Mugello F3: Piastri wins 2020 title as Lawson dominates season finale
Renault junior Oscar Piastri clinched the 2020 FIA Formula 3 title in the season finale at Mugello by just three points as Liam Lawson won from reversed-grid pole position
Prema duo Piastri and Logan Sargeant were level on points heading into the season finale with ART Grand Prix's Theo Pourchaire in third place, nine points adrift of the leading pair in the drivers' championship.
There was drama on the opening lap as Sebastian Fernandez attempted to drive around the outside of Red Bull junior Lawson at the San Donato right-hander on the opening lap.
ART GP's Fernandez was pushed wide and rejoined the track three-wide with title hopeful Sargeant and Trident's Lirim Zendeli.
Sargeant and Zendeli collided and both drivers were sent into the gravel and out of the race on the entry to the Luco left-hander, leaving Pourchaire as Piastri's only obstacle to the FIA F3 crown.
The safety car was required to recover the stricken cars and it was Piastri who dropped from seventh to 10th place while Pourchaire climbed from eighth to sixth place.
Pourchaire charged through to third place, making overtakes on his team-mates Alexander Smolyar and Fernandez as well as Ferrari junior Enzo Fittipaldi.
Piastri, 19, responded by overtaking the ailing Smolyar and his Prema team-mate Frederik Vesti to move into eighth place.
Pourchaire was unable to make significant progress towards second-place runner David Beckmann (Trident), who he needed to overhaul to beat Piastri on countback.
Hitech GP's Lawson dominated at the front of the field for his third race victory of the season, almost eight seconds ahead of Beckmann, who registered his sixth podium of the year.
Pourchaire was forced to settle for the final place on the podium in third place while Piastri pipped Pourchaire's team-mate Fernandez in a photo finish for seventh place.
This was enough for Piastri to seal the FIA F3 title, three points ahead of Pourchaire and four points clear of his team-mate Sargeant.
HWA Racelab's Fittipaldi earned his best result in the series in fourth place ahead of the 2019 Macau Grand Prix winner Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport) and his HWA team-mate Jake Hughes - making his last appearance in F3 after five years.
Piastri was seventh ahead of Fernandez, Saturday's race winner Frederik Vesti and the third ART of Smolyar.
F3 Mugello Race 2 results - 21 laps
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liam Lawson | Hitech GP | 36m30.379s |
| 2 | David Beckmann | Trident | 7.806s |
| 3 | Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 9.193s |
| 4 | Enzo Fittipaldi | HWA | 10.399s |
| 5 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 10.982s |
| 6 | Jake Hughes | HWA | 12.436s |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | Prema Racing | 13.521s |
| 8 | Sebastian Fernandez | ART Grand Prix | 13.564s |
| 9 | Frederik Vesti | Prema Racing | 14.980s |
| 10 | Alexander Smolyar | ART Grand Prix | 19.400s |
| 11 | Jack Doohan | HWA | 20.684s |
| 12 | Dennis Hauger | Hitech GP | 21.712s |
| 13 | Alex Peroni | Campos Racing | 22.235s |
| 14 | Clement Novalak | Carlin | 22.785s |
| 15 | Matteo Nannini | Jenzer Motorsport | 23.256s |
| 16 | Olli Caldwell | Trident | 23.443s |
| 17 | Lukas Dunner | MP Motorsport | 26.133s |
| 18 | Roman Stanek | Charouz | 29.076s |
| 19 | David Schumacher | Carlin | 30.841s |
| 20 | Bent Viscaal | MP Motorsport | 30.930s |
| 21 | Calan Williams | Jenzer Motorsport | 32.210s |
| 22 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer Motorsport | 34.316s |
| 23 | Michael Belov | Charouz | 34.803s |
| 24 | Sophia Florsch | Campos Racing | 35.284s |
| 25 | Cameron Das | Carlin | 37.734s |
| 26 | Alessio Deledda | Campos Racing | 55.484s |
| - | Logan Sargeant | Prema Racing | Collision |
| - | Lirim Zendeli | Trident | Collision |
Final drivers' standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | 164 |
| 2 | Theo Pourchaire | 161 |
| 3 | Logan Sargeant | 160 |
| 4 | Frederik Vesti | 146.5 |
| 5 | Liam Lawson | 143 |
| 6 | David Beckmann | 139.5 |
