Both Formula 2, recognized as the official development series of Formula 1, and Formula 3 have failed to produce a dominant driver this season. There is no emerging talent like Piastri or Russell. As we entered the Red Bull Ring last weekend, only two drivers, Zane Maloney and Isack Hadjar, had won more than one race in Formula 2 after 12 races. In the current era, securing entry into Formula 1 requires winning the championship in your debut season in Formula 2. This brings us to Pourchaire, who may be the chosen one.
In Formula 3, a Red Bull junior named Arvid Lindblad became the first driver to win two races in the series after 10 races.
Norwegian driver Dennis Hauger narrowly beat Paraguayan Joshua Dürksen by a mere 0.008 seconds to secure his second pole position of the season. Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto and Argentine Franco Colapinto, who are neighbors from Latin America, lined up side by side on the second row.
During the final moments of qualifying, championship leader Paul Aaron spun, but managed to recover. The Estonian Mercedes junior secured fifth position on the grid. Isack Hadjar, the French Red Bull junior and second in the championship, qualified in seventh.
Oliver Bearman, who had high hopes of securing a spot as a HaasF1 driver for the 2025 season at his home grand prix, finished in ninth place. His Prema teammate and also aspiring F1 driver for the next season, “Kimi” Antonelli, finished in 16th position.
Zane Maloney, who had a flawless start to the season with wins in both races in Bahrain, could only manage a disappointing 20th place on the starting grid.
The 28-lap race unfolded in tabloid format, with Indian driver Kush Maini starting from the pole position of a partially inverted grid. He shared the front row with a man eager to secure his first podium of the season, Oliver Bearman. When the lights went out, Maini took the lead, setting the stage for an exciting race.
A fierce battle ensued behind Bearman for second place. By the end of the first lap, the English Ferrari junior had managed to take the lead, with Red Bull junior “Pepe” Marti close behind. Maini, Taylor Barnard, and championship leader Aron followed suit. However, Hadjar, who had started fourth on the grid, dropped to 12th position.
As the race progressed to lap 5, Marti found himself 1.4 seconds behind Bearman, despite losing the left front wing due to contact with Maini. On lap 7, Aron overtook Barnard, securing fourth position. Meanwhile, Brazilian driver Bortoleto began to put pressure on the British driver. Marti, on the other hand, found himself within the DRS zone of the race leader, Bearman. Bortoleto entered the top five on lap 9.
At the halfway point of the race, at the end of lap 14, the top five positions were occupied by Bearman, Marti, Maini, Aron, and Bortoleto. Colapinto held sixth position, with Dürksen closely following in seventh. Lap after lap, Marti remained within the DRS zone of Bearman, but couldn’t mount a serious challenge for the lead.
Similarly, Maini couldn’t make a significant move for second place on the podium. On lap 19, American driver Jak Crawford, who had won the main race in Barcelona, managed to score a point by overtaking Barnard and securing tenth place.
Aron, establishing the fastest laps, overtook Maini on lap 21, successfully taking third position. Shortly after, Bortoleto demoted the Indian driver to fifth position. The Brazilian McLaren driver then put intense pressure on Aron for third position, while Marti remained less than half a second behind Bearman on lap 25.
With only two laps remaining, Bearman managed to create enough distance between him and Marti to escape the DRS zone. This ultimately led Bearman to secure his first podium and victory of the season. “I’m thrilled to be back on the podium. This season has been challenging so far, and I’m glad the team finally achieved a well-deserved result,” expressed the British driver.
Marti had to settle for second place, while Aron successfully defended his third position on the podium from Bortoleto, making the race enjoyable for the Estonian driver.
Prior to the start of the race, there was excitement when Hauger, Maini, and Crawford encountered issues and had to start from the pits. Dürksen, who was seeking his first F2 victory, took the lead at the start of the 40-lap race. The top five after the first lap were Dürksen, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Aron, and Hadjar. Bearman, the winner of the previous sprint race, was in seventh place, while his Prema teammate Antonelli was in tenth.
