Theóphile Nael won on Saturday morning (12) the Sprint of the Madrid round of Formula 3, held on the Madring street circuit in Spain. The Campos Racing driver started from second and seized the lead already on the first of 16 laps, after James Wharton, the pole-sitter, cut a corner and was instructed to yield the first position.
Second place went to Wharton, a Prema driver who at no point managed to match Nael’s pace. The team also watched Alex Powell, who is only in his second round in the category, complete the podium in third place. Bruno del Pino, with Van Amersfoort, finished fourth, followed by Alessandro Giusti, fifth with MP Motorsport.
Ernersto Rivera, of Campos Racing, completed the race in sixth place, ahead of Jin Nakamura, seventh with Hitech after benefiting from a ten-second penalty against Enzo Deligny, who had gained the advantage after a corner cut. Ugo Ugochukwu, the championship’s vice-leader, finished eighth with Campos Racing, followed by Taito Kato, of ART Grand Prix. The top ten was completed by Tuukka Taponen, of MP Motorsport.
The Brazilian Pedro Clerot crossed the finish line in 11th place with Rodin Motorsport and came very close to scoring points in the Sprint. Fernando Barrichello, of AIX Racing, was 25th. The weekend’s championship leader, Freddie Slater, also had a modest showing in the opening race of the weekend, finishing 18th in the Trident car.
The first F3 race in Madring did not feature many overtakes, but it also did not involve incidents that triggered the Safety Car during the race. The category, three weeks ago, held a two-day test at the circuit and, during that period, recorded 19 red flags.
Also on Saturday, starting at 1:00 PM, the first main race of the F3 weekend in Madrid will take place. The championship decision is scheduled for Sunday the 13th with another race, starting at 4:45 PM.
