F3: Prema back to winning ways in opening round

It was the FIA Formula 3 field who were the first on track this weekend in Austria to take the five lights and re-open the championship season after the lull in motorsports action due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This season seems to be incredibly open with no real standout contenders to run-away with the title. However, with opportunity comes reward and we saw two well deserved winners and a mixture of brand new drivers at the head of the F3 grid come the chequered flag.

Last year saw the domination of Prema as the Italian outfit secured a 1-2-3 in the drivers championship and won the constructors crown by over a mammoth 300 points.

Robert Shwartzman, Marcus Armstrong and Jehan Daruvala had all been promoted into FIA Formula 2 for 2020 so the door had been left open for a new crop of drivers to push for F3 glory this season, and with 19 rookies in the 30 driver strong field Friday’s qualifying session was due to tell us who would be able to set the early pace.

In a weather affected qualifying session on Friday it was ART driver Sebastian Fernandez who managed to grab pole position and a clear track heading into race one on Saturday afternoon. The Spaniard would line up with Trident’s Lirim Zendeli in second, whilst Prema locked out the second row with Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant ahead of ever-present F3 driver Jake Hughes in fifth. However, the Brit wouldn’t make the start after a issue on the formation lap saw him start in the pit-lane and eventually finish well down the order.

In stark contrast to Friday’s rain affected session, Saturday’s blue skies allowed perfect visibility for all drivers, and as the lights extinguished and opened the season it was Zendeli who got the better start and pulled into the lead as the cars entered turn one.

Fernandez’s race was immediately turned on its head as contact with Oscar Piastri sent the pole-sitter into a spin and watching his chances disappear in a matter of moments after the start of the race, the impact would eventually lead to his retirement in the pit-lane a few laps later.

The contact with Fernandez didn’t phase the Australian Piastri, and with a superior run out of turn three, the man who started in third found his way into the lead of the race by turn four.

Lap six saw Zendeli who had held onto second suddenly drop two places as a cautious run into the turn four hairpin cost him the position to Sargeant and Campos’ Alex Peroni, who was making his return to F3 after his horrifying airborne crash at Monza last September which ruled him out of the final round of the season.

Piastri would comfortably hold onto the lead over the chasing pair of Sargeant and Peroni and come home to claim a first win in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. The race gave us three new podium finishers, but it was back to business for Prema as they took a 1-2 to start their season in the same fashion as they ended 2019.

Third Prema driver Frederik Vesti crossed the line in fourth with Zendeli managing to hold onto fifth ahead of Red Bull Junior driver Liam Lawson.

Sunday’s sprint race saw British rookie Clement Novalak on pole position after finishing in tenth during his debut in F3 giving him the reverse grid pole.

He lined up with Alexander Smolyar’s ART in second, whilst Richard Verschoor who stayed with MP Motorsport in third.

Smolyar was slow off the line which allowed fourth placed David Beckmann to move up past Smolyar and Verschoor into second. The Trident driver would eventually catch and pass Novalak on lap five.

However, Novalak wasn’t to be dispatched as easily as first thought, the rookie Brit came charging back and twice made an attempt at regaining the lead but going deep into turn three and four. This allowed Liam Lawson to capitalise after making his way into third as he moved into second past Novalak.

Lawson didn’t wait around to catch Beckmann as he passed the German two laps later and proceeded to control the race from there.

Novalak and Beckmann continued to squabble over second position with Richard Verschoor looking on, and with the pair slowing each other they lost a place each to the Dutchman as Verschoor made his way into second by lap 16 of 24.

Sadly a late safety car denied the chance of a frantic last few laps as Alex Peroni’s second race ended in retirement with a technical issue. The race went green on lap 22 and with no DRS available Lawson was able to hold of Verschoor and score his first win of the season.

Clement Novalak made it a debut weekend podium for himself and Carlin, but it was Lawson who celebrated a first victory in Formula 3.

Oscar Piastri and the Prema drivers weren’t able to recreate their form from Saturday, but Piastri’s eighth placed finish helped build a seven point advantage over Lawson at the end of round one weekend.

It’s looking much more open this season, but Prema are still the team to beat over the seasons entirety. The F3 paddock will be back on track in Austria once again on Friday and with so many new faces in F3 this season we are bound to see more first time podium sitters over the coming weekend.