2022 F3 Season: Round Four – Great Britain

Roundup of the fourth round of 2022 F3 season which delivered a weekend packed with entertainment at Silverstone, Great Britain.

ART GP’s Victor Martins arrived at Silverstone with a six-point lead over Trident’s Roman Stanek as the title fight approached the halfway mark, meaning that consistency this weekend was important in terms of momentum with four rounds in five weekends in July.

Home favourites, Ollie Bearman and Zak O’Sullivan meanwhile were looking to deliver success for British supporters, as they played their part in a thrilling weekend of action.

Now here is a full roundup of the fourth round of the 2022 F3 season at Silverstone.

 

Practice

MP Motorsport’s trio of Caio Collet, Kush Maini and Filip Ugran were first out on track – as Ugran replaced Alexander Smolyar, who was unable to attend this round due to UK visa issues.

Charouz’s Laszlo Toth however set the initial benchmark but Maini soon placed himself top with 1m 46.893 ahead of Collet, although the latter pair and several other drivers saw their opening lap times deleted as stewards went trigger-happy on track limit rules.

David Vidales then Nazim Azman briefly alternated fastest lap until Franco Colapinto posted 1m 46.312 to go fastest in the 15th minute, although his time was bettered three minutes later by Kaylen Frederick who went 0.489 seconds faster.

Several lap times however kept getting deleted due to drivers exceeding track limits, which meant that Frederick headed Isack Hadjar and Arthur Leclerc halfway through the session.

Martins then Hadjar went quickest with the latter lowering his benchmark in the 39th minute to 1m 45.116, only for Collet then Maini to displace him three minutes later.

Several drivers eventually managed to find last-gasp improvements at the checkered flag as Maini topped the session with 1m 44.481, just 0.035s quicker than Collet as Frederick, Stanek and Hadjar rounded out the top five.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	1m 44.481
2	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	+ 0.035
3	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	+ 0.620
4	Roman Stanek	Trident	+ 0.623
5	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	+ 0.629
6	Victor Martins	ART GP	+ 0.675
7	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	+ 0.730
8	Zane Maloney	Trident	+ 0.864
9	Jonny Edgar	Trident	+ 0.876
10	Pepe Marti	Campos	+ 0.897
11	Hunter Yeany	Campos	+ 0.975
12	Reece Ushijima	VAR	+ 0.983
13	David Vidales	Campos	+ 0.990
14	Jak Crawford	PREMA	+ 1.042
15	Filip Ugran	MP Motorsport	+ 1.092
16	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	+ 1.125
17	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	+ 1.138
18	Juan Manuel Correa	ART GP	+ 1.204
19	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	+ 1.254
20	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	+ 1.307
21	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	+ 1.340
22	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	+ 1.418
23	Franco Colapinto	VAR	+ 1.475
24	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	+ 1.494
25	William Alatalo	Jenzer	+ 1.609
26	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	+ 1.920
27	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	+ 2.008
28	Brad Benavides	Carlin	+ 2.375
29	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	+ 3.249
30	Zdenek Chovanec	Charouz	+ 5.174

 

Qualifying

Despite rain showers affecting F2 and the opening F1 practice sessions, track conditions had dried in time for F3 Qualifying, as Collet led the field out onto track and set the initial benchmark time of 1m 45.602 which was immediately bettered by Ollie Bearman who went 0.495s quicker.

A mixture of drivers found improvement on their second flying lap of the opening runs whilst others failed as Maini ultimately led at the halfway mark, having posted 1m 44.963 in the 11th minute of the session to go top from Bearman and Zane Maloney.

Collet then again led the field back out for their final runs and briefly went top with 1m 44.823 in the 26th minute, only to be displaced moments later as Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan posted a shock 1m 44.597 to snatch his maiden F3 Feature Race pole ahead of Arthur Leclerc and Maloney.

