Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Mari Boya claimed his maiden victory in the FIA Formula 3 Championship at home in Barcelona, but a number of false start investigations left the rest of the results provisional.
Alex Dunne finished the race second on track after challenging Boya for the victory, but a late announcement revealed he would be one of many drivers to be investigated for a false start.
Boya had no such problems. The Campos Racing driver took the lead of the race early on after an incident between front row starters Santiago Ramos and Sami Meguetounif. The pair had been battling for position when Meguetounif ran slightly wide and made contact with Ramos as he returned to the track. Maguetounif was left stranded in the gravel while Ramos limped back to the pits.
Just behind them, Callum Voisin and Nikita Bedrin also had an incident at the same place, leaving three cars for marshals to clear.
Boya inherited the race lead ahead of Dunne and Oliver Goethe as the safety car came out.
The Campos Racing driver got a clean get away on the restart, with most of the battle happening further down the top 10. He couldn’t shake Dunne, though, and the McLaren junior driver made several attempts to find a way past. The battle allowed Goethe to close in, briefly making it a three way fight for the lead before Boya began to pull away.
Late in the race, Gabriel Mini and Sebastian Montoya came together. Montoya had been charging his way up through the field after losing his qualifying time and starting from the tail end of the grid. He was side by side with Mini when slight contact damaged Mini’s car, causing him to lose control. Mini was sent into the side of Montoya and both were wiped out of the race.
With only a handful of laps remaining, the race ended behind the safety car. Boya took the victory, his first in the series, with Dunne close behind on track.
Goethe finished third ahead of Martinius Stenshorne, who took fourth from Laurens van Hoepen after the first safety car.
Van Hoepen stayed with Stenshorne and the pair were joined by Noel Leon and Arvid Lindblad in the main battle after the first safety car restart. Leon took sixth, while Lindblad fell back behind Leonardo Fornaroli and Dino Beganovic.
Tim Tramnitz completed the top 10, with Christian Mansell and Luke Browning just behind.
Race results (21 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mari Boya | Campos Racing | 28m11.211s |
| 2 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | +0.453s |
| 3 | Oliver Goethe | Campos Racing | +0.828s |
| 4 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | +1.068s |
| 5 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix | +1.263s |
| 6 | Noel Leon | Van Amersfoort Racing | +1.735s |
| 7 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | +1.893s |
| 8 | Dino Beganovic | Prema | +2.197s |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | Prema | +2.698s |
| 10 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | +2.964s |
| 11 | Christian Mansell | ART Grand Prix | +3.111s |
| 12 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | +3.375s |
| 13 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix | +3.936s |
| 14 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | +4.213s |
| 15 | Joseph Loake | Rodin Motorsport | +4.652s |
| 16 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer Motorsport | +4.982s |
| 17 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | +5.287s |
| 18 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing | +5.787s |
| 19 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer Motorsport | +6.938s |
| 20 | Sophia Floersch | Van Amersfoort Racing | +7.117s |
| 21 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | +7.370s |
| 22 | Max Esterson | Jenzer Motorsport | +7.849s |
| 23 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | +8.556s |
| 24 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin Motorsport | +8.760s |
| 25 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | +16.556s |
| Ret | Gabriele Mini | Prema | |
| Ret | Sebastian Montoya | Campos Racing | |
| Ret | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | |
| Ret | Callum Voisin | Rodin Motorsport | |
| Ret | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | |
| Fastest lap: Fornaroli, 1m32.402s
Championship standings |
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