Written by Sean McKean
In a safety car-filled feature race, it was Rodin Motorsport's Callum Voisin who took his first victory of his FIA F3 career in Spa. It was the Briton's second podium on the year.
Following his third-placed result, Leonardo Fornaroli will go into the finale at Monza with the championship lead. He now leads fellow Italian Gabriele Minì by point.
In this race as well, Prema Racing secured their fifth FIA Formula 3 Teams’ Championship following ART’s points-less race, despite none of Prema's three drivers scoring points.
As it unfolded
In usual Spa fashion, conditions were tricky for the drivers – with cool temperatures and a damp track with slick tyres.
From pole position, Callum Voisin got away well to hold the lead into Turn 1. Alongside him, however, Alex Dunne got a poor getaway, allowing Sebastian Montoya to move into second and start pressuring the British driver.
In the back, Gabriele Minì went for a spin out of corner exit – a possibly pivotal moment for the drivers’ championship with Leonardo Fornaroli so close to the front. Furthermore, Oliver Goethe had to pit for a puncture, putting him out of realistic championship contention.
Voisin locked up in Turn 1 on Lap 2, which allowed Montoya and Leonardo Fornaroli to close in.
The first safety car came out at the tail end of Lap 2. Martinius Stenshorne spun in Stavelot and came to rest on the racing line. In an unrelated incident, Tuukka Taponen lost it and spun into the stopped Hitech driver.
The race restarted on Lap 7 after a lengthy clean up, but only a few corners later, the safety car came back out following an incident between Sophia Floersch and Joseph Loake in the Brussels hairpin.
Floersch’s car was cleared in time to have a restart on Lap 10. Voisin held the lead for another few corners to keep the lead before yet another safety car came out.
There were two incidents: Arvid Lindblad was tagged by Christian Mansell behind, sending him into a spin and into the gravel trap. One corner ahead, Mari Boya – seemingly with suspension damage – went straight into the barrier and out of the race.
The race finally restarted on Lap 14, and Callum Voisin would hang on to take his first FIA F3 victory. Sebastian Montoya added a podium for a difficult season in second. Leonardo Fornaroli took the championship lead with third.
Title picture heading into Monza:
Leonardo Fornaroli | 129pts
Gabriele Minì | 128pts (-1)
Luke Browning | 123pts (-6)
Arvid Lindblad | 113pts (-16)
Dino Beganovic | 100pts (-29)
Christian Mansell | 97pts (-32)
Oliver Goethe | 94pts (-35)
Provisional Classification:
Callum Voisin (Rodin Motorsport) [FL]
Sebastian Montoya (Campos Racing)
Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident)
Noel León (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Sami Meguetounif (Trident)
Luke Browning (Hitech GP)
Max Esterson (Jenzer Motorsport)
Santiago Ramos (Trident)
Tim Tramnitz (MP Motorsport)
Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport)
Dino Beganovic (Prema Racing)
Laurens van Hoepen (ART Grand Prix)
Gabriele Minì (Prema Racing)
Christian Mansell (ART Grand Prix)
Joshua Dufek (AIX Racing)
Piotr Wiśnicki (Rodin Motorsport)
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (AIX Racing)
Tommy Smith (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Matías Zagazeta (Jenzer Motorsport)
Kacper Sztuka (MP Motorsport)
Oliver Goethe (Campos Racing)
Joseph Loake (Rodin Motorsport)
Nikita Bedrin (AIX Racing)
Cian Shields (Hitech GP)
Charlie Wurz (Jenzer Motorsport)
Arvid Lindblad (Prema Racing) [DNF]
Mari Boya (Campos Racing) [DNF]
Sophia Floersch (Van Amersfoort Racing) [DNF]
Martinius Stenshorne (Hitech GP) [DNF]
Tuukka Taponen (ART Grand Prix) [DNF]
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