Written by Sean McKean
For the 100th race in FIA Formula 3 history, it was Prema driver and Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad who secured the feature race victory in Spain. It’s the British driver’s second win in the championship and first repeat winner of the season.
As it unfolded
Pre-race, there were reports of a “gentle rain” in the pit lane. With the potential of an on-and-off shower, concerns regarding tyre temperature were justified.
When the lights went out, polesitter Christian Mansell got off to a great start, defending the lead and keeping it out of Turn 1. Arvid Lindblad slotted into second followed by Luke Browning.
By Lap 4, however, Lindblad had closed in on the ART Grand Prix driver ahead of him and started making a challenge for the lead. His challenge would be successful only one lap later, becoming the new leader on Lap 5.
Things briefly neutralised into a DRS train until Lap 9, when Mansell lost touch with the Prema ahead. Browning – in third, behind the Australian – couldn’t immediately capitalise on it though, as tyre overheating began to take importance.
On Lap 15, multiple drivers reported “significant rain” coming down in sector three. Apart from a few drivers running wide, not many were caught out by this change.
Nikola Tsolov – who had been running fourth all race – started to fade away by Lap 22. He fell into the clutches of Fornaroli and Goethe. Fornaroli wasn’t done with fourth, as he started to hound Browning for the final podium spot, eventually getting it.
On lap 24, while trying an opportunistic move in Turn 3, Martinius Stenshorne came into contact with Laurens van Hoepen. Subsequently, van Hoepen suffered a puncture and went out of the race.
With a hefty gap to the rest, it was Arvid Lindblad who took victory in the 100th FIA Formula 3 race. He was followed by Christian Mansell and Leonardo Fornaroli behind, the former now taking the championship lead despite being winless. Oliver Goethe continues his points-scoring streak in fourth. Luke Browning faded at the end to fifth.
Nikola Tsolov limped home to sixth. Alex Dunne quietly took seventh – his best feature race result thus far. Sprint race winner Mari Boya takes more points in eighth. Dino Beganovic extracted what he could to finish ninth. Rounding out the top ten was VAR’s Noel León.
Provisional Classification:
Arvid Lindblad (Prema Racing)
Christian Mansell (ART Grand Prix)
Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident)
Oliver Goethe (Campos Racing)
Luke Browning (Hitech GP) [FL]
Nikola Tsolov (ART Grand Prix)
Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport)
Mari Boya (Campos Racing)
Dino Beganovic (Prema Racing)
Noel León (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Santiago Ramos (Trident)
Tim Tramnitz (MP Motorsport)
Sebastian Montoya (Campos Racing)
Charlie Wurz (Jenzer Motorsport)
Sami Meguetounif (Trident)
Callum Voisin (Rodin Motorsport)
Joshua Dufek (AIX Racing)
Sophia Floersch (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Matías Zagazeta (Jenzer Motorsport)
Cian Shields (Hitech GP)
Gabriele Minì (Prema Racing)
Joseph Loake (Rodin Motorsport)
Max Esterson (Jenzer Motorsport)
Piotr Wiśnicki (Rodin Motorsport)
Tommy Smith (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (AIX Racing)
Martinius Stenshorne (Hitech GP)
Kacper Sztuka (MP Motorsport)
Laurens van Hoepen (ART Grand Prix) +1 lap
Nikita Bedrin (AIX Racing) +3 laps
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