Collet settled for fourth ahead of Jak Crawford, Bearman, Frederick, Stanek, Hadjar, Maini, Martins and Reece Ushijima, who inherited reverse pole-position for the Sprint Race.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	1m 44.597
2	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	+ 0.027
3	Zane Maloney	Trident	+ 0.041
4	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	+ 0.186
5	Jak Crawford	PREMA	+ 0.208
6	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	+ 0.266
7	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	+ 0.279
8	Roman Stanek	Trident	+ 0.323
9	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	+ 0.325
10	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	+ 0.333
11	Victor Martins	ART GP	+ 0.361
12	Reece Ushijima	VAR	+ 0.415
13	David Vidales	Campos	+ 0.431
14	Jonny Edgar	Trident	+ 0.451
15	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	+ 0.606
16	Juan Manuel Correa	ART GP	+ 0.643
17	Franco Colapinto	VAR	+ 0.703
18	Hunter Yeany	Campos	+ 0.971
19	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	+ 0.979
20	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	+ 1.121
21	William Alatalo	Jenzer	+ 1.213
22	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	+ 1.218
23	Brad Benavides	Carlin	+ 1.258
24	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	+ 1.322
25	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	+ 1.337
26	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	+ 1.391
27	Filip Ugran	MP Motorsport	+ 1.454
28	Zdenek Chovanec	Charouz	+ 3.116
29	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	+ 3.441
30	Pepe Marti	Campos	+ 25.087

 

Sprint Race

Before the start lights even went green, Carlin’s Brad Benavides encountered a mechanical issues on the formation lap, which left him crawling back to the pitlane whilst the start was aborted due to everyone having reached the grid before he completed the first sector.

Once the race finally underway, Martins beat Ushijima into Turn One to assume the lead as the top seven drivers held position, whilst Maloney gained two positions to improve to eighth.

Up front, Martins resisted Ushijima whilst Hadjar passed Maini round the inside of Stowe for third on Lap Four and rapidly closed in on the two frontrunners, who nearly came to blows two laps later as Martins squeezed Ushijima on the exit of Stowe.

Ushijima however lost out on Lap Eight as Hadjar closed in and swept round the outside of Stowe to snatch second.

Charouz’s Toth and Zdenek Chovanec meanwhile collided out of Vale at the conclusion of Lap Nine which caused the Safety Car to be deployed for three laps, with Martins controlling the restart on Lap 13 as he fought off Hadjar.

Hadjar however kept his tyres in better shape which proved the difference, as he swept round Martins on the outside of Stowe on the penultimate lap to snatch victory from the championship leader, as Ushijima settled for third ahead of Maini, Frederick, Stanek, Maloney, Leclerc, Bearman and Crawford.

Post-race, Chovanec was adjudged by stewards as at fault for his collision with Toth and handed a three-place grid penalty, which dropped him to 30th on the grid for the Feature Race.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s (VAR) Rafael Villagomez meanwhile was hit with a five-second time penalty for failing to accurately line up in his grid box, which dropped him from 23rd to 26th in the classification.

Maloney was hit with a €1000 fine after he drove his Trident from the support paddock to the grid with the radiator inlets left on the car by his mechanics, which should of been removed prior to him making his way to the grid.

In the driver standings, Martins now holds a 10-point lead over Stanek as Hadjar leapt up to third in the standings ahead of Crawford and Leclerc.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	17	32m 24.707
2	Victor Martins	ART GP	17	+ 0.757
3	Reece Ushijima	VAR	17	+ 1.339
4	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	17	+ 2.916
5	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	17	+ 5.827
6	Roman Stanek	Trident	17	+ 6.549
7	Zane Maloney	Trident	17	+ 7.296
8	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	17	+ 7.693
9	Ollie Bearman	PREMA	17	+ 7.988
10	Jak Crawford	PREMA	17	+ 8.552
11	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	17	+ 9.252
12	David Vidales	Campos	17	+ 10.966
13	Franco Colapinto	VAR	17	+ 11.235
14	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	17	+ 12.320
15	Jonny Edgar	Trident	17	+ 12.909
16	Hunter Yeany	Campos	17	+ 13.364
17	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	17	+ 14.009
18	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	17	+ 14.367
19	William Alatalo	Jenzer	17	+ 14.999
20	Pepe Marti	Campos	17	+ 15.247
21	Juan Manuel Correa	ART GP	17	+ 16.901
22	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	17	+ 17.739
23	Filip Ugran	MP Motorsport	17	+ 18.932
24	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	17	+ 21.127
25	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	17	+ 21.369
26	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	17	+ 23.276
27	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	17	+ 23.319
28	Brad Benavides	Carlin	12	+ 5 Laps
RET	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	10	Collision
RET	Zdenek Chovanec	Charouz	8	Collision

