Bruno Michel's Debrief: Switches in form and surprises at Silverstone

5 July 2022

CEO Bruno Michel reflects on a topsy-turvy fourth round of the 2022 season and picks out the key talking points from Silverstone.

Michel discusses Carlin's history-making weekend, Arthur Leclerc's resurgence, the hometown heroes and casts his eye ahead to Round 5 in Spielberg.

A LONG AWAITED FIRST POLE POSITION

It’s been a long time coming, but Carlin finally claimed its first F3 pole position, with Zak O’Sullivan. Trevor Carlin said that the team had made quite a few changes ahead of the 2022 campaign to move up the ranks. It paid off at Silverstone, in front of the home crowd. O’Sullivan, also a member of the Williams Driver Academy, finished second in the Feature Race. It was his maiden F3 podium, scoring points for the second time this season. Let’s see if they can keep the momentum going this week in Spielberg.

TOP ROOKIE

Since pre-season testing, rookie Isack Hadjar has been fast and consistent. He took the first win of the year in Sakhir, and apart from the Feature Race in Bahrain, the Frenchman from Hitech Grand Prix has scored in every single race. Last weekend, he claimed victory and fastest lap in the Sprint Race, followed by fifth place on Sunday. He moved up to third in the Standings, once again reaffirming his status as top rookie so far this year. He is only nine points behind championship leader Victor Martins, who was in damage limitation mode at Silverstone following a disappointing Qualifying session.

BACK AT THE FRONT

Qualifying has not been Arthur Leclerc’s strong suit this season. He has repeated time and again that he needed to sort his one-lap pace out, and he knew that once this was done, he would be able to mount a title challenge. At Silverstone, the PREMA Racing driver went second quickest on Friday to start from the front row in the Feature Race. From there, he passed Zak O’Sullivan to lead the race and cross the line first. Leclerc claimed his first win in 2022 and moved up to second in the Standings, just six points behind Victor Martins. Can he repeat the feat this week in Austria?

HIGHLIGHTS OF ROUND 4

Everyone was very happy to welcome back Jonny Edgar on our grid. The Briton had to put his career on pause due to a severe medical condition. Thankfully, he has recovered and has come back to racing, scoring his first points of the season in the process. P14 in Qualifying, he managed to move up six places on Sunday to take eighth and four points.

Meanwhile, rookie Reece Ushijima was admittedly nervous to start from reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race. Although he could not keep the lead, he still managed to pocket a maiden podium with P3, thus offering newcomers Van Amersfoort Racing its second rostrum of the year.

Local hero Oliver Bearman enjoyed a strong weekend. The Ferrari protégé scored a total of 17 points, including P3 on Sunday, on home soil. It is his second piece of silverware in 2022, after P2 in Sakhir Sprint Race.

The final honourable mention goes to Caio Collet. This season is definitely not unfolding the way he had hoped, with three consecutive pointless races. He failed to add to his tally in the Silverstone Sprint Race, but he was back fighting at the front on Sunday, P4 at the flag. As we reach the halfway point of the season, the MP Motorsport man lies in eighth, 47 points behind Alpine Academy stablemate Victor Martins.

A LOOK AT THE TEAMS STANDINGS

PREMA Racing scored the most points on Sunday, collecting another 49 and extending its lead over ART Grand Prix to 62 points. That’s 40 more than after Round 3. It did not help the French squad that only Martins scored at Silverstone, while all three cars from the Italian team finished in the top 6 on Sunday.

Hitech Grand Prix overtook reigning champions Trident to move up to third in the Standings. Just 15 points cover Hitech, Trident and MP Motorsport, in fifth. Behind this trio, another group of three teams - made of Van Amersfoort, Carlin and Campos Racing - is chasing after consistency. Jenzer Motorsport and Charouz Racing System round up the standings, having had a pretty tough first half of the 2022 campaign. Can they turn things around between now and the end of the ’22 campaign?