F3 Barcelona: O'Sullivan holds off Browning for second win of 2023

Prema driver O’Sullivan lined up on pole and despite his Hitech rival getting close to a move at Turn 1, held onto the lead.

The safety car was almost immediately deployed, but O’Sullivan held firm on the restart, with an early jump allowing him to maintain the lead.

Despite several more challenges from Browning and another safety car interruption on lap 16, O’Sullivan was able to build a 1.6s gap to his rookie rival to take his first win since his Melbourne sprint triumph.

Browning finished second for his first F3 podium, with Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) third taking his second podium in as many weekends after passing ART's Gregoire Saucy when the Frenchman ran wide at Turn 2.

The first safety car came as Rodin Carlin driver Ido Cohen made contact with Rafael Villagomez (Van Amersfoort Racing) at Turn 9, hitting into the wall and ending his race.

Racing resumed on lap five, with O’Sullivan getting the early jump at Turn 12 to escape Browning’s clutches.

Further back, Alpine junior Gabriele Mini (Hitech) had made up five places, taking 13th from Taylor Barnard (Jenzer) before deposing Christian Mansell on the following tour into Turn 7.

Browning continued to pressure O’Sullivan as the laps progressed, trying a move at Turn 1 on lap 10, but was unable to pass.

Second placed Luke Browning, Hitech , race winner Zak O'Sullivan, Prema Racing

Photo by: Williams

Saucy allowed Prema driver Paul Aron past into fourth on the start-finish straight on lap 14 after running wide, his error then allowing Sebastian Montoya (Hitech) and championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto (Trident) through too as Saucy dropped to seventh.

Montoya and Aron made contact at Turn 2 the following lap, with the Red Bull junior running wide across the gravel and contracting a puncture. Bortoleto then passed the pair to take fourth, the incident set to be investigated after the race.

Prema rookie Dino Beganovic then went off at Turn 10 after also suffering from a puncture, before Mini and Mansell made contact at Turn 2, ending the Campos driver's race and handing Monaco winner Mini a 10 second penalty.

These incidents prompted a second safety car, and as racing resumed on lap 19, O’Sullivan was able to build a convincing gap to Browning, ending the latter's hopes of victory.

Mini made it past Saucy for eighth on the final lap, but was dropped to 21st by his penalty, denting his hopes of taking the championship lead.

Bortoleto took fourth, with Aron fifth ahead of MP Motorsport pair Franco Colapinto and Mari Boya.

Qualifying pacesetter Pepe Marti (Campos) inherited eighth from Mini ahead of starting tomorrow's main race from pole, with Saucy and Barnard completing the top 10.

F3 Barcelona Race Results: 21 laps

Cla	Driver	Team	Gap
1	Zak O'Sullivan	Prema Powerteam
2	Luke Browning	Hitech Pulse-Eight	1.600
3	Leonardo Fornaroli	Trident	2.300
4	Gabriel Bortoleto	Trident	3.100
5	Paul Aron	Prema Powerteam	3.600
6	Franco Colapinto	MP Motorsport	4.100
7	Mari Boya	MP Motorsport	5.000
8	Pepe Martí	Campos Racing	6.200
9	Gregoire Saucy	ART Grand Prix	7.100
10	Taylor Barnard	Jenzer Motorsport	7.800
11	Nikita Bedrin	Jenzer Motorsport	8.400
12	Oliver Goethe	Trident	8.800
13	Jonny Edgar	MP Motorsport	9.500
14	Caio Collet	Van Amersfoort Racing	10.100
15	Nikola Tsolov	ART Grand Prix	11.900
16	Kaylen Frederick	ART Grand Prix	12.800
17	Oliver Gray	Rodin Carlin	13.500
18	Hunter Yeany	Rodin Carlin	14.100
19	Tommy Smith	Van Amersfoort Racing	15.200
20	Hugh Barter	Campos Racing	15.700
21	Gabriele Minì	Hitech Pulse-Eight	15.800
22	Sebastian Montoya	Hitech Pulse-Eight	15.900
23	Sophia Flörsch	PHM Racing by Charouz	16.500
24	Alex Garcia	Jenzer Motorsport	16.800
25	Rafael Villagomez	Van Amersfoort Racing	17.200
26	Piotr Wiśnicki	PHM Racing by Charouz	18.000
27	Roberto Faria	PHM Racing by Charouz	18.300
28	Christian Mansell	Campos Racing
29	Dino Beganovic	Prema Powerteam
30	Ido Cohen	Rodin Carlin
View full results