Del Pino leads VAR 1-2 in FIA F3’s red-flagged Melbourne opener

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Bruno Del Pino led home team-mate Enzo Deligny to claim his maiden FIA Formula 3 Championship win in a season-opening sprint race that lasted only seven laps.

The contest was halted prematurely due to heavy crash involving Prema duo James Wharton and Louis Sharp, with resulting barrier repairs preventing the race from being restarted.

Del Pino made a good start from reversed-grid pole to remain ahead of Deligny into the race’s opening corner, while Rodin Motorsport’s Brando Badoer snatched third from Trident’s Noah Stromsted.

Wharton ran wide when making a bid for fifth, lost out to the ART Grand Prix pair of Taito Kato and Maciej Gladysz during a four-wide battle into turn three, and then slipped to eighth behind MP Motorsport’s Mattia Colnaghi before lap one was completed.

Colnaghi’s chances were undone on lap two, as he tagged the rear of Gladysz under braking for turn 11 and then spun as he tried to fend off Wharton. Sharp, meanwhile, made up four places in the early stages to run close behind his team-mate.

The race-ending clash occurred less than five laps later, with Sharp and Wharton going wheel-to-wheel through turns four and five before coming to blows at the next corner. Both drivers were able to walk away unharmed after their cars slammed into the barriers.

Del Pino was eventually declared the winner ahead of del Pino and Badoer, with Stomsted fourth and Kato fifth. As less than a quarter of the race’s scheduled distance was completed, only the top five finishers were awarded points.

Gladysz was sixth, and Wharton was classified seventh ahead of Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu. Trident’s Slater and Sunday’s feature race polesitter Theophile Nael completed the top 10.

Sharp was handed a post-race 10s penalty for the incident with Wharton, which demoted the New Zealander to 16th.

Race results (7 laps)