The Formula 3 Sprint race, held at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia, was brought to an early close following a collision on Friday evening. Teammates James Wharton and Louis Sharp, driving for Prema, were battling for position when they made contact, violently crashing into the protective barrier. The victory ultimately went to Bruno del Pino of Van Amersfoort.
The incident occurred on the eighth lap of the race, with the two drivers fighting for seventh place. After a brief yellow flag period, the race direction decided to interrupt the competition, which was not resumed. The drivers, at the moment of the accident, informed their team that they were unharmed.
The race ended prematurely with Del Pino’s victory, who started from pole position due to the inversion of the top ten positions. However, only half of the points were awarded. Enzo Deligny, also from Van Amersfoort, finished second, with Brando Badoer, from Rodin, taking third place, despite an ongoing investigation for a jumped start.
Noah Stromsted, from Trident, finished fourth, with Taito Kato, from ART Grand Prix, closing the competition in fifth place, earning one point. Maciej Gladysz, also from ART Grand Prix, finished sixth. With the result of the seventh lap taken into account, Wharton finished seventh, followed by Sharp. Ugo Ugochukwu, from Campos Racing, and Freddie Slater, from Trident, completed the top ten.
After starting 17th, Pedro Clerot completed the competition in 15th place, showing fighting spirit in the limited racing time. Fernando Barrichello also gained positions throughout the seven valid laps of the race and finished the competition in 27th place with a car prepared by AIX Racing.
The Melbourne F3 stage will be completed on Saturday with the main race, scheduled for 6:50 pm.
