Australia returned to embrace the motor world in a weekend that saw more than 450,000 fans on the track, recording the record for the most spectators ever. Much of this success is due to the continuous expansion of Formula 1, but also thanks to an F2 and F3. A the moment, both championships have been unpredictable, without a dominator, with many young drivers, rookie and not only, who want to prove they deserve Formula 1.
Sprint race F2
From the first meters, the 23-lap race was out of the box. The contact between Hadjar, Marti and Bortoleto immediately triggered a Safety Car, allowing the first to consolidate the leadership of the race obtained thanks to a fantastic start. Marti and Bortoleto were less fortunate, forced to retire due to too much damage to their cars.
The race started again on lap 7. On lap 10 it begins a spectacular battle for second place between Stanek, Maini, Antonelli and Verschoor. Unfortunately, the last two lost the control of their cars in turn 12 and they had to retired. The race ended with the triumph of Hadjar, victory lasted only a few hours given the penalty of 10 seconds after the contact at the start. He slipped into sixth place, handing over the trophy to Stanek. Hauger, who had a splendid overtaking of Maini on the penultimate lap in turn 9, was promoted as a result. Bitter weekend for Bearman after his excellent debut in Formula 1 two weeks ago. Prema’s englishman crossed the finish line in eighth position, well out of the podium area, but due to a 10 second penalty he was relegated to fifteenth.
Feature race F2
The race on Sunday, from 33 laps, was as thrilling as the Sprint race. In via Hauger and Antonelli held the first and second positions respectively. The contact between Stanek and O’Sullivan, subsequently penalized by 10 seconds, made the former slide to the bottom of the field. Antonelli, meanwhile, managed to take the lead of the race with a great overtaking on Hauger, who returned to the next lap back in the lead.
On lap seven there was another contact between Durksen and O’Sullivan that caused the first virtual safety car. Shortly after, on lap 10, the safety car entered, seeing the accident of Hauger in turn 6. Hadjar took advantage and stopped at the pits to change the tires and virtually take the first position. Hadjar crossed the finish line in front of Aron, Maloney and Antonelli, taking back the missed victory of the previous day.
Standings
The third weekend of F2 gave us many doubts and few certainties. What we are sure about, however, is that this year the world championship of Formula 2 will not be dominated by a single driver, but will be characterized by the continuous struggles between all these drivers who, although they are still boys, They know that once lowered their visor their only purpose will be to win by beating all the other rivals. In first place for the moment is Maloney with 62 points, followed by rookie Paul Aron and veteran Dennis Hauger. He goes into fourth place Hadjar, who so far had accumulated only 4 points in the first round.
A crackling and balanced Formula 3
After a three-week break from the opening round in Bahrain, F3 is back for the second round of the championship. Like Formula 2, the weekend was held at Albert Park, always described as a very difficult track with several pitfalls, but also very fast, fun and capable of great battles between the drivers.
So it was, because the weekend of Formula 3 gave us several very interesting and exciting moments. From the pole position of Leonardo Fornaroli on compatriot Minì, to the victory of Martinius Stenshorne in the Sprint Race, until Dino Beganovic, winner of the Feature Race, just ahead of the two Italians.
The first laps of the sprint race were marked by a close battle between Stenshorne, Van Hoepen and Mansell, before the latter blamed his car for problems. After several wheel to wheel between the first two, Stenshorne was able to definitely overtake the dutch on lap 5. Later he managed to build a gap of about 2 and a half seconds.
From the ninth onwards, however, the race leader had to deal with Lindblad, who climbed into second position after he recovered all the gap that separated him from the norwegian before the safety car, Triggered by the contact between Smith and Inthraphuvasak in turn 1. Once left Lindblad tried to win the leadership, but failed to attack the driver Hitech. The positions, therefore, remained frozen with Stenshorne ahead of Lindblad and Van Hoepen. The Italians have closed the race with a bitter taste, with Minì in seventh position, overtaken at the last corner by his teammate Beganovic. Fornaroli, after a mistake made on the seventh lap while he was fighting with Beganovic, finisged in eleventh place.
Feature race
The race the next day saw Fornaroli and Minì start in the front row, with the two who managed to keep their positions. The situation changed in the second half of the race, when Beganovic, thanks to an excellent tyre management, managed to pass first Minì on lap 12 and then Fornaroli on the fourteenth, going to win the race with a gap of almost two seconds.
First podium of the season for an excellent Gabriele Minì, who managed to regain the third position with a pass on Browning in the penultimate lap.
Only two races have passed, but the Formula 3 seems to be very exciting and especially tight, with many young drivers very fast.
Luke Browning and Leonardo Fornaroli are both in first position with 37 points, with Minì third at 32, then Beganovic fourth at 28. Top 5 Lindblad with 23 points.
The next two races, sprints and features, will be in Imola and, in a world championship that seems to be very competitive, we’ll see what the Italian weekend will offer.
