Red Bull junior driver Arvid Lindblad took a stunning debut victory in the opening race of the 2024 Formula 3 season in Bahrain.
The 16-year-old made a strong statement of intent for his first season in F3 by rising from fourth on the grid to win an entertaining first sprint race of the season.The Prema pilot dived by early race leader Nikola Tsolov into turn one with five laps remaining, only for the ART driver to fight back and retake the lead on the run to turn four. But on the next lap, Lindblad made the move stick and successfully pulled out of DRS range to win by over five seconds.
Fellow newcomer Laurens Van Hoepen took second place, having only just held off Leonardo Fornaroli on the run to the finish line. Tsolov settled for fourth place, with Tim Tramnitz in fifth and Max Esterson in sixth. Gabriele Mini was seventh ahead of Mari Boya, Oliver Goethe and Sami Maguetounif taking the final point in tenth.
Feature race pole winner Dino Beganovic had his race ruined by a puncture on the opening lap, dropping him towards the back of the field following a pit stop and finishing 90 seconds behind the race winner. Williams junior driver Luke Browning finished ninth on the road, but was relegated to 15th in the provisional race results as the result of a 10-second time penalty assessed for passing Christian Mansell outside of track limits at the exit of turn four.
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Formula 3 Bahrain race one results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Arvid Lindblad | Prema |
| 2 | 24 | Laurens Van Hoepen | ART |
| 3 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident |
| 4 | 25 | Nikola Tsolov | ART |
| 5 | 7 | Tim Tramnitz | MP |
| 6 | 18 | Max Esterson | Jenzer |
| 7 | 2 | Gabriele Minì | Prema |
| 8 | 12 | Mari Boya | Campos |
| 9 | 10 | Oliver Goethe | Campos |
| 10 | 5 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident |
| 11 | 15 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech |
| 12 | 9 | Alex Dunne | MP |
| 13 | 27 | Nikita Bedrin | PHM |
| 14 | 23 | Maxwell Esterson | ART |
| 15 | 14 | Luke Browning | Hitech |
| 16 | 26 | Caio Collet | MP |
| 17 | 29 | Callum Voisin | Rodin |
| 18 | 11 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos |
| 19 | 17 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer |
| 20 | 8 | Kacper Sztuka | MP |
| 21 | 6 | Santiago Ramos | Trident |
| 22 | 20 | Noel Leon | Van Amersfoort |
| 23 | 21 | Sophia Floersch | Van Amersfoort |
| 24 | 28 | Josh Dufek | PHM |
| 25 | 30 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin |
| 26 | 16 | Cian Shields | Hitech |
| 27 | 31 | Joseph Loake | Rodin |
| 28 | 22 | Tom Smith | Van Amersfoort |
| 29 | 1 | Dino Beganovic | Prema |
| DNF | 19 | Matías Zagazeta | Jenzer |
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Formula 3
- Prema announce move into IndyCar with new two-car team in 2025
- Beganovic passes Fornaroli and Mini for Australia feature race victory
- Red Bull junior driver’s track limits penalty cancelled by stewards
- Stenshorne holds off Lindblad for first F3 win in sprint race
- Fornaroli pips Mini in late scramble for pole after Meguetounif crash
Retired (@jeff1s)
1st March 2024, 11:48
Real will for wheel-to-wheel action in F3.
Brell-9W
1st March 2024, 14:14
What a heart-stopping race! The leaders were side-by-side all race, even through the corners, until a few laps from the end Arvid Lindblad broke clear. Good driving all round, no safety cars, just a few incidents. By the way Lindblad is the youngest driver in the field.
I was taking a good look at the starting grid and there’s very few slouches in the field. This is a very strong Formula 3 field. Although I’m concerned some top drivers can’t show their skill in weaker teams, although if Max Esterson can do well in a Jenzer… let’s see how the rest of the races pan out.