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Sprint Race F3 | 2024 Spanish GP | Home Win for Boya

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Mari Boya came home under the Safety Car in P1 in today’s F3 Sprint Race, the first feeder series race of the 2024 Spanish GP weekend. The race saw a double DNF for the Trident frontrunners of Sami Meguetounif and Santiago Ramos, and the Safety Car was brought out again on Lap 18 following a collision between Gabriele Minì and Sebastián Montoya. Alex Dunne reached the chequered flag in P2, followed by Oliver Goethe.

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At Lights Out

Santiago Ramos took the lead into the first corner, quickly followed by Sami Meguetounif and Mari Boya. Gabriele Minì had a less than ideal start, running wide and rejoining in the middle of the pack.

Ramos, unable to break the DRS from Meguetounif, was under pressure on Lap 2.

Teammates DNF

The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 3. Meguetounif too deep down the side of his teammate and clips him at the corner of Turn 1. Meguetounif came to a stop at the side of the track, while Ramos suffered a puncture. Ramos, luckily, was able to limp back to the pits and change his tyres before returning to the track in P27.

Callum Voisin and Nikita Bedrin also suffered a collision in a separate incident to Ramos and Meguetounif at Turn 1. Bedrin, in an attempt to go down the inside of Voisin, clipped the Brit, sending him into the gravel.

Mari Boya, the home hero, took the lead, followed by Alex Dunne and Oliver Goethe. It was a better start to the race for Sebastián Montoya, who rocketed up 12 places to P15.

Racing was back underway on Lap 7 of the F3 Sprint race at the Barcelona GP weekend. Boya backed up the pack before shooting off down the home straight. It was a clean restart, but Boya was still in the clutches of Dunne in P2. However, he posted the fastest lap with a 1:32.776, with Dunne unable to match. Goethe had dropped back, running 1.4 seconds back from the lead.

Martinius Stenshorne battled past van Hoepen for fourth from Turn 1 to Turn 3 on Lap 10. Leon was next to lock horns with the Dutchman all the way to Turn 7, but couldn’t quite get past van Hoepen this time.

Dunne Piles on the Pressure

By Lap 11, Boya was under real pressure from Dunne, who was right on his tail with DRS. By Lap 13, Goethe was also fast approaching the chase at the front of the pack.

Further back, Luke Browning passed Manuel into Turn 10 for P3, before Christian Mansell was back through into Turn 1 on Lap 14. Browning had his sights on Championship competitor Minì in P11.

By Lap 15, cars in P2 to P12 were stuck in a DRS train – and Dunne was on the advance down to Turn 1 in another attempt to pass Boya. He was still unable to pass the Spanish driver, and in a bid to take the pressure off, Boya shot off to pull barely a second’s gap on Dunne.

A Safety Car Finish

Lap 18 and the Safety Car was back out. Championship protagonist Minì and Montoya, after a promising race, were off into the Gravel at Turn 5. A slight bit of contact down the straight caused a puncture on Minì’s car, unfortunately collecting Montoya in the process. It’s a disappointing end for both drivers, with Montoya gaining a huge amount of ground over the course of the Sprint race.

Inthraphuvasak was awarded a ten second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, while Dunne, Mansell, Bedrin, Charlie Wurz, Kacper Sztuka and Piotr Wisnicki were noted by stewards for a false start at the beginning of the race.

The Sprint race at the F3 2024 Spanish GP weekend finished under the Safety Car, with home hero Boya finishing in P1, followed by Dunne and Goethe on the provisional podium. However, with Dunne being called to the stewards after the race, it could be taken away. Marius Stenshorne in P4 could find himself on the podium, and Lawrence Van Hoepen came home in P5.

Featured Image: Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images

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