 

Feature Race

At lights out, O’Sullivan got a great start to lead Leclerc and Maloney whilst Bearman passed Crawford and Collet for fourth round the inside of Aintree.

Bearman proceeded to swiftly try an outside move on Maloney into Brooklands but was nudged wide and upon re-joining, he clipped Maloney into a spin into the gravel trap as Luffield as France Colapinto spun out at that same corner to cause the Safety Car to be deployed.

Up front, Leclerc swept round the outside of O’Sullivan into Stowe for the lead just as the Safety Car was deployed, which led the Monegasque to hand the lead back towards the end of Lap Three under the Safety Car.

O’Sullivan proceeded to lead the field back racing and fought off Leclerc’s challenge until the Monegasque benefitted from DRS on Lap Six to sweep through on the inside into the lead.

Crawford two laps later slipped from fifth to eighth after he was nudged wide by Hadjar at Abbey whilst Edgar passed Frederick for sixth – having started the race from 14th on the grid – and Martins cleared Stanek for ninth.

The Safety Car was again deployed on Lap 10 after Villagomez crashed at Copse following contact with Hitech GP’s Nazim Azman, which caused both drivers to retire from the race.

Once the race resumed on Lap 15, Leclerc fought off a fierce challenge from O’Sullivan to snatch his and PREMA’s first win of the season, as Martins passed Frederick for eighth into Village on a quiet restart.

Frederick two laps later slipped out of the top ten after he locked up at Brooklands – having previously been passed by Vidales earlier that lap.

Up front, Bearman bided his time and swept round the outside of Collet into Brooklands to snatch third, which nearly was second at the checkered flag but couldn’t pass compatriot – O’Sullivan just in time.

Collet finished fourth ahead of Hadjar, Crawford, Martins, Edgar, Vidales and Ushijima – who had denied Maloney a stronger comeback finish from his first lap spin, as the Barbados driver ultimately finished 11th and just outside of the points-paying positions.

In the driver standings, Martins’ title lead was reduced to six points as Leclerc leapt from fifth up to second ahead of Hadjar who demoted Stanek and Crawford to fourth and fifth respectively, as 17 points split the top five.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	22	45m 23.209
2	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	22	+ 0.913
3	Ollie Bearman	PREMA	22	+ 0.964
4	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	22	+ 1.273
5	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	22	+ 1.658
6	Jak Crawford	PREMA	22	+ 2.349
7	Victor Martins	ART GP	22	+ 4.012
8	Jonny Edgar	Trident	22	+ 4.658
9	David Vidales	Campos	22	+ 5.847
10	Reece Ushijima	VAR	22	+ 6.616
11	Zane Maloney	Trident	22	+ 8.011
12	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	22	+ 9.878
13	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	22	+ 14.364
14	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	22	+ 15,097
15	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	22	+ 15.591
16	William Alatalo	Jenzer	22	+ 16.562
17	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	22	+ 17.102
18	Brad Benavides	Carlin	22	+ 17.522
19	Filip Ugran	MP Motorsport	22	+ 17.957
20	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	22	+ 20.179
21	Hunter Yeany	Campos	22	+ 20.445
22	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	22	+ 24.304
23	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	22	+ 27.328
24	Pepe Marti	Campos	22	+ 29.432
25	Zdenek Chovanec	Charouz	22	+ 30.100
RET	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	10	Collision
RET	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	9	Collision
RET	Roman Stanek	Trident	9	Puncture
RET	Juan Manuel Correa	ART GP	1	Damage
RET	Franco Colapinto	VAR	0	Collision