F3 Zandvoort: Crawford tops twice-red-flagged practice session

The Hitech Grand Prix driver set a 1m25.535s to lead the first session out at the renovated Dutch track, a week after becoming the youngest ever F3 podium finisher in the first race at Spa, but also caused one of the red flags by going into the gravel at Turn 12.

Alexander Smolyar was second quickest for ART Grand Prix, just over a tenth slower than the American, with team-mate Frederik Vesti and Prema Racing’s Dennis Hauger in third and fourth respectively.

Mercedes junior Vesti had been on course to set a quick lap but locked up and ran wide into the gravel at the sharp Turn 11 right-hander. When he went out again ten minutes into the session, he set a 1m26.654s to top the timesheets.

Crawford's 2020 ADAC Formula 4 rival Jonny Edgar (Carlin) and Jenzer Motorsport’s Filip Ugran almost made contact while lining up to start a fast lap, with traffic nearly catching out several drivers on this short lap.

Red Bull junior Ayuma Iwasa then had a big spin coming out of the banking at Turn 3, narrowly missing a collision with the wall to keep his Hitech Grand Prix-run car going.

Crawford then capped an eventful first 15 minutes by running wide at the left-hand Turn 12 hairpin, prompting a red flag for the large amount of on-track gravel to be cleared.

The session resumed with 20 minutes on the clock, with Prema’s Olli Caldwell also dipping a wheel into the gravel, while Johnathan Hoggard (Jenzer) bumped across the exit of the banked Turn 3.

Alexander Smolyar, ART Grand Prix

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Trident’s Jack Doohan, who is second in the drivers standings, was first to break into the 1m25s, setting a 1m25.863s that was over two-tenths quicker than Hauger’s previous fastest time. The Australian eventually finished the session in sixth.

Just six minutes after racing resumed, the red flag was waved for a second time after local driver Tijmen van der Helm (MP Motorsport) ran wide at the tight Turn 8 right-hander and found the wall.

The session was green-flagged with minutes remaining, with Doohan and Hauger tussling for the top spot before Crawford went quickest of all on a 1m25.535s.

FIA F3 Zandvoort practice results

Cla	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Jak Crawford	HitechGP	14	1'25.535
2	Alexander Smolyar	ART Grand Prix	16	1'25.658	0.123
3	Frederik Vesti	ART Grand Prix	15	1'25.692	0.157
4	Dennis Hauger	Prema Powerteam	15	1'25.700	0.165
5	Clement Novalak	Trident	12	1'25.837	0.302
6	Jack Doohan	Trident	12	1'25.863	0.328
7	Johnathan Hoggard	Jenzer Motorsport	15	1'25.864	0.329
8	Victor Martins	MP Motorsport	15	1'25.944	0.409
9	Jonny Edgar	Carlin	11	1'26.031	0.496
10	Kaylen Frederick	Carlin	15	1'26.126	0.591
11	Amaury Cordeel	Campos Racing	12	1'26.181	0.646
12	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	15	1'26.354	0.819
13	Arthur Leclerc	Prema Powerteam	15	1'26.447	0.912
14	Ayumu Iwasa	HitechGP	14	1'26.463	0.928
15	Lorenzo Colombo	Campos Racing	11	1'26.470	0.935
16	David Schumacher	Trident	15	1'26.537	1.002
17	Juan Manuel Correa	ART Grand Prix	15	1'26.612	1.077
18	Roman Staněk	HitechGP	15	1'26.709	1.174
19	Oliver Rasmussen	HWA AG	12	1'26.843	1.308
20	Logan Sargeant	Charouz Racing System	13	1'26.918	1.383
21	Olli Caldwell	Prema Powerteam	15	1'26.930	1.395
22	Ido Cohen	Carlin	15	1'27.096	1.561
23	Rafael Villagómez	HWA AG	13	1'27.109	1.574
24	Matteo Nannini	HWA AG	12	1'27.262	1.727
25	Hunter Yeany	Charouz Racing System	14	1'27.687	2.152
26	Filip Ugran	Jenzer Motorsport	13	1'27.771	2.236
27	Calan Williams	Jenzer Motorsport	13	1'27.854	2.319
28	László Tóth	Campos Racing	11	1'28.342	2.807
29	Tijmen van	MP Motorsport	10	1'28.802	3.267
30	Zdenek Chovanec	Charouz Racing System	15	1'29.098	3.563
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