A British weekend in the name of British drivers. If in Formula 1 it was Lewis Hamilton who triumphed, with the “Union Jack” flying on the podium, Formula 3 also gave a great weekend to the fans in the stands thanks to the double success of Arvid Lindblad, capable of imposing himself in both the Sprint Race and the Feature Race.
A double victory that also allows him to relaunch himself in terms of the championship, because now the British rider has moved into second place in the standings, just six points behind the leader Gabriele Minì, author of a great Feature Race on Sunday played on the gamble of the slick.
It wasn’t such a lucky weekend for Luke Browning and Lorenzo Fornaroli, with the Englishman now slipping to third in the standings, also due to a contact in the Sunday race that saw him finish outside the points. With six races still to go, the championship is still wide open, but from now on it will be essential to score important points in every event, also aiming for consistency of performance.
Arvid Lindblad, Prema Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Sprint race: Lindblad wins dominating
The British weekend brought so much rain that Formula 3 was forced to postpone the sprint race on Saturday morning and move it to the end of the day, after all the other commitments of the other categories.
With the new start delayed until late in the afternoon, it was Arvid Lindblad who took victory at his home race, becoming the first British driver to win since George Russell in 2017. Lindblad was also the first British driver to win at Silverstone since the start of the new era of F3, given that, when Russell won, it was still called GP3.
The Prema driver started from second on the grid, but a good start allowed him to quickly overtake polesitter Noel Leon (Van Amersfoort Racing), who in turn also slipped behind Matias Zagazeta in the initial exchanges. Behind him, however, a series of collisions prevented the race from developing, prompting the race management to call for the entry of the safety car.
The highlight was a heavy crash for Max Esterson (AIX) and Oliver Goethe (Campos) at Copse, with the pair making contact on the high-speed approach to the corner before plunging into the gravel and into the tyre barrier. After the safety car was deployed, the standings were shaken up as championship leader Luke Browning found himself in trouble after contact with Tim Tramntiz at Turn 4, the Englishman being hit after the MP Motorsport driver blocked, which then led to a front-left puncture. Browning pitted for tyre changes but finished the race outside the points.
The last incident occurred on lap 12, when Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport) and Charlie Wurz (Jenzer) collided along the Wellington Straight: the McLaren Academy driver tried to overtake on the grass, looking for a gap that the Austrian was actually already closing. The two thus came into contact, with Wurz forced to retire, while Dunne managed to continue, but ended up outside the points zone.
Meanwhile, up front Lindblad continued to stretch his lead over his rivals, extending his advantage over his rivals to over six seconds. The Briton thus achieved his third triumph of the season ahead of Leon and Zagazeta, who scored his first points this season. Voisin also achieved a good result, fourth, ahead of Tsolov, Minì, Montoya, Meguetounif, Van Hoepen and Fornaroli.
Arvid Lindblad, Prema Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Feature Race: Lindblad double with slick
Even in the Feature Race, the race was dominated by Arvid Lindblad, who ran a race based on a strategic choice that paid off right at the end, allowing him to take his fourth victory of the season ahead of an excellent Gabriele Minì.
Heavy rain fell on the track before the start, meaning all drivers except Rodin pair Callum Voisin and Piotr Wisnicki switched to wet tyres for the formation lap, although several drivers, including Prema trio Lindblad, Gabriele Mini and Dino Beganovic, actually stopped immediately after the lap to fit slicks as the track dried out.
In contrast, championship leader Luke Browning continued on wets, with the rain continuing to alternate with calm periods, making it difficult to know which tyre to choose without taking risks. At that point, however, the slicks looked to be potentially offering something more, with Voisin taking the lead before a brief Safety Car intervention after four laps. However, this only lasted a few minutes as, after an incident involving Sophia Floersch (Van Amersfoort Racing), who had to avoid a re-entry by Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport) with an out-of-control car on the straight leading into Turn Six, the return of the rain once again turned the tables.
In the meantime, Voisin had also been given a 10-second penalty for overtaking outside the track. Voisin himself, as well as Lindblad and Minì who were on slicks, slipped back to the back of the pack due to a downpour, while Browning took advantage of the rain tyres to move into the lead.
Arvid Lindblad, Prema Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
The race was again neutralised when Dunne and Sebastian Montoya (Campos) crashed into the barriers before the pit lane entry while trying to avoid a spin by AIX driver Joshua Dufek at Stowe.
The reduction in the intensity of the rain allowed a dry line to begin to be created, with Voisin moving from 22nd to the lead in just two laps, completing his comeback with a move on Browning at Chapel. However, Voisin was not the only one to notice a nice climb towards the top of the standings, as Lindblad and Mini, also using dry tyres, used the dry line to push and move up from the back to second and third respectively after passing Browning.
Voisin crossed the line ahead of Lindblad and Mini, but was relegated to third place due to a 10-second penalty. With the win, Mini moved into the championship lead with a six-point advantage over Lindblad, who in turn is one point ahead of Browning.
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