Roundup of the seventh round of the 2024 F3 season at Silverstone which delivered drama and twists galore.
Luke Browning arrived at his home event as the championship leader but Silverstone threw up lot of twists with the British roulette of weather playing a defining part in the story of the weekend.
Amidst the chaos and a postponement, one Brit seized the initiative with a double victory to thrust his way into title contention, which saw another change of lead come the end of this round.
Practice
Overnight rain left the circuit damp as Joshua Dufek led some of the drivers out onto the circuit but it was Jenzer’s Max Esterson who set the benchmark of 2m 02.881, as drivers explored the conditions in case of similar conditions across the whole weekend.
Once several drivers had attempted a flying lap, Campos’ Mari Boya headed the pack with 2m 00.873 set in the tenth minute, but Nikola Tsolov six minutes later went 0.323 seconds quicker only for Hitech GP’s Cian Shields to go top barely a minute later with 2m 00.267.
Several drivers however attempted slick tyre runs in the last 20 minutes but the rain returned to scupper their attempts, as Esterson topped the session with 2m 00.153 set in the 25th minute.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 2m 00.153 |
| 2 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 0.114 |
| 3 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.397 |
| 4 | James Wharton | Hitech GP | + 0.454 |
| 5 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 0.720 |
| 6 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 0.972 |
| 7 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 1.185 |
| 8 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 1.393 |
| 9 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 1.649 |
| 10 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 1.737 |
| 11 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 1.770 |
| 12 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 1.795 |
| 13 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 1.846 |
| 14 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 1.869 |
| 15 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 1..926 |
| 16 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 2.168 |
| 17 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 2.174 |
| 18 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 2.238 |
| 19 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | + 2.392 |
| 20 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 2.394 |
| 21 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 2.530 |
| 22 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 2.586 |
| 23 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 2.706 |
| 24 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 2.712 |
| 25 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 2.891 |
| 26 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 3.318 |
| 27 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | + 3.692 |
| 28 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 4.518 |
| 29 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 4.519 |
| 30 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | No Time |
Qualifying
Inthraphuvasak was first out onto a much drier track but reported light rain on his outlap which led to a frantic flurry of flying laps in fear of further rain.
Inthraphuvasak set 1m 46.864 as the benchmark time but once everyone had completed a lap time, Leon was sat on course for provisional pole with 1m 45.475 ahead of Dunne and Mini as the rain began to fall more heavier.
Beganovic meanwhile endured a difficult session as he initially saw lap times deleted due to track limits, which led PREMA to send him back out onto a wet track to set a lap time and unintentionally act as a circuit sweeper to dispatch the water on track.
Beganovic’s actions eventually led to a dramatic finish as the top three stayed in the pits which backfired, with the track having dried up more which allowed Browning to snatch a shock pole for his home Feature Race by 0.045s from Esterson.
Meguetounif and Fornaroli qualified third and fourth ahead of Van Hoepen, Wurz, Mansell, Tsolov, Voisin, Zagazeta, Lindblad and Leon, with the Mexican taking reverse pole for the Sprint.
Post-session, Esterson was handed a three-place grid penalty for the Sprint after he was found to had impeded Beganovic, whilst the same fate befell Meguetounif and Boya for impeding Floersch plus Tsolov who had impeded Wisnicki.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 1m 44.992 |
| 2 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 0.045 |
| 3 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 0.092 |
| 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.273 |
| 5 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.294 |
| 6 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 0.320 |
| 7 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 0.382 |
| 8 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.402 |
| 9 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 0.405 |
| 10 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 0.413 |
| 11 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 0.434 |
| 12 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.483 |
| 13 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 0.553 |
| 14 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | + 0.570 |
| 15 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 0.636 |
| 16 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 0.787 |
| 17 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 0.792 |
| 18 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 0.817 |
| 19 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 0.826 |
| 20 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 1.040 |
| 21 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 1.192 |
| 22 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 1.437 |
| 23 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 1.485 |
| 24 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 1.503 |
| 25 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 1.592 |
| 26 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.627 |
| 27 | James Wharton | Hitech GP | + 1.781 |
| 28 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | + 1.872 |
| 29 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 1.981 |
| 30 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 2.878 |
Sprint Race
Torrential rain saw the Sprint postponed from its Saturday early-morning slot to run as the last event of the day in front of a sparse crowd, due to many fans having gone to watch England’s Euro 2024 Quarter-Final victory over Switzerland.
At lights out in sunny conditions, Leon got a slow getaway which allowed Lindblad to take the lead from Zagazeta, but the Peruvian conceded second to Leon at Maggots and Becketts on the opening lap whilst Mansell passed Voisin for fourth after he cleared Tsolov at the start for fifth.
Voisin however hit back on Lap 3 to retake fourth from Mansell and the top four held position to the checkered flag.
Lap 5 saw the safety car deployed after Goethe and Esterson collided on entry to Copse with the German sent hurtling sideways into the barriers, whilst Esterson’s car came to a halt directly next to Goethe’s stricken Campos.
Racing resumed at the start of Lap 8 but Browning’s chances of snatching a top-ten finish from 12th on the restart was quickly ended at the Loop, after he was punted into by Tramnitz who also was in the mix for a points finish.
Dunne meanwhile cleared Wurz on the inside of Stowe on Lap 10 but squeezed the Austrian just too wide and went on to pass Mansell for fifth a lap later, but was instructed by MP Motorsport to drop back behind Wurz to avoid a penalty.
