How rocket O'Sullivan banished painful memories with GB3 glory

Any young driver with a realistic eye on victory is always going to feel some degree of pressure as they attempt to forge a career up the junior single-seater ladder, but for Zak O’Sullivan the 2021 GB3 Championship had perhaps added significance.

The Briton entered the series – still dubbed BRDC British F3 until an enforced mid-season name change courtesy of a decision by the FIA – having just missed out on the British F4 title at the final race in dramatic circumstances the previous year. It was a bitter pill to swallow and followed another runner-up spot in the 2019 Ginetta Junior standings.

To those on the outside, it might have appeared that here was a driver with mounting pressure on his shoulders in his quest for a maiden car racing crown. But, if the 16-year-old series rookie felt under pressure, he certainly never showed it as he was imperious over the 2021 campaign en route to the title.

“No more Mr P2 I guess,” says O’Sullivan, who admits “at times” he felt more under pressure when sitting his GCSE exams this year. “F4 was a tricky one, looking back obviously the ending was a shame, there were a couple of mechanical issues throughout the year, but I also made a few too many mistakes for a championship campaign.

“This year I think it all went to plan, we had no reliability issues, I ironed out all of my mistakes. It’s nice to get it off my shoulders and to finally be a champion in cars.”

In similar fashion to last year’s champion and fellow Carlin driver Kaylen Frederick, he was the benchmark, taking more wins (seven), poles (five) and fastest laps (seven) than his rivals. Not to mention most laps led and even the greatest number of positions gained from the full reversed-grid races.

Unlike Frederick, though, who endured a nightmare weekend at Brands Hatch that meant the American was forced to play catch-up, O’Sullivan almost never faulted. He led the standings as the championship left the opening round at Brands, courtesy of a win and third place, and never looked back as he headed the leaderboard throughout the eight-round, 24-race season.

O'Sullivan led the standings after Brands and was never headed thereafter

Photo by: JEP

Two further wins followed on the first visit to Donington Park, but it was his consistency that moved him to the fringes of the title. In addition to his victories, he recorded seven more podiums – only one of which wasn’t the runner-up spot. His lowest weekend points total was on the second visit to Silverstone where he accumulated ‘only’ 52 points, yet still walked away with a win in the reversed-grid race.

There was a further victory at Oulton Park in the penultimate round, and it was perhaps fitting his highest total of 91 points came at the final meeting at Donington, where he bagged a further two wins and wrapped up the title in style, as well as a finalist spot for the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award.

There was arguably only one major mistake all year, which came in the second race at Oulton where he tried a lunge around the outside of his old British F4 rival Luke Browning that ended with him in the barriers. Although not costly, it did mean he had to wait until Donington to be crowned champion.

While many expected O’Sullivan to challenge for the title, arguably the pre-season favourite was a returning face. Ayrton Simmons had raced for Chris Dittmann Racing in 2019, securing third with a hat-trick of wins to his name. After a part-time campaign in Euroformula Open and British F3 in 2020, he returned to the British series intent on claiming the title.

"The mood wasn’t right after that dip and we were all scratching our heads. It was a real low point and I think one of the many positives this season is how we bounced back from that" Ayrton Simmons

His season began in perfect fashion with a pole and win at the opener, but a collision with Bart Horsten’s Hitech GP machine at Druids on the first lap of race two would have far-reaching consequences.

“If you see it from the outside [the incident], I would never have thought all the things that we changed were actually damaged,” says Simmons. “We had troubles with the diff at Silverstone and found out the tub wasn’t in its best shape.”

The former Award finalist went through the mire, only recording a single top-five placing across the next four events courtesy of a reversed-grid win at Silverstone.

Simmons was the expected favourite, but damage from Brands shunt dented his confidence

Photo by: JEP

“The mood wasn’t right after that dip and we were all scratching our heads,” admits Simmons. “Everyone is doubting themselves, the team are doubting themselves, I’m doubting myself, am I not the driver I used to be? It was a real low point and I think one of the many positives this season is how we bounced back from that.”

He did recover some form – a double victory on the second trip to Silverstone and a podium at Oulton – which was enough to grab second in the final standings.

The Hitech GP pairing of Reece Ushijima and Horsten – both in their sophomore seasons – were also expected to challenge and the duo had speed, taking five poles between them. Ushijima scored an impressive double pole/victory at Silverstone in June, narrowing the gap to O’Sullivan at one stage to just five points, which the Carlin driver admitted was “probably the only point of pressure” during the campaign.

But too often there was inconsistency – and in Ushijima’s case, collisions with O’Sullivan at both Donington and Snetterton. While for Horsten, there were only three podiums all year, none of which were the top step.

There were others who matched O’Sullivan for speed, namely Ollie Bearman and Browning. The former only intended to do a part season – his focus being on clinching the Italian and German F4 titles, which he did in emphatic fashion – and impressed, taking a win at Snetterton and three further runner-up spots in only nine races. Browning appeared only for Oulton, securing second before being disqualified for a skidpan indiscretion, but won race two after contact with O’Sullivan.

But none of that mattered to O’Sullivan, who heads into the winter in the knowledge he has what it takes to be a champion.

Browning (left) and Bearman challenged O'Sullivan's supremacy in select appearances, but neither did the full season

Photo by: JEP

Autosport’s top five GB3 drivers

5. Reece Ushijima

Looked like a genuine title contender after his Silverstone brace before challenging O’Sullivan next time out at Donington. Two collisions with the Carlin driver seemed to derail his momentum, though, and he failed to reach the podium again until the final round.

4. Christian Mansell

No retirements all year helped the rookie to third in the standings. Highlights included a superb launch from seventh on the grid to win race three at Brands Hatch, and victory in race one at Spa in the wet as he helped Carlin secure the inaugural Teams’ title.

3. Roman Bilinski

Joined Arden after missing the opening two rounds but showed flashes of speed, winning three times – most impressive being race two at Spa. Just missed out on a top-six in the standings but kept out of trouble having arrived with a reputation from British F4.

2. Ayrton Simmons

Recovered well to finish runner-up after a dismal mid-season slump due to car problems and lack of confidence following Brands Hatch crash. Two wins at Silverstone showcased he still has the speed, but he will be disappointed to have been so far off title contention.

1. Zak O’Sullivan

The class of the field as he never once looked like cracking under pressure. Often the quickest driver but, on rare occasions he wasn’t, limited damage to his lead through consistency, only recording two retirements all year. At his very best in the Donington finale.

O'Sullivan is Carlin's latest champion in the team's hall of fame

Photo by: JEP