Silverstone F3: Sargeant takes maiden win and points lead at Silverstone
Logan Sargeant dominated the first FIA Formula 3 race of the second weekend at Silverstone to earn his maiden F3 victory and the championship lead
Prema driver Sargeant started from pole position for the second successive Saturday at the circuit, but this time he was able to convert pole into a lights-to-flag victory.
The 19-year-old American racer, who finished in a lowly 19th in his first FIA F3 season last year with Carlin, drove into an early race lead as his rivals squabbled behind him.
On the opening lap, F3 veteran Jake Hughes wrestled second place from last week's race one victor, Red Bull junior Liam Lawson, after the duo ran side-by-side through the opening corners.
HWA Racelab's Hughes failed to trouble Sargeant and his second place came under late-pressure from Lawson in the closing stages of the race.
Lawson was shaping up a final-lap challenge, but this was called off when ART Grand Prix's Sebastian Fernandez collided with the Jenzer-run car of Matteo Nannini on the entry to Stowe on the penultimate lap of the race.
This brought out double-waved yellow flags and Lawson was unable to make his move, leaving Hughes - who he collided with whilst fighting for the win in the Styrian GP reverse-grid race - to scoop second place and his first podium of the year.
Hitech Grand Prix's Lawson claimed third place ahead of reigning Formula Regional European champion Frederik Vesti.
Vesti started the race from fourth place but faced an intense battle with ART GP's Theo Pourchaire to keep his position.
Pourchaire sold Vesti a dummy on the Hangar Straight to dive to the inside of the Prema driver at Stowe halfway through the race, but Vesti bravely clung onto the position around the outside of the corner.
Trident's David Beckmann pounced at the final corner and passed Pourchaire while Vesti received a warning from the stewards for his defensive tactics - similar to those which stripped Pourchaire's team-mate Alexander Smolyar of a maiden win last Sunday.
Beckmann continued his strong season with a fifth-place finish ahead of Pourchaire and the recovering former championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Renault junior Piastri started from 11th on the grid after his car stopped twice in qualifying and fought back to claim seventh place, although he loses his points lead to team-mate Sargeant.
MP Motorsport's Bent Viscaal picked up his second points finish of the year in eighth place ahead of the lead Carlin driver of Clement Novalak.
Beckmann's team-mate Lirim Zendeli will start Sunday's reverse-grid race from pole position after narrowly beating single-seater returnee Ben Barnicoat to 10th place and the final point.
Silverstone F3 Results - 20 laps
Pos | Driver | Team |
---|---|---|
1 | Logan Sargeant | Prema Racing |
2 | Jake Hughes | HWA |
3 | Liam Lawson | Hitech GP |
4 | Frederik Vesti | Prema Racing |
5 | David Beckmann | Trident |
6 | Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix |
7 | Oscar Piastri | Prema Racing |
8 | Bent Viscaal | MP Motorsport |
9 | Lirim Zendeli | Trident |
10 | Ben Barnicoat | Carlin |
11 | Cameron Das | Carlin |
12 | Clement Novalak | Carlin |
13 | Alexander Smolyar | ART Grand Prix |
14 | Alex Peroni | Campos Racing |
15 | David Schumacher | Charouz |
16 | Max Fewtrell | Hitech GP |
17 | Enzo Fittipaldi | HWA |
18 | Igor Fraga | Charouz |
19 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport |
20 | Sophia Florsch | Campos Racing |
21 | Olli Caldwell | Trident |
22 | Roman Stanek | Charouz |
23 | Lukas Dunner | MP Motorsport |
24 | Sebastian Fernandez | ART Grand Prix |
25 | Alessio Deledda | Campos Racing |
26 | Jack Doohan | HWA |
27 | Matteo Nannini | Jenzer Motorsport |
- | Calan Williams | Jenzer Motorsport |
- | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer Motorsport |
- | Dennis Hauger | Hitech GP |
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