Bruno’s Take: Every point will count in the final three rounds

CEO Bruno Michel looks back at the sixth round of the FIA Formula 3 season and picks out his key topics from Barcelona.

He discusses HWA RACELAB’s improvement, the ever-tightening title battle, and he looks at the Teams’ Championship

NEW RACE WINNER AND PODIUM FINISHER

Jake Hughes was the winner of Barcelona Race 1 for HWA RACELAB. The German team have entrusted the Briton to help them grow in F3 and together they have worked towards a goal: taking victories in 2020. Jake has become the eighth winner in twelve races.

I’m also very pleased to see that Jenzer Motorsport scored their first season points thanks to rookie Matteo Nannini. The Italian finished P10 in Race 1, so he could start from reverse pole on Sunday. He may have lacked a bit of experience to stay in front, but he showed great maturity to take P3 and a maiden podium. Should he manage to qualify higher, he should be able to fight for even bigger points on Saturdays.

PIASTRI vs SARGEANT

Both PREMA drivers have pulled away in the Championship standings and remain extremely close. Only one point separates them, with Logan Sargeant leading Oscar Piastri since Silverstone. The American has been extremely impressive in qualifying, claiming three pole positions in a row! That’s a total of 12 points right there. However, the American only has one win to his name so far. Oscar Piastri has two, including one in Race 2 at Barcelona last week. More than ever, every point will count with only three rounds left in the season!

BEHIND THE LEADERS

Liam Lawson is not giving up! The feisty Kiwi is recovering from his disappointing rounds in Spielberg 2 and Budapest. He has stood on all of the Race 1 podiums since then, and should Sargeant and Piastri make a mistake, Lawson will most likely be there to reduce the gap in the Standings. But the competition remains close behind him. Only 42 points cover P3 to P9.

A WORD ON THE TEAMS’ STANDINGS

Let’s be real: it’s next to impossible to not see PREMA Racing take their 2020 title. The Italian team enjoy a 187 point-lead over Trident. With three rounds left in the season, two drivers scoring poles, wins and podium finishes every weekend, and a third driver who has the chops to do the same, PREMA have all the ingredients to outrageously dominate the rest of the field.

Trident, ART and Hitech are left to fight for second and third. It was a below par weekend in Barcelona for the French squad, whilst Trident had their first podium-less weekend since Round 1. It was Hitech who enjoyed the most successful time out in Barcelona thus reducing the gap to the other two and pulling away from MP Motorsport. It should be an intense end to the season for them all.