Dunne duly heeded the advice on Lap 12 on the run to Brooklands but as he attempted to immediately repass Wurz for sixth on the inside, he got tagged by Wurz who spun out whilst Dunne suffered a puncture to end his top-ten chances.
Up front, Lindblad became the first Brit to win a race at his home event since the modern F3 era began in 2019, whilst Zagazeta was the first Peru driver to claim a F3 podium.
In the drivers’ standings, Browning’s title lead over Mini came down to eight points whilst Lindblad moved up to third ahead of Fornaroli.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 18 | 36m 32.184 |
| 2 | Noel Leon | VAR | 18 | + 6.560 |
| 3 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 18 | + 8.447 |
| 4 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 18 | + 9.409 |
| 5 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 18 | + 11.332 |
| 6 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 18 | + 11.453 |
| 7 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 18 | + 11.715 |
| 8 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 18 | + 11.946 |
| 9 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 18 | + 12.139 |
| 10 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 18 | + 12.646 |
| 11 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 18 | + 17.511 |
| 12 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 18 | + 20.885 |
| 13 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 18 | + 21.697 |
| 14 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 18 | + 22.048 |
| 15 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 18 | + 22.743 |
| 16 | Mari Boya | Campos | 18 | + 23.205 |
| 17 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 18 | + 23.727 |
| 18 | James Wharton | Hitech GP | 18 | + 30.851 |
| 19 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 18 | + 35.240 |
| 20 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | 18 | + 36.010 |
| 21 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 18 | + 49.151 |
| 22 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 18 | + 74.050 |
| 23 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 17 | + 1 Lap |
| 24 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 17 | + 1 Lap |
| 25 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 17 | + 1 Lap |
| 26 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 11 | Collision |
| 27 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 6 | Engine |
| 28 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 3 | Collision |
| 29 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 3 | Collision |
| 30 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 2 | Collision |
Feature Race
Light rain began to fall whilst drivers were on the grid ahead of the formation lap which forced many to go for the wet tyres, whilst Voisin and Wisnicki gambled on dry tyres as the rain stopped on the formation lap which saw several drivers pit for slicks rather than take the start.
Browning however opted to stay out and start on the wet tyres but the track conditions quickly swung to the slick tyres runners, as Voisin stormed through from ninth on the grid to take the lead on Lap 3, amidst a safety car on Lap 1 after Shields spun out at Village.
Lindblad meanwhile headed the list of drivers who pitted at the end of the formation lap and led a charge during which Tramnitz snuck through into second before the safety car was redeployed on Lap 4 after Beganovic spun out Floersch as the pair tried to avoid Dunne who ran wide out of the Loop.
Stewards adjudged Dunne at fault for the incident due to his high-speed re-entry and gave him a 10 place grid penalty for the Hungarian Sprint Race.
Racing resumed on Lap 8 after a mixture of slick tyre runners pitted again for wet tyres but Voisin’s gamble to stay out backfired as he fell down the order on slick tyres.
The safety car soon was back out a lap later after Dufek got wide out of Stowe and collected Dunne plus Montoya, which caused the pit entry to be shut.
Racing recommenced on Lap 13 with track conditions initially favouring wet runners as Browning scurried away in the lead, but the track quickly dried and Voisin stormed through to pass Browning on Lap 15 for the lead out of Chapel.
Lindblad and Mini soon followed suit as the race went to time but Voisin picked up a 10s time penalty for his illegal overtake on Esterson on Lap 3 at Village.
Voisin took the checkered flag but his time penalty handed a double Silverstone victory to Lindblad from Mini whilst Smith quietly under the radar to finish fourth, ahead of Wisnicki, Goethe, Fornaroli, Browning, Bedrin and Leon.
Mini’s runner-up finish put him into the title lead on 119 points with Lindblad six points behind in second and one point ahead of Browning in third place.
F3 now heads to Budapest, Hungary for the next round in a fortnight’s time from 19-21 July with the title fight finely poised.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 20 | 47m 12.061 |
| 2 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 20 | + 0.874 |
| 3 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 20 | + 9.213 |
| 4 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 20 | + 19.567 |
| 5 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 20 | + 42.258 |
| 6 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 20 | + 46.081 |
| 7 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 20 | + 60.404 |
| 8 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 20 | + 63.259 |
| 9 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | 20 | + 65.449 |
| 10 | Noel Leon | VAR | 20 | + 68.179 |
| 11 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 20 | + 73.024 |
| 12 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 20 | + 73.436 |
| 13 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 20 | + 73.644 |
| 14 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 20 | + 76.560 |
| 15 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 20 | + 76.840 |
| 16 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 20 | + 80.201 |
| 17 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 20 | + 81.468 |
| 18 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 20 | + 83.637 |
| 19 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 20 | + 86.013 |
| 20 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | 20 | + 89.767 |
| 21 | James Wharton | Hitech GP | 20 | + 91.750 |
| 22 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 20 | + 93.964 |
| 23 | Mari Boya | Campos | 20 | + 96.218 |
| 24 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 19 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 15 | Mechanical |
| RET | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 8 | Collision |
| RET | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 8 | Collision |
| RET | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 8 | Collision |
| RET | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 18 | Collision |
| RET | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 0 | Spin |
Leave a Reply