O’Sullivan withstands race-long pressure from Browning for F3 sprint race win

Formula 3

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Zak O’Sullivan won a lively Formula 3 sprint race in Spain, though the action unfolded behind him as he never losing position despite two Safety Car periods.

He crossed the line 0.8 seconds ahead of his fellow Williams junior driver Luke Browning, the pair having shared the front row of the row, with Leonardo Fornaroli taking in the final podium position.

The pair of Safety Car periods almost bookended the race on the revised Circuit de Catalunya, now lacking the final chicane, which did not appear to have a negative effect on the racing.

After finishing 12th in qualifying, O’Sullivan lined up in pole position on the partially-reversed grid. As the lights went out he maintained his lead ahead of Browning, while Fornaroli overtook Grégoire Saucy around the outside of turn two for third.

The first lap was not over when an incident occured which triggered the first Safety Car period. Ido Cohen made contact with Rafael Villagómez which sent the former into the barrier, while the Van Amersfoort driver required a new front-wing.

O’Sullivan managed the lap four restart excellently, extending his lead to 0.8 seconds. However, Browning gradually reduced that gap before attempting to overtake around the midway point.

The first of those attacks came on lap 10, where Browning tried to overtake O’Sullivan around the outside of turn one. The race leader quickly shut down the gap. Browning then went down the inside of turn one the following lap, but his fellow Williams junior once again thwarted any overtaking attempt to keep first.

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Further back, Saucy rapidly dropped down the order after Paul Aron, Sebastian Montoya and Gariele Bortoleto all moved up on lap 14. Then the following lap, Montoya tried to moved up another position after attacking Aron around the outside of turn one.

As he did, the two drivers made contact with their front wheels which sent the Hitech driver through the gravel. He rejoined ahead of Aron and the battle intensified as Bortoleto joined in and took fourth around the outside of turn four. But further around the 15th lap Montoya suffered a puncture, sending him tumbling out of the points and into the pits for new tyres.

Further back Dino Beganovic, who was running in eighth, locked up at turn 10 and went into the barrier. Then the following lap, Christian Mansell spun into the gravel at turn two after his rear-right tyre was tagged by Gabriele Mini’s front-left while battling in the midfield. Mini received a 10-second time penalty as a result, while Beganovic and Mansell both retired.

A second Safety Car period was called so the mess could be cleared up. On the lap 19 restart, O’Sullivan kept his lead while Fornaroli attempted to overtake Browning for second at turn one, though the Hitech driver quickly shut the gap to maintain position.

The three drivers then went on the finish in the podium positions, ahead of Bortoleto in fourth and Aron fifth. Franco Colapinto then crossed the line in sixth, ahead of Mari Boya, Pepe Marti and Saucy in ninth, with tenth-placed Taylor Barnard rounding up the point positions.

The victory leaves O’Sullivan eighth in the standings on 37 points, with Bortoleto extending his championship lead to 24 points after Mini finished outside of the points.

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Formula 3 Spain race one results

PositionCarDriverTeam
13Zak O’SullivanPrema
216Luke BrowningHitech
34Leonardo FornaroliTrident
45Gabriel BortoletoTrident
51Paul AronPrema
610Franco ColapintoMP
711Mari BoyaMP
823Pepe MartíCampos
98Gregoire SaucyART
1027Taylor BarnardJenzer
1126Nikita BedrinJenzer
126Oliver GoetheTrident
1312Jonny EdgarMP
1417Caio ColletVan Amersfoort
159Nikola TsolovART
167Caio ColletMP
1720Oliver GrayRodin Carlin
1821Hunter YeanyRodin Carlin
1919Tom SmithVan Amersfoort
2025Hugh BarterCampos
2115Gabriele MinìHitech
2214Sebastian MontoyaHitech
2329Sophia FloerschPHM Racing by Charouz
2428Alejandro GarcíaJenzer
2518Rafael VillagomezVan Amersfoort
2631Piotr WiśnickiPHM Racing by Charouz
2730Roberto FariaPHM Racing by Charouz
DNF24Christian MansellCampos
DNF2Dino BeganovicPrema
DNF22Ido CohenRodin Carlin

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Ed Hardy
In 2019, Ed started working on Formula 1 writing articles during race weekends. Alongside that, he also built up experience in football working on...

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