Home Z - Archive seriesFIA European F3 Charles Leclerc gets victory in final race of debut F3 weekend

Charles Leclerc gets victory in final race of debut F3 weekend

by Peter Allen
Charles Leclerc

Photo:Paul Davies Photography

Charles Leclerc held off race-long pressure from Antonio Giovinazzi to end his debut weekend in the FIA F3 European Championship at Silverstone with victory.

The Monegasque driver started from pole for the second race in a row and this time held the lead into the first corner after covering off Giovinazzi.

The safety car was needed on lap one when seventh-placed starter Lance Stroll spun his car on the exit of Luffield.

Leclerc got a decent restart but couldn’t pull away from Giovinazzi. Just past the halfway stage, the Italian came alongside down the Wellington Straight, but Leclerc held the inside line and kept the lead.

There was another safety car late in the race when Pietro Fittipaldi looped his car around at Village, but Leclerc held on over the final two laps to record the win.

Giovinazzi finished on the podium for the third time this weekend, and leads the championship at the end of the opening weekend.

Gustavo Menezes was third for the majority of the race after a superb start from eighth on the grid, but he lost the place to Jake Dennis on the very last lap.

Race two winner George Russell lost ground after starting third but managed to find a way back past Alex Albon at the last restart to finish up fifth.

Markus Pommer was seventh ahead of Brandon Maisano, Callum Ilott and Mikkel Jensen.

Race one Felix Rosenqvist started 35th and last for the second race in a row following his exclusion from the pole positions earned in qualifying two, but couldn’t quite make it into the points this time, instead having to settle for for 12th.

Race results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1 Charles Leclerc Van Amersfoort Racing 18 laps in 35:56.649
2 Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin +0.440
3 Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam +3.255
4 Gustavo Menezes Carlin +4.242
5 George Russell Carlin +4.626
6 Alex Albon Signature +6.345
7 Markus Pommer Motopark +7.185
8 Brandon Maisano Prema Powerteam +8.447
9 Callum Ilott Carlin +9.098
10 Mikkel Jensen Mucke Motorsport +9.551
11 Ryan Tveter Carlin +10.269
12 Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam +10.984
13 Santino Ferrucci Mucke Motorsport +11.622
14 Alessio Lorandi Van Amersfoort Racing +12.379
15 Nabil Jeffri Motopark +12.942
16 Arjun Maini Van Amersfoort Racing +13.969
17 Dorian Boccolacci Signature +14.485
18 Nicolas Beer Eurointernational +14.820
19 Michele Beretta Mucke Motorsport +15.877
20 Sergio Sette Camara Motopark +16.074
21 Maximilian Gunther Mucke Motorsport +17.417
22 Tatiana Calderon Carlin +18.216
23 Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports +19.958
24 Matt Solomon Double R Racing +20.622
25 Fabian Schiller West-Tec +21.249
26 Nicolas Pohler Double R Racing +21.600
27 Peter Li Fortec Motorsports +22.071
28 Raoul Hyman West-Tec +22.561
29 Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark +23.113
30 Julio Moreno T-Sport +1 lap
Not classified
Sam MacLeod Motopark +1 lap
Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports +1 lap
Kang Ling Mucke Motorsport +2 laps
Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec Motorsports +4 laps
Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam +18 laps