2022 F3 Season Roundup: Round Two – Imola

Roundup of a dramatic second round of the 2022 F3 season at Imola where weather conditions dominated the weekend.

Wet conditions dominated Practice and Qualifying as a surprise rookie Feature Race pole-sitter was confirmed, whilst drivers encountered a dry Sprint Race followed by a wet-to-dry Feature Race thriller which featured chaos throughout.

Victor Martins though retained his championship lead despite a difficult weekend as here is a full roundup of all the action at Imola.

 

Practice

Wet conditions greeted all 29 drivers as Jenzer’s Ido Cohen led the field out for their only practice session, in which the Israelian set the initial benchmark lap time of 1m 56.453 which he lowered on his next flier to 1m 51.774 only to be bettered by Hitech GP’s Kaylen Frederick who went 0.142 seconds faster.

Frederick then found 0.349s to improve further on his next lap as Jak Crawford and Franco Colapinto both experienced wide moments at Tamburello and Tosa respectively.

Martins then delivered a 1m 50.134 in the 12th minute of the session which ultimately wasn’t topped throughout the rest of the session.

Isack Hadjar and Roman Stanek sat second and third respectively ahead of Frederick as the first red flag came out in the 15th minute, following a spin for Cohen at Tamburello which led to a seven minute delay in which conditions worsened.

Once the session resumed, Kush Maini, Pepe Marti and Crawford were amongst those to experience moments off the track, before David Schumacher caused a red flag in the 26th minute following his aquaplaning slide off-track at Rivazza.

The session recommenced eight minutes later with MP Motorsport drivers, Maini and Caio Collet spinning at Acque Minerali and Villeneuve chicane respectively three minutes later to cause a third and final stoppage.

Laszlo Toth, Francesco Pizzi, Crawford and Oliver Bearman all failed to set lap times during the session, as did Schumacher due to his crash at Rivazza.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Victor Martins	ART GP	1m 50.134
2	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	+ 0.034
3	Roman Stanek	Trident	+ 0.825
4	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	+ 1.149
5	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	+ 1.190
6	Franco Colapinto	VAR	+ 1.240
7	Zane Maloney	Trident	+ 1.448
8	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	+ 1.638
9	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	+ 1.640
10	Oliver Rasmussen	Trident	+ 1.783
11	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	+ 2.043
12	David Vidales	Campos	+ 2.407
13	Reece Ushijima	VAR	+ 2.471
14	Hunter Yeany	Campos	+ 2.632
15	William Alatalo	Jenzer	+ 2.961
16	Pepe Marti	Campos	+ 3.074
17	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	+ 3.079
18	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	+ 4.402
19	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	+ 4.423
20	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	+ 5.254
21	Alexander Smolyar	MP Motorsport	+ 5.849
22	Brad Benavides	Carlin	+ 6.191
23	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	+ 11.239
24	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	+ 16.107
25	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	No Time Set
26	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	No Time Set
27	Jak Crawford	PREMA	No Time Set
28	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	No Time Set
29	David Schumacher	Charouz	No Time Set

 

Qualifying

Organisers delayed Qualifying by a hour due to a scheduling shuffle to fit in a postponed F2 practice session, with Cohen once again first out on track once the session commenced.

The Israelian driver proceeded to set the initial benchmark time of 1m 48.717 but his effort was swiftly bettered by several drivers as Zak O’Sullivan set the fastest opening lap of 1m 45.134 which was bettered two minutes later by Hadjar.

Collet then Arthur Leclerc both bettered Hadjar’s lap time in the latter part of the opening half of the session, with Leclerc ultimately leading Stanek, Hadjar, O’Sullivan and Maini at the halfway mark.

The Ferrari junior then lowered his benchmark in the 21st minute to 1m 43.619 but his lap time was soon beaten by Bearman, Martins then Stanek who sat top with 1m 43.162 as Leclerc caused a 25th minute red flag after crashing at Rivazza following contact with Enzo Trulli.

Post-session, Trulli was handed a three-place grid penalty for the Sprint Race which dropped him from 28th to 29th on the grid, after he was adjudged at fault for Leclerc’s crash.

The session resumed seven minutes later but issues with the light system on the start/finish straight and pit exit caused confusion, as the checkered flag was electronically waved with two minutes left.

In the end, Zane Maloney secured his first F3 pole position for the Feature Race in a Trident front-row lockout ahead of Stanek, as Crawford, Saucy, Bearman, Martins, Hadjar, O’Sullivan, Collet, Maini, Cohen and Franco Colapinto rounded out the first six rows.

Colapinto consequently inherited reverse-pole for the Sprint Race whilst Bearman and O’Sullivan received three-place penalties for impeding David Vidales and Reece Ushijima respectively, meaning that Bearman started 11th and O’Sullivan slipped to eighth which was where he had originally qualified.

