In addition to Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers will also be back in action during the Grand Prix weekend in Australia. It is a first for Formula 3 that the class also takes action Down Under. F1Maximaal.nl will keep you informed in this topic of all updates and results of the entry-level classes at the Albert Park Street Circuit.
F2: Hadjar fights back with victory, good points for Verschoor
Isack Hadjar ends the weekend in Australia with a victory after he received a time penalty on Saturday and lost his victory. Paul Aron and Zane Maloney completed the stage. The winner of Saturday’s race, Dennis Hauger, crashed on the eleventh lap and then the safety car had to be deployed. Rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished in P4. Richard Verschoor picked up good points by crossing the finish line in sixth place. Oliver Bearman also picked up a point, finishing in P10.
F3: Ferrari junior takes first victory, Van Hoepen outside the top ten
Dino Beganovic took his first victory in the chaotic main race in Australia on Sunday. Leonardo Fornaroli and Grabiele Minì completed the podium. There were some incidents right in the first lap, with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak being tagged into a spin and ending up in the wall just after the start. Then home heroes Tommy Smith and Joseph Loake crashed and the safety car had to be brought onto the track. After the field had stabilized a bit, Beganovic managed to make the move for the lead on the fourteenth lap. The Swede crossed the line first. Laurens van Hoepen finished thirteenth.
F2: Hadjar gets time penalty, loses victory
Isack Hadjar has lost his victory in the sprint race. The Red Bull talent was already under a magnifying glass for his part in the starting crash that eliminated Pepe Marti and Gabriel Bortoleto. The race management announced during the race that it would review the incident after the race. After studying the images, the stewards handed Hadjar a ten-second penalty. This penalty drops the Frenchman back to P6. Roman Stanek, Richard Verschoor’s Trident teammate, is thus given the sprint victory.
F2: Red Bull talents clash, but Hadjar dominates
The race started off with incidents: Red Bull junior talents Isack Hadjar and Pepe Martí got away much better from the second row of the grid than Gabriel Bortoleto from the second starting spot. Hadjar swerved to the right to open the attack on pole sitter Roman Staněk, hitting Martí, who then slid into the wall together with Bortoleto after less than a hundred meters. This soon followed a longer Safety Car period, with Hadjar leading ahead of Staněk.
After the Safety Car, Red Bull talent Hadjar ran hard on Staněk, who started to form a real train behind him. Staněk’s pursuers all tried to strike at the same time, with Mercedes growth brilliant Andrea Kimi Antonelli spinning. Richard Verschoor also spun in an attempt to avoid the Italian, meaning Paul Aron could not get around Verschoor either. The Dutchman was added to the list of dropouts, just like Antonelli.
After another Safety Car period, Hadjar got out of the starting blocks again, helped by the fiercely defending Staněk in second place. The Czech held on well, finishing second, at an appropriate distance from the dominant Hadjar. Dennis Hauger, who has pole position for the main race on Sunday, finished third, while Victor Martins and Oliver Bearman took advantage of the chaos and finished seventh and eighth after weak qualifying: Martins even came from P21.
F3: Stenshorne repulses attack by 16-year-old Red Bull talent, podium for Van Hoepen
Martinius Stenshorne has taken victory in the Formula 3 sprint race in Australia. Red Bull talent Arvid Lindblad, who also won the sprint race in the opening weekend in Bahrain, quickly caught up with the 18-year-old Norwegian, but just as Lindblad wanted to overtake the leader, a Safety Car was called in due to a crash caused by Tommy Smith. After the break, Stenshorne had allowed his tires to cool sufficiently and was able to hold on for three more laps.
These were the first points in Formula 3 for Stenshorne. Lindblad was closing in on championship leader Luke Browning with his new podium finish. Laurens van Hoepen was allowed to start from pole position due to the reversal of the top twelve from qualifying. The driver from Wassenaar held up well in the opening phase, but ultimately had to let two rivals go ahead. With third place he took his second podium place in two weekends.
F2: Hauger takes pole, good performances by Antonelli and Verschoor
Dennis Hauger drove the fastest time during qualifying in Formula 2, which was interrupted twice, and this means that the MP Motorsport driver can start the main race on Sunday from first place. The Norwegian was one step faster than Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who achieved his best performance so far. Richard Verschoor, who had to give up his victory in the sprint race in Saudi Arabia, also performed excellently. The Trident driver trained to the third fastest time.
It was an unlucky day for Oliver Bearman, the F1 sensation from two weeks ago. The 18-year-old Briton had to take off the gas twice during a fast lap. First due to a crash by Jak Crawford, which caused a red flag, and then in the final phase due to a crash by Enzo Fittipaldi. The Prema driver therefore did not get further than P16.
F3: Italian titanic duel in qualifying, Van Hoepen on the front row in the sprint race
Formula 3 qualifying in Australia turned into a titanic battle between Leonardo Fornaroli and Gabriele Minì. Both 19-year-old Italians stood head and shoulders above the field, and separated themselves by just two hundredths after the first attempts in qualifying. The session was halted by a crash by Sami Meguetounif, who crashed entering the straight, in a similar manner to Michael Schumacher in 2006.
After the red flag, both fighters set out for a faster lap, with Fornaroli taking the lead. He was ultimately 0.019 seconds faster than his compatriot, while the Swede Dino Beganovich had to settle for third place, three tenths behind. Championship leader Luke Browning set the fifth fastest time, while Dutchman Laurens van Hoepen posted the eleventh fastest time. Van Hoepen can therefore start second in the sprint race, due to the reversal of the top twelve from qualifying. Red Bull talent Arvid Lindblad, only sixteen years old and fifth in the championship, set the seventh fastest time.
