Luke Browning crossed the line with a 1:44.992, to take P1 in the Formula 3 qualifying at the British GP. He led from Max Esterson with a 145.037 and Sami Megeutounif with a 1:45.084.
Max Esterston led the field in the Formula 3 practice session, which was done in the rain. Luke Browning, the championship leader, didn’t even go out because of the wet conditions.
Under clearer conditions, the 30 minutes of Formula 3 qualifying went underway. The first laps in this session were going to be critical as the chance of rain was looming. With some drivers already reporting rain.
As it Happened
Christian Mansell led the pack around the track, putting in the first time, although not competitive, with a 2:12.225.
Chrisitian Mansell went round again to do the first competitive time, putting in a 1:45.839, but it was quickly beaten by a slew of drivers crossing the line. Noel León in the Van Amersfoort, taking the top spot with a 1:45.475. Alex Dunne got himself onto the front row with a 1:45.545.
Luke Browning, the championship leader, only went 12th fastest. Enough for the sprint pole, but Browning wanted more. Gabriel Minì, in the PREMA, went third fastest, only 0.087 behind León.
Matias Zagezeta in the Jenzer Motorsport moved into P11 which pushed Luke Browning out of the top 12. Browning was in the pits, but the rain has started to fall, meaning Browning was out of contention for the top 12.
The rain was getting much harder. Beganovic was out on track, needing to put in a decent lap to get him off the back of the grid. Unfortunately, he only managed to put in a 1:58.472. That put him 30th.
Gabriel Minì and Arvid Linblad went out on track but just for exploratory laps. Minì commented, ‘it’s wet mate.’ on the radio as the two PREMAs returned to the garage.
Final 10 minutes
With 10 minutes to go, the rain was still going, and no cars were making a move to leave the garage. Tim Tramnitz, in the MP Motorsport car, went out on track to test the conditions. Again, he only did one lap before moving back to the garage.
As it stood with 8 minutes to go, Noel León would be on a pole for the Feature race and Tim Tramnitz would start on the Sprint pole as he was in 12th.
In the final 5 minutes, all the cars went out on track. Dino Beganovic led the charge, hoping to go any faster than his 1:58 lap time. In the first sector, the PREMA driver managed to stay just 4 tenths down, impressive considering the track conditions. However, his second sector was purple, but he backed off in the last sector.
Arvid Linblad in the PREMA took a last stab at taking pole, going fastest with 1:45.426. But he didn’t stay there for long. The Rodin Carlin of Voisin took pole, but it was then taken by Fornaroli.
Luke Browning in the Hitech Pulse-Eight in his home race crossed the line and took P1 with a 1:44.992, followed closely by Max Esterson with a 1:45.037 and Sami Megeutounif in the Trident just 0.092 behind Browning in third.
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