Preview
The Spa-Francorchamps Race Pack
The final stretch of the FIA Formula 3 season will get underway this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps with a triple-header set to decide the 2022 Championship. Isack Hadjar and Victor Martins are level at the top on 104 points apiece but time, and available points, are running out.
Spa represents a familiar foe for the drivers, with the ever-popular Belgian circuit a favourite of many on the grid. Which one can hit the ground running after the summer break?
WHAT TO EXPECT
The title fight could not be closer, with 104 points the benchmark shared between Isack Hadjar and Victor Martins but neither took victory last time out in Budapest. The Hitech Grand Prix driver has had the most recent victory between the two leaders, winning the Red Bull Ring Feature Race while Martins’ last top step appearance coming in the Barcelona Feature Race.
PREMA Racing’s trio aren’t too far behind, with Arthur Leclerc leading the Italian team’s charge on 95 points, third in the Drivers’ Championship. Jak Crawford and Oliver Bearman round out the top five on 80 points apiece.
Their efforts have also put PREMA over 100 points clear in the Teams’ Standings too, now on 255 points and looking strong for the Championship. ART Grand Prix is second on 153 ahead of MP Motorsport third on 146 points.
Christian Mansell remains with Charouz Racing System for the second of his two F3 appearances this season while Oliver Goethe will stand in once again for Hunter Yeany at Campos Racing. The triple header will define the 2022 title fight and decide the outcome in just three weekends and it is all to play for.
FROM THE GRID – Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin
“I'm definitely looking forward to racing at Spa this year. It's a pretty historic track for us. There are some adjustments this year, so it will be interesting to see how those play into the racing. I know before track limits were always a bit of an issue but I think they've sorted that out now. Not only is it good to drive in a Qualifying lap, but during the race, it's always pretty entertaining with the two DRS zones, so I'm looking forward to it.
“What's different about Spa compared to other tracks on the calendar is that you always run on a very low to no downforce set-up like you would at Monza, but you've got the middle sector of the track which is high speed and has some pretty fast corners. So in the middle sector, the car is always quite tricky to drive compared to other circuits, to make up for Sectors 1 and 3 having some long straights.
“I think Les Combes is the obvious overtaking spot at Spa, anything prior to the Bus Stop is ok but anywhere else, the car behind ends up getting DRS to get back past. I think there's a lot of waiting around at La Source trying to get the DRS down the Kemmel Straight.
“We're on the medium compound in Spa, so there should be a bit more degradation than on the hard tyre. Whilst there aren't that many corners at Spa, the corners we do have we'll be sliding around a bit more because of the low downforce. It'll be interesting to manage, and with a track that's so easy to overtake on it's quite easy to get distracted with tyre management and to start racing more than you should be!
“A podium in the Feature Race at Spa would be nice, or the Sprint Race, but ideally the Feature as there are a few more points for that one!”
LAST TIME OUT – BUDAPEST
It was a great weekend for MP Motorsport in Budapest, with Caio Collet and then Alexander Smolyar securing victories in the Sprint and Feature Races respectively. Kush Maini also starred, securing his maiden F3 podium on Saturday. The results moved the Dutch team up to third in the Teams’ Championship, closing in on second-placed ART Grand Prix.
Alexander Smolyar secured pole position, his first of the season, ending up just 0.126s ahead of Trident’s Zane Maloney, but it was teammate Caio Collet that lined up on pole for the Sprint. The Brazilian maintained his advantage, winning in tricky conditions as the track dried leaving the rest unable to catch up. Franco Colapinto finished a well-deserved second with Kush Maini completing the podium double for MP.
On Sunday it was Smolyar’s turn to dominate, winning from pole position comfortably to score his second podium for the team this season. Zane Maloney finally got to stand on the F3 podium after a year of near misses while Oliver Bearman took his third-consecutive third-place finish in a Feature Race for PREMA.
TYRE TALK
Drivers will be using the white medium tyres this weekend from the Pirelli range.
Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport Director
“The P Zero White medium, the middle tyre in the range, is well-suited to the heavy demands of Spa, which this year include some new challenges with the resurfaced asphalt in places, as well as new gravel traps closer to the track that ensure no mistakes will go unpunished. With no obligatory pit stops in Formula 3, looking after the tyres will be important. As we saw in all the races last year, the weather can have a big influence at Spa, so the Cinturato rain tyres could also be needed over the course of the weekend.”
KEY STATS
- There have been six polesitters in six rounds, Franco Colapinto, Zane Maloney, Roman Staněk, Zak O’Sullivan, Isack Hadjar and Alexander Smolyar.
- Championship rivals Hadjar and Martins have the most consistent point scoring records this season, with both drivers collecting points from ten of 12 races so far.
- Victor Martins now holds the record for the most career podiums in the third tier, 11, beating the previous record set by Robert Shwartzman, 10.
- MP Motorsport collected 54 points in Budapest, their biggest points haul from a single round this season.
- The circuit record at Spa-Francorchamps is 2:05.125, set by Jehan Daruvala at PREMA Racing in 2019.
- At 7.004 KM, the Belgian track is the longest on the 2022 FIA Formula 3 calendar.
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