In the second lap, DRS was enabled, and Bortoleto quickly closed in on the lead. In the fourth lap, the Brazilian driver overtook the Paraguayan driver to take the first position. Meanwhile, Aron and Hadjar, the top two in the championship, were engaged in a fierce battle for fourth place. Within a few laps, Bortoleto opened up a gap, and Dürksen lost second position to Colapinto in lap 6. Dürksen’s pitstop in lap 8 allowed Hadjar to move up to fourth place.
In lap 9, several drivers, including race leader Antonelli, entered the pits to change tires. Unfortunately, the Italian encountered a problem and lost valuable time. After the first twelve laps, the top five were Colapinto, Bearman, Zak O’Sullivan, Amaury Cordeel, and Roman Stanek, all of whom had not yet made a pitstop. Antonelli was the only driver still on the track. Aron received a five-second penalty in lap 17 for making multiple changes of direction.
At the halfway point of the race, Bearman’s race came to an end as he had a problem and had to retire in the pits. The top five at this stage were Colapinto, Cordeel, O’Sullivan, Crawford, and Stanek. The net race leader, after completing his pit stop, was Bortoleto. In lap 21, Bortoleto had moved up to the top five, while Red Bull junior driver “Pepe” Marti was engaged in a fierce battle with Stanek. Soon, Marti found himself under pressure from his teammate, Hadjar.
Hadjar expressed his frustration over the team radio, stating: “He didn’t defend himself against Bortoleto, but he’s defending himself against me.” Hadjar requested permission from the team to overtake Marti and take sixth place in order to challenge Bortoleto. The team agreed, with the understanding that the position would be returned if Hadjar couldn’t overtake Bortoleto. The top five drivers still needed to make their mandatory pit stops.
With 10 laps remaining, the order was Colapinto, Cordeel, Crawford, Bortoleto, and O’Sullivan. Hadjar was in sixth place, less than two seconds behind Bortoleto, but was struggling with his tires. On lap 32, Colapinto was called into the pits from the race lead, followed by other drivers who hadn’t yet stopped. This allowed Bortoleto to take the lead, with Crawford in second place, closely followed by Red Bull juniors Hadjar and Marti.
Colapinto was expected to make a strong comeback after returning to the track with super soft tires. Hadjar requested three more laps before returning the position to Marti. With the same number of laps remaining, the top five were Bortoleto, Hadjar, Marti, Aron, and Colapinto, who was rapidly advancing with new tires. Colapinto managed to overtake Aron on lap 38, taking fourth place. Marti received instructions from his team to maintain his position as he was being investigated for a VSC violation.
On the penultimate lap, Colapinto overtook Marti to secure a place on the podium. On the final lap, he also overtook Hadjar, but didn’t have enough time to catch up to Bortoleto for the win. “We had some opportunities before; I made some mistakes that prevented me from getting a win, but finally we managed to put it all together. We had an incredible pace and a great car today. I’m extremely happy,” said Bortoleto in a post-race interview with Will Buxton.
Bortoleto’s first F2 win puts him in third place in the championship with 85 points. Hadjar is in second place with two wins and 106 points. Aron currently leads the standings with 117 points, although he is still seeking his first win of the season. It’s worth noting that Aron, as a rookie, is competing against several more experienced drivers in their second and third year in F2.
F3 Qualifying: British driver and Williams junior, Luke Browning, secures his first pole position in F3. Arvid Lindblad, a Red Bull junior, qualifies in second place. On the second row, we have Tim Tramnitz from Germany and Gabriele Mini from Sicily. Dino Beganovic from Sweden and Oliver Goethe from Germany make up the third row. Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli starts in 24th position on the grid.
At the start of the race, Australian driver Christian Mansell takes the lead from the front row. Bulgarian driver Nicolai Tsolov quickly overtakes pole sitter Martinius Stenshorne to secure second position. The safety car is deployed after Red Bull junior Casper Sztuka stops on the track. Ferrari junior Beganovic also spins, but manages to continue.
The race resumes on lap 5 with Mansell in the lead, followed by Tsolov, Stenshorne, Alex Dunne, and Montoya. The DRS is enabled on lap 6, and Tsolov takes advantage of the opportunity, overtaking Mansell on the outside of Turn 4 on lap 7. At the end of lap 10, less than two seconds separate the top five drivers, with Tsolov leading the pack, followed by Mansell, Stenshorne, Dunne, and Sebastian Montoya.
On lap 15, Mansell briefly regains the lead from Tsolov, but Tsolov quickly retaliates at Turn 4, once again using the outside line. The battle between the two drivers continues, with Mansell taking the lead again on the following lap.
Unfortunately, Montoya has a serious accident during the race. However, he manages to get out of the car on his own. Montoya was involved in a fierce battle with Dunne. Before the safety car is deployed, Mansell is overtaken by Tsolov and Stenshorne at the same turn.
This happens because Mansell slows down as soon as he hears the safety car beep, instead of slowing down when the safety car signal appears on his display.
The track goes green for the final lap. Tsolov maintains his lead and pulls away from Stenshorne, securing a comfortable distance and clinching his second victory in F3 this season. Mansell finishes third on the podium, followed by Dunne in fourth and Dutch driver Laurens van Hoepen in fifth place.
Luke Browning dominated the 26-lap F3 race from the front position. All thirty cars completed the first lap without aggressive collisions, which are often seen in lower-level races. Browning was closely followed by fellow British driver Lindblad at the end of the first lap.
Beganovic occupied the third position, with Mini and Goethe right behind. Mexican driver Noel Leon made an impressive climb from 13th place on the grid to seventh. On the second lap, Beganovic overtook Lindblad to secure second position.
After five laps, the top five drivers were Browning, Beganovic, Lindblad, Mini, and Goethe. Montoya’s race ended prematurely after making contact with Tramnitz, resulting in a 10-second penalty for Tramnitz. Up front, Browning, Beganovic, and Mini engaged in a fierce battle, with just one second separating the top three.
On lap 13, Leon went off track and lost valuable time recovering from the gravel trap. On lap 15, Browning led the race but faced pressure from Beganovic, who was within attacking distance thanks to the DRS (Drag Reduction System). Mini, Browning’s teammate at Prema, was just half a second behind Beganovic in third position. The order remained unchanged on lap 20, while a tight battle unfolded between Mansell and Lindblad for sixth place. Mansell managed to overtake Dunne and Goethe, moving up to fifth position.
With three laps remaining, the intensity increased. Tsolov, the winner of the F3 sprint race, made a bold maneuver to overtake Lindblad and secure seventh place after slight contact between their wheels. Browning maintained control up front, while Mini overtook Beganovic to secure second position. Beganovic managed to hold onto the final podium position despite a strong challenge from Mansell. Goethe finished in fifth place.
The victory of Browning, his second of the season, took him to the top of the F3 championship standings with 106 points. Mini currently occupies second place with 95 points. Leonardo Fornaroli, who previously led the championship, dropped to third place after scoring only two points in Austria.
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A shocking incident occurred today at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sao Paulo. During the race, Brazilian driver Lucas Silva collided violently with the wall, resulting in a serious accident. Fortunately, Silva escaped unharmed, but his car was completely destroyed.
Eye witnesses reported that Silva lost control of his car while attempting a risky overtaking maneuver. The impact was so strong that the vehicle flew through the air before crashing into the wall. Spectators were stunned by the scene and emergency services were immediately called.
Paramedics arrived quickly at the scene and managed to extract Silva from the wrecked car. Despite the scare, the driver was evaluated and released without serious injuries. He was taken to the hospital for further examinations, but doctors stated that he is out of danger.
Silva’s team is investigating the causes of the accident and has promised to take the necessary measures to prevent something similar from happening in the future. Meanwhile, Silva’s fans are relieved that he is okay and wish him a speedy recovery.
The Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sao Paulo continues to be exciting, but the safety of the drivers is paramount. We hope that Silva’s team can resolve the technical issues and ensure that he can return to the track soon. Stay tuned for more updates on this incident.
