The second round of the 2021 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship began with Race 1 at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon, where Hitech GP‘s Reece Ushijima took his maiden win in the series.
The Japanese-American driver took pole on Saturday morning, ahead of Zak O’Sullivan (Carlin) and Frederick Lubin (Arden Motorsport).
Lubin slipped back to sixth in the opening exchanges, with Bart Horsten, Javier Sagrera and Roberto Faria moving past between Abbey and Aintree.
Alex Connor, Bryce Aron, Max Marzorati and Chris Dittmann Racing team-mate Ayrton Simmons all overtook José Garfias who dropped to 14th.
The top three remained unchanged from then, with Ushijima and O’Sullivan pulling a three-second gap to Horsten and the rest of the chasing pack.
Reema Juffali moved up to 12th, with her Douglas Motorsport team-mate Dexter Patterson sitting sixth.
Tom Lebbon retired in the opening laps for Elite Motorsport, while Sagrera stayed fourth with Garfias ten places further back.
Juffali slipped to 15th just past the halfway point, falling behind Garfias, Marzorati and Mikkel Grundtvig (Fortec Motorsport).
Alex Connor swapped places with Christian Mansell for eighth, while Zak O’Sullivan began to reel in Ushijima’s lead to half a second.
Ushijima held on for his maiden British F3 win, closing the gap at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to O’Sullivan who finished three tenths behind.
Bart Horsten finished a second behind O’Sullivan, a further five seconds ahead of Javier Sagrera, Roberto Faria and Dexter Patterson.
Sebastian Alvarez led Alex Connor home for P7, with Christian Mansell ahead of his Carlin team-mate Bryce Aron.
Ayrton Simmons recovered from a five-place grid penalty to finish P11.
Garfias finished 12th, ten seconds ahead of Grundtvig and Juffali, with Max Marzorati four seconds further back for Chris Dittmann Racing.
Lubin pitted early to remove grass from his car and lapped well behind the rest of the field.
Race 2 starts at 10:10am on Sunday, with Race 3 at 4:15pm.
You can follow all the action on The Checkered Flag.
*UPDATE*
Dexter Patterson was excluded from the race weekend after an altercation with Bryce Aron and a marshal in parc fermé after Race 2.
2021 Silverstone GP Race 1 Results:
| Pos. | No. | Name | Nat. | Team | Time/Gap |
| 1 | 13 | Reece Ushijima | JPN | Hitech GP | 10 laps |
| 2 | 51 | Zak O’Sullivan | GBR | Carlin | +0.382 |
| 3 | 50 | Bart Horsten | AUS | Hitech GP | +1.352 |
| 4 | 3 | Javier Sagrera | ESP | Elite Motorsport | +6.250 |
| 5 | 7 | Roberto Faria | BRA | Fortec Motorsport | +7.306 |
| 6 | 12 | Sebastian Alvarez | MEX | Hitech GP | +10.246 |
| 7 | 27 | Alex Connor | GBR | Arden Motorsport | +11.953 |
| 8 | 21 | Christian Mansell | AUS | Carlin | +13.838 |
| 9 | 23 | Bryce Aron | USA | Carlin | +14.356 |
| 10 | 18 | Ayrton Simmons | GBR | Chris Dittmann Racing | +17.356 |
| 11 | 99 | Jose Garfias | MEX | Elite Motorsport | +20.860 |
| 12 | 43 | Mikkel Grundtvig | DEN | Fortec Motorsport | +31.226 |
| 13 | 10 | Reema Juffali | SAU | Douglas Motorsport | +31.384 |
| 14 | 81 | Max Marzorati | GBR | Chris Dittmann Racing | +35.889 |
| 15 | 78 | Frederick Lubin | GBR | Arden Motorsport | +1:04.976 |
| 16 | 34 | Tom Lebbon | GBR | Elite Motorsport | DNF |
| 17 | 55 | Dexter Patterson | GBR | Douglas Motorsport | DSQ |
