Talking points from Silverstone

With the dust settled at the end of another enthralling FIA Formula 3 race weekend, at Silverstone in Great Britain, we take a look at five talking points from the track.

It’s not just tight at the top

There’s no better place to start than just how intensely competitive F3 races can be, with a mere 1.6s separating the top 18 in Race 2 on Sunday. And no, that’s not a typo.

Four rounds in and the grid remains incredibly close, which has sparked some superb racing. While the headlines went to Leonardo Pulcini and Robert Shwartzman for their moves on Sunday, Yuki Tsunoda’s double overtake of Ye Yifei and Felipe Drugovich and the battle between the two Carlin’s of Teppei Natori and Logan Sargeant were just as entertaining.

What’s better is that it’s clean racing. With 30 cars on the grid and the increased availability of DRS to further muddy the waters, drama could have ensued. But, with just two penalties across the weekend (both time penalties), it shows how skilled, competitive and clean this group are.

The emergence of Hitech GP

The emergence of Hitech Grand Prix has been fascinating to watch. A mere 32 points from Round 1 and 2 has been immensely improved upon, with three wins from the last four races and haul of 95 points. Many people would have seen ART Grand Prix as the most likely challengers to PREMA, given their success in GP3, but it is Hitech who have emerged as the Italian’s closest rivals.

Silverstone was their most successful round yet as they enjoyed a near clean sweep, coming out on top in qualifying, Race 1 and Race 2, thanks to Jüri Vips and Leonardo Pulcini – more on those two later.

PREMA haven’t gone anywhere

Given their overriding dominance in the opening two rounds of the F3 campaign, few would have wagered on PREMA going two race weekend’s without a win. The Italian squad still scored plenty of points at Silverstone with three podium finishes and only Jehan Daruvala failing to score points in both races, but it wasn’t the winning sensation that they had become accustomed to prior to Spielberg.

Still, the noises coming from the paddock suggest their machines remain the most efficient, with the likes of Liam Lawson and Vips both claiming the PREMAs were quicker than them during Round. All of that points to the ability of the rest of the grid as to the reason why, once again highlighting how exciting this set of drivers are.

Highs and lows

Round 4 was equally successful and frustrating for Vips. The Estonian cemented his place in the title fight with pole positon in qualifying and a scintillating race win on Saturday, which showed off his remarkable defensive abilities.

However, it all began to unravel on Sunday when collisions with Robert Shwartzman and Jake Hughes saw him cross the line in 13th and out of the points. The 18-year-old was then given a time penalty for causing the latter and ended up finishing two places lower.

Welcome to the club, Leo!

And in the other Hitech corner… Leonardo Pulcini added his name to the growing list of F3 race winners, at Silverstone, claiming victory in the Sprint on Sunday. Having dominated much of pre-season testing, this moment may have felt a long time coming for the Italian racer, who was equally relieved and elated.

The 21-year-old had come close on a few occasions, but a first podium and first win both appeared marginally out of reach in the early rounds. He’d become an increased threat in recent races though and just needed to translate it into silverware. Pulcini did just that on Sunday, making light work out a fourth place start to usurp Championship leader Shwartzman and ART’s Christian Lundgaard in the opening laps.

He was more patient when it came to Lawson in P1 and had to wait until Lap 9 to make his move, but he completed it to perfection and soon amassed a 4s lead out in front. Expect to see much more of Pulcini in the coming rounds.