Vidales was also penalised after he impeded Campos teammate – Hunter Yeany with the Spaniard dropping from 27th to 28th on the reverse grid.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Zane Maloney	Trident	1m 41.180
2	Roman Stanek	Trident	+ 0.107
3	Jak Crawford	PREMA	+ 0.116
4	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	+ 0.117
5	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	+ 0.409
6	Victor Martins	ART GP	+ 0.765
7	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	+ 0.791
8	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	+ 0.825
9	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	+ 0.989
10	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	+ 1.121
11	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	+ 1.328
12	France Colapinto	VAR	+ 1.440
13	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	+ 1.465
14	Oliver Rasmussen	Trident	+ 1.549
15	Alexander Smolyar	MP Motorsport	+ 1.660
16	Hunter Yeany	Campos	+ 1.950
17	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	+ 2.004
18	William Alatalo	Jenzer	+ 2.143
19	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	+ 2.155
20	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	+ 2.229
21	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	+ 2.439
22	Reece Ushijima	VAR	+ 2.535
23	Brad Benavides	Carlin	+ 2.903
24	Pepe Marti	Campos	+ 3.093
25	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	+ 3.214
26	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	+ 3.247
27	David Vidales	Campos	+ 3.291
28	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	+ 4.370
29	David Schumacher	Charouz	+ 5.251

 

Sprint Race

After a wet Practice and Qualifying, the rain abated for the Sprint Race as Colapinto got a clean start to lead Collet and Maini after the pair leapfrogged Cohen at the start, with the Israelian driver finding himself sixth at the end of the opening lap.

Up front, Collet began to reel in Colapinto and passed the Argentinean into Tamburello on Lap Four, whilst Hadjar cleared Martins a lap later for fourth and then passed Maini for third two further laps later around the outside of the Villeneuve chicane.

Cohen meanwhile had held up a queue of faster cars whilst the frontrunners scarpered but his defence was ended on Lap Eight by Crawford, as the American cleared him for sixth into Tamburello.

Zak O’Sullivan and Pepe Marti however had separate incidents at Rivazza at the end of that lap, with Marti eventually slamming into O’Sullivan’s car at low speed as both cars came to a half in the gravel but both drivers walked away unharmed.

The Safety Car consequently was deployed on Lap Nine and pitted at the end of Lap 11, with Collet fending off Colapinto who had stuck with the Brazilian throughout on the restart as Hadjar sat behind the pair in third.

Martins meanwhile cleared Maini for fourth on the restart as Cohen dropped out of contention after he made contact with Kaylen Frederick through Tamburello, whilst Maloney cleared Stanek for eighth.

The Safety Car was back out a lap later after Reece Ushijima had ran into the back of Federico Malvestiti who had returned to F3 with Jenzer after a year out, with both drivers eliminated on the spot.

Once racing resumed on Lap 17, Maloney cleared Saucy for sixth through Tamburello but gave the Swiss driver a race-ending puncture, whilst Leclerc ran wide through Villeneuve chicane and dispersed polystyrene boards across the track to cause a brief Virtual Safety Car to remove the debris.

Up front, Colapinto made a late move on the run to Tamburello to reclaim the lead from Collet, with the Brazilian then spinning out on entry following contact with Hadjar who had tried to snatch second place.

Hadjar consequently slipped down to fifth at the checkered flag as Colapinto took his and Van Amersfoort Racing’s first victory in F3, ahead of Martins, Crawford and Stanek as Hadjar, Maloney, Oliver Rasmussen, Frederick, Alexander Smolyar and Rafael Villagomez rounded out the top ten finishers.

Post-race, Frederick received a five-second time penalty for causing the collision which ruined Cohen’s race and consequently dropped to 16th in the classification, whilst Cohen was penalised 5s for exceeding track limits at Turns 15 and 19 but stays 23rd in the classification.

Trulli meanwhile was adjudged to have overtaken Cohen under late yellow flags so fell from 21st to 22nd following application of a 5s time penalty.

Martins consequently led the championship by 12 points from Arthur Leclerc who could only finish 13th as Colapinto leapt up to third ahead of Bearman, after the Brit endured a wild race with several off-track moments but finished 12th at the flag with the fastest lap.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Franco Colapinto	VAR	20	36m 38.273
2	Victor Martins	ART GP	20	+ 2.640
3	Jak Crawford	PREMA	20	+ 2.700
4	Roman Stanek	Trident	20	+ 3.634
5	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	20	+ 4.088
6	Zane Maloney	Trident	20	+ 4.651
7	Oliver Rasmussen	Trident	20	+ 5.156
8	Alexander Smolyar	MP Motorsport	20	+ 5.844
9	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	20	+ 6.420
10	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	20	+ 6.614
11	David Vidales	Campos	20	+ 6.990
12	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	20	+ 7.185
13	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	20	+ 7.663
14	Brad Benavides	Carlin	20	+ 9.341
15	William Alatalo	Jenzer	20	+ 10.261
16	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	20	+ 10.500
17	Hunter Yeany	Campos	20	+ 10.901
18	David Schumacher	Charouz	20	+ 11.372
19	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	20	+ 13.988
20	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	20	+ 15.008
21	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	20	+ 16.253
22	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	20	+ 20.913
23	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	20	+ 26.137
24	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	19	+ 1 Lap
RET	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	17	Puncture
RET	Reece Ushijima	VAR	12	Collision
RET	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	12	Collision
RET	Pepe Marti	Campos	7	Spin
RET	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	7	Spin

