, AIX Racing)
9. Noel Leon (Mexico, Van Amersfoort Racing)
10. Sami Meguetounif (France, Trident)
11. Dino Beganovic (Sweden, Prema Racing)
12. Charlie Wurz (Austria, Jenzer Motorsport)
13. Sebastian Montoya (Colombia, Campos Racing)
14. Laurens Van Hoepen (Netherlands, ART Grand Prix)
15. Arvid Lindblad (Great Britain, Prema Racing)
16. Joseph Loake (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
17. Piotr Wisnicki (Poland, Rodin Motorsport)
18. Tim Tramnitz (Germany, MP Motorsport)
19. Gabriele Mini (Italy, Prema Racing)
20. Santiago Ramos (Mexico, Trident)
21. Oliver Goethe (Germany, Campos Racing)
22. Joshua Dufek (Austria, AIX Racing)
23. Leonardo Fornaroli (Italy, Trident)
24. Sophia Floersch (Germany, Van Amersfoort Racing)
25. Matias Zagazeta (Peru, Jenzer Motorsport)
26. Alex Dunne (Republic of Ireland, MP Motorsport)
27. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Thailand, AIX Racing)
28. Kacper Sztuka (Poland, MP Motorsport)
29. Tommy Smith (Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing) No Time
30. Luke Browning (Great Britain, Hitech Pulse-Eight) No Time

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal