Arthur Leclerc secured his first win of the 2022 Formula 3 season after fending off home favourites Zak O’Sullivan and Oliver Bearman.
After starting on pole, O’Sullivan maintained the lead off the line. Leclerc briefly overtook the Brit, however the move was completed just as the safety car was deployed, causing PREMA to instruct him to give the position back. Just 5 laps later Leclerc retook the lead through Luffield and held the position until the end, fending off challenges from those behind.
The Monegasque may have expected his first podium of the 2022 season to come sooner, however nothing could dampen his spirits after taking the feature race win.
“I’m so happy. We did a really good job this weekend … not everything was on our side, let’s say. But we managed to put everything together in Silverstone and get the win. Of course, better later than never, I’m really happy”
Arthur Leclerc in the post-race press conference
With just three laps to go, the top 5 were on each other’s tails and separated by a mere 1.5s. The fight continued on behind Leclerc as Oliver Bearman took the final podium position from Caio Collett on the penultimate lap.
The closing lap saw the two Brits, O’Sullivan and Bearman, battle for the final two podium positions. O’Sullivan was heavily on the defence through the final corners of the last lap and the duo ran side-to-side in a photo finish dash across the line. The Williams academy driver got P2 by only 0.051s.
P2 is O’Sullivan’s first podium finish in front of his home crowd, and although it’s not the finish he may have hoped for starting on pole position, he was “very happy” to come away with a podium after the late battle with Bearman.
“On the last lap, we were very, very close from Turn 15 to the last corner … I was just trying to look where the red car was in my mirrors. It was kind of everywhere and by that point … but luckily I managed to hold on”
Zak O’Sullivan in the post-race press conference
How do the Championships stand?
After winning Sunday’s feature race, Leclerc is now firmly in the championship fight – he stands just 6 points behind current leader Victor Martins. A win in Saturday’s sprint race and P5 in Sunday’s feature mean Hitech’s Isack Hadjar also moves into championship contention – a mere 3 points stand between him and Leclerc.
A double podium for PREMA gives them a comfortable advantage of 62 points above their nearest rival ART. There is a close battle between P3 and P4 as Hitech overtakes Trident for P3 by just 2 points.Â