 

Feature Race

Overnight rain left the track completely damp with a mixture of wet and dry patches at the start of the race, which led Collet, Colapinto, Alexander Smolyar Hunter Yeany, Reece Ushijima, Pepe Marti and Enzo Trulli opting for wet tyres, whereas the other drivers opted to start on slicks.

At lights out, Maloney briefly lost the lead to Stanek but regained the position into Tamburello, whilst Collet rapidly tore his way through the field from ninth to take the lead into Acque Minerali on his wet tyres with Colapinto following through a lap later.

Francesco Pizzi however spun out at Tamburello on the second lap to cause the first of three Safety Car periods, which caused Collet, Colapinto and Smolyar to all pit for slicks as Maloney regained the lead ahead of Stanek and Bearman who had briefly found himself third on the opening lap.

Marti and Yeany stayed out on their wet tyres which initially paid off on the restart on Lap Five as Marti quickly cleared the top three to take the lead, whilst Yeany fought his way past Bearman and Stanek for third.

Up front, Marti failed to break away as the track dried out and was swiftly caught and passed by Maloney on Lap Seven, whilst Carlin’s Brad Benavides crashed out on that same lap to cause another Safety Car as Marti and Yeany pitted for slicks at the end of that lap.

The Safety Car pitted at the end of Lap 10 but Maloney spun and stalled his car on the inside of the first Rivazza corner, just as he was about to lead the field back racing which allowed Bearman to pounce and take the lead from Stanek on Lap 11 just before the Safety Car was again deployed.

Bearman eventually led the field back racing on Lap 14 as he built a one second gap over Stanek but the Trident driver maximised his experience of the Pirelli rubber, as he reeled Bearman back in across a seven-lap tussle.

Stanek ultimately made a race-winning overtake into Tamburello on Lap 23 as Bearman’s tyres began to fade rapidly, which saw him lose out to Crawford at the start of the final lap for second.

The Brit then tried clinging onto third but lost the rear of his PREMA at the exit of the first Rivazza and clattered into Saucy, sending the Swiss driver spinning as Hadjar snatched third ahead of Bearman and Leclerc who had driven from 21st on the grid to fifth.

Bearman consequently received a 20s time penalty for causing his collision with Saucy which dropped him from fourth to 17th in the post-race official classification.

Kush Maini, O’Sullivan, Frederick, David Vidales and Ido Cohen rounded out the top ten as championship leader, Martins finished outside of the points in 11th place by just 0.447 seconds.

Cohen however was hit with a 5s time penalty post-race for exceeding track limits at Piratella without a justifiable reason, which dropped the Israelian from 10th to 13th and handed Martins ninth ahead of William Alatalo after all penalties were applied.

Laszlo Toth meanwhile failed to stay above minimum sector times for six consecutive sectors and was handed a 10s stop-go penalty, which was converted into a 30s time penalty as couldn’t be served in the race but he still finished last nevertheless.

Martins however retains his championship lead on countback of his single win as he now found himself locked on 36 points apiece with Leclerc as Stanek, Crawford and Hadjar rounded out the top five in the driver standings.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Roman Stanek	Trident	24	45m 37.829
2	Jak Crawford	PREMA	24	+ 0.654
3	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	24	+ 4.247
4	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	24	+ 6.515
5	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	24	+ 12.566
6	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	24	+ 13.285
7	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	24	+ 14.289
8	David Vidales	Campos	24	+ 14.945
9	Victor Martins	ART GP	24	+ 15.893
10	William Alatalo	Jenzer	24	+ 16.613
11	Caio Collect	MP Motorsport	24	+ 18.587
12	David Schumacher	Charouz	24	+ 18.848
13	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	24	+ 20.446
14	Alexander Smolyar	MP Motorsport	24	+ 21.050
15	Pepe Marti	Campos	24	+ 21.969
16	Hunter Yeany	Campos	24	+ 22.963
17	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	24	+ 24.728
18	Reece Ushijima	VAR	24	+ 27.704
19	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	24	+ 28.761
20	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	24	+ 30.406
21	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	24	+ 32.374
22	Franco Colapinto	VAR	24	+ 72.566
23	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	24	+ 1 Lap
24	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	24	+ 1 Lap
25	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	24	+ 3 Laps
RET	Zane Maloney	Trident	24	Spin
RET	Brad Benavides	Carlin	24	Collision
RET	Oliver Rasmussen	Trident	24	Collision
RET	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	20	Crash