At the end of qualifying yesterday, it looked like Franco Colapinto had narrowly missed out on reverse grid pole in the sprint race, however after Juan Manuel Correa was handed a penalty for offences under yellow flag, the Argentinian would line up first for the final FIA Formula 3 sprint race of the season.
Colapinto got a good enough start off the line, managing to keep his Van Amersfoort car in first position.
Championship rivals Victor Martins and Arthur Leclerc tangled on lap one, and Martins found himself in the gravel, but he managed to get his ART back on track.
On lap four, the safety car was deployed as Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan locked up into turn one and found himself in the barriers.
As the safety car pulled into the pits, Colapinto led with Caio Collet in second, followed by Josep Maria Marti. Oliver Bearman was the lead title contender as he had made his way up to fifth.
Chaos ensued on the safety car restart, as cars were going off the track all over the grid. Colapinto held his lead, as Marti lost out on third to Jonny Edgar after being forced through the run off at turn two.
On lap ten, things went from bad to worse for championship contender Isack Hadjar, as he was forced into the pits with a broken wing, putting any hopes of points in the sprint race virtually out of sight.
The two PREMA’s of Jak Crawford and Oliver Bearman put on a show on lap twelve in the battle for fourth, Crawford took the place off Bearman for a moment but the Brit claimed it back to continue his excellent drive.
Bearman then pulled off an astounding move on lap fifteen, as Edgar attempted to take second position of Caio Collet, Bearman sweeped past the pair at turn one to promote himself to second place.
On the penultimate lap Bearman got within DRS range of Colapinto and the battle for the lead got well and truly underway. The PREMA man fought with all he had, but it wasn’t enough, as Franco Colapinto took the checkered flag and won the final sprint race of the 2022 Formula 3 season.
Bearman did manage to secure second, while Caio Collet claimed the final podium position. Zane Maloney kept his title hopes alive finishing fourth, as Jonny Edgar rounded out the top five.
Arthur Leclerc just about kept within reach of the title finishing eighth, while PREMA teammate Jak Crawford, now cannot mathematically win the top prize dispute finishing seventh.
Despite finishing down in tenth, Victor Martins extended his lead at the top of the standings by a point as second place Hadjar wallowed all the way down in twenty seventh.
Six drivers still remain in the hunt for the championship in Sundays nail biting finale, as Victor Martins leads the way, followed by Isack Hadjar. Oliver Bearman managed to jump up to third place while Zane Maloney also gained a place, leaving him fourth. This leaves Roman Stanek down in fifth after finishing twelfth in the sprint race, and the final challenger Arthur Leclerc is sixth.
