British F3: Preview – Two New Drivers as Series Heads to Silverstone

The BRDC British F3 Championship is back in full swing this week as the series heads to Silverstone for their third round of the season. A headline track for many involved, the F3 drivers get to experience the full GP layout just like the Grand Prix drivers who they one day hope to emulate.

While it will be a new experience to some, for championship leader Clement Novalak, he’ll have the benefit of not just one, but two prior weekends in the BRDC F3 car. For the second year in succession the championship will make two appearances, with its return coming at the end of August. As a result, Novalak, who also returns with Carlin, will be expected to improve upon the two fourth places he picked up last year.

In fact, Novalak’s fourth was more impressive by the fact it was his first return to the car in over a month, having been occupied with Formula Renault commitments. He beat teammate and championship protagonist Nicolai Kjaergaard, finishing as the top Carlin driver in the opening race. Anything less than a victory will be seen as a disappointment for the 2019 championship leader.

He won’t be the most successful returning driver to Silverstone though. Both Pavan Ravishankar and Josh Mason secured their only F3 victories to date at the circuit, with Mason’s coming in the highly controversial final race of 2018, in which the field completed two laps behind safety car before it was red flagged for bad weather.

Ravishankar has a more solid claim to his success. After starting on reverse grid pole during this equivalent Silverstone round last year, he held off Renault Development driver Sun Yue Yang and Tom Gamble to earn his only win of the year. Both drivers have suffered a tumultuous start to 2019, with Ravishankar failing to finish inside the top nine all season. Silverstone will be a proving ground for both of their campaigns.

Elsewhere, the experienced Manuel Maldonado and Sasakorn Chaimongkol, will be looking to build on their double appearance last year, while championship front-runners Ayrton Simmons and Hampus Ericsson only got to experience the circuit during the partially washed out finale last season. Though Neil Verhagen has the experience of two years of Eurocup Formula Renault running, however scored a mere 1 point in two years (four races).

This means many in the field will be relatively new to the circuit or the full GP layout, having only raced on the National circuit. Two of these drivers Johnathan Hoggard and Kiern Jewiss, will be expected to ignite their 2019 campaigns after a disastrous race three at Snetterton saw the two collide. For Hoggard, currently second in the standings and 37 points behind Clement Novalak, he’s been handed a 10 place grid penalty for his Snetterton actions, already stacking the odds further against him closing the gap.

In the battle for third, the gap is far closer. Ayrton Simmons leads the trio on 99 points, with just four points separating himself, Hampus Ericsson and Kaylen Frederick. The Swede, brother of Indycar driver Marcus Ericsson secured his first F3 win last time out and is the man on form coming into Silverstone. Neil Verhagen currently sits ten points further behind countryman Frederick, though could have been closer had he not been involved in the Hoggard and Jewiss crash last round. He’ll be hoping to continue his run of a podium in every round.

Having not finished outside of the top ten all year, Maldonado has also remained a prominent player in the battle for third, acquiring 83 points so far. He failed to shine at Snetterton, but on a more open circuit will be factor during the reverse grid races, where he was so strong last year. Two drivers who did make headlines last round were Lucas Pettersson and Benjamin Pedersen. Danish-American Pedersen came away from race two with the most points when you include overtaking bonus, though he would be beaten to the line by Petersson. It was a dramatic weekend for the Swede, who went on to collide with the Dane during race three, earning him a disqualification from the result.

Silverstone will feature the largest grid so far as two rookies enter the fray. Andreas Estner will take a break from his FIA Formula 3 duties to race with Lanan Racing, joining Mason. The German will stay involved over the Donington Park round as well, though his main focus will likely be collecting data ahead of an FIA F3 assault on Silverstone later this year, supporting the F1 Grand Prix.

The other driver making his debut will be Nicolas Varrone. The Argentinian won VdeV Challenge Monoplace last year and after appearances in his national Formula Renault series steps up with Hillspeed. Like at Lanan, Varrone will provide Chaimongkol with his first teammate of the year and should be keen to learn off the Thai driver, stepping into the car for the first time on Thursday. Whether this outing will lead to further appearances is yet to be seen.

So far this season has thrown up five different winners in six races and with Simmons and Verhagen still to get off the block, more could yet follow. Qualifying starts 10:40 Saturday with race one 15:00 the same day. Race two and three will both take place on Sunday with both being streamed.