Silverstone F3: Sargeant takes another pole, points leader Piastri 11th
Logan Sargeant earned a second successive FIA Formula 3 pole position at Silverstone, while his championship-leading Prema team-mate Oscar Piastri hit trouble
Sargeant led Renault junior Piastri after the first qualifying run, but Piastri was forced to stop his car just before the entrance to the pitlane halfway through the session.
As the marshals began to recover his car, Piastri was able to restart the car and he returned to the pits.
The remaining drivers took to the circuit for their second and final qualifying runs, and Australian racer Piastri joined them on the track a few minutes later.
However, Piastri's car then stopped again and brought out the red flags while his rivals were attempting to displace Piastri's team-mate Sargeant from the top of the timesheets.
The stewards noted the incident and confirmed they would investigate one-time FIA F3 race winner Piastri after the session.
Just three drivers were able to set a lap time before the red flag, with Ferrari junior Enzo Fittipaldi (HWA Racelab) improving to third place.
The session restarted with just under four minutes remaining, and Sargeant improved by over half a second to earn his second-straight FIA F3 pole with a 1m45.063s.
Red Bull junior Liam Lawson, who won last Saturday's race from second on the grid, will once again line-up on the front row alongside Sargeant.
HWA Racelab driver Jake Hughes was third-fastest on home soil ahead of Sargeant's Prema team-mate Frederik Vesti and MP Motorsport's Bent Viscaal.
Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire will line-up in sixth place for ART Grand Prix, with Red Bull Junior Jack Doohan in a career-best seventh place on the grid for HWA.
In only his second weekend back racing in single-seaters for the first time since 2016, Ben Barnicoat was an excellent eighth fastest for Carlin behind practice pace-setting Trident driver David Beckmann.
Beckmann's team-mate Lirim Zendeli rounded out the top 10 in the 30-minute session.
Reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion Piastri had tumbled to 11th place by the end of the session.
Fittipaldi and ART GP duo Alexander Smolyar and Sebastian Fernandez all improved immediately before the red flag caused by Piastri but fell to 13th, 17th and 19th positions respectively.
Silverstone F3 starting grid
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logan Sargeant | Prema Racing | 1m45.063s |
| 2 | Liam Lawson | Hitech GP | 0.234s |
| 3 | Jake Hughes | HWA | 0.344s |
| 4 | Frederik Vesti | Prema Racing | 0.521s |
| 5 | Bent Viscaal | MP Motorsport | 0.534s |
| 6 | Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 0.567s |
| 7 | Jack Doohan | HWA | 0.573s |
| 8 | David Beckmann | Trident | 0.615s |
| 9 | Ben Barnicoat | Carlin | 0.702s |
| 10 | Lirim Zendeli | Trident | 0.796s |
| 11 | Oscar Piastri | Prema Racing | 0.814s |
| 12 | Clement Novalak | Carlin | 0.830s |
| 13 | Enzo Fittipaldi | HWA | 0.890s |
| 14 | Matteo Nannini | Jenzer Motorsport | 0.909s |
| 15 | Cameron Das | Carlin | 0.966s |
| 16 | Max Fewtrell | Hitech GP | 0.966s |
| 17 | Alexander Smolyar | ART Grand Prix | 0.972s |
| 18 | Alex Peroni | Campos Racing | 1.021s |
| 19 | Sebastian Fernandez | ART Grand Prix | 1.134s |
| 20 | Calan Williams | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.158s |
| 21 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.216s |
| 22 | David Schumacher | Charouz | 1.328s |
| 23 | Olli Caldwell | Trident | 1.366s |
| 24 | Dennis Hauger | Hitech GP | 1.496s |
| 25 | Roman Stanek | Charouz | 1.557s |
| 26 | Igor Fraga | Charouz | 1.624s |
| 27 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 1.648s |
| 28 | Lukas Dunner | MP Motorsport | 2.075s |
| 29 | Sophia Florsch | Campos Racing | 2.179s |
| 30 | Alessio Deledda | Campos Racing | 2.797s |
Silverstone F3: Smolyar loses win for weaving, Beckmann inherits victory
Silverstone F3: Sargeant takes maiden win and points lead at Silverstone
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
From zero to hero: How F3's 2021 champion bounced back
After a disastrous 2020 in FIA Formula 3 with Hitech, Dennis Hauger began to doubt himself - with the self-belief he had built through success in junior series evaporating. But after regrouping, he stormed to the F3 title in 2021. Here’s how he did it