| 7 | Jake Hughes | 111.5 |
| 8 | Lirim Zendeli | 104 |
| 9 | Richard Verschoor | 69 |
| 10 | Alex Peroni | 64 |
| 11 | Alexander Smolyar | 59 |
| 12 | Clement Novalak | 45 |
| 13 | Bent Viscaal | 40 |
| 14 | Sebastian Fernandez | 31 |
| 15 | Enzo Fittipaldi | 27 |
| 16 | Olli Caldwell | 18 |
| 17 | Dennis Hauger | 14 |
| 18 | Matteo Nannini | 11 |
| 19 | Pierre-Louis Chovet | 5 |
| 20 | Max Fewtrell | 5 |
| 21 | Roman Stanek | 3 |
| 22 | Ben Barnicoat | 1 |
| 23 | Michael Belov | 1 |
| 24 | Igor Fraga | 1 |
| 25 | Cameron Das | 0 |
| 26 | Jack Doohan | 0 |
| 27 | Lukas Dunner | 0 |
| 28 | David Schumacher | 0 |
| 29 | Sophia Florsch | 0 |
| 30 | Federico Malvestiti | 0 |
| 31 | Calan Williams | 0 |
| 32 | Enaam Ahmed | 0 |
| 33 | Leonardo Pulcini | 0 |
| 34 | Alessio Deledda | 0 |
| 35 | Andreas Estner | 0 |
Mugello F3: Vesti wins opener with last-lap move on Hughes
New F3 champion Piastri praises "invaluable" support from manager Webber
F3 Hungary: Smolyar eases to win, slick gamble works for O'Sullivan, Correa
Alexander Smolyar cruised to a lights-to-flag feature race victory at the Hungaroring ahead of Zane Maloney, as Zak O'Sullivan and Juan Manuel Correa produced late charges on slick tyres.
F3 Hungary: Collet takes maiden win in chaotic wet sprint race
Caio Collet took his maiden FIA Formula 3 win in a dramatic damp race at the Hungaroring.
F3 Hungary: Smolyar takes pole amid traffic chaos
Alexander Smolyar took his first FIA Formula 3 pole of the season in Hungary after many of the front runners failed to make it across the line for their final lap.
F3 Austria: Hadjar wins chaotic wet feature race
Isack Hadjar sealed his third FIA Formula 3 win of the season in Sunday’s feature race with a lights-to-flag win at a wet Red Bull Ring.
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
Why the Formula 3 benchmark's 2022 season hinges on qualifying
Prema Racing has long dominated FIA Formula 3, taking the teams’ title in two of the past three seasons. But its start to 2022 has been trickier than usual, and the answers lie in its qualifying performance
How the ultra-tight F3 title fight is taking shape
With just five points separating the top five after two rounds, FIA Formula 3 looks set for another thrilling season in 2022. But who stands the best chance of pulling away from that pack, and who are the contenders bubbling under?
The F3 newcomer making good on his unusual career path
Joining the FIA Formula 3 grid as a rookie with a team new to the series could prove daunting for most, but then there aren't many drivers who have the extensive experience Franco Colapinto brings from his time racing sportscars. The Argentinian explains how his LMP2 experience is already helping him in 2022
The British trio hunting for F3 title glory
The 2022 FIA Formula 3 season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. British trio Zak O’Sullivan, Ollie Bearman and Jonny Edgar have all become proteges of Formula 1 teams, and are talents to watch this year
How an outsider demolished a rank of F1 juniors
His career has been a slowburner but Gregoire Saucy trounced a collection of F1 juniors in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, and now he’s preparing to do it again in FIA F3. Here’s how the Swiss caught the world by surprise in 2021 and how he plans to do it all over again
Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021
With a veritable feast of feeder series talent in 2021, FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 produced some of its most exciting racing yet. Although Prema Racing drivers once again dominated the respective series, drivers from other teams also stole the limelight to mark themselves out as stars of the future, or validate their highly-regarded standing
How Prema continued its dominance of F1's junior ladder in 2021
Taking three of the four titles and producing two outstanding champions in the process, Prema Racing remained the team to beat in Formula 1's feeder series in 2021. Team boss Rene Rosin reveals the traits that helped Dennis Hauger and Oscar Piastri to come out on top in Formula 3 and Formula 2