Antonio Giovinazzi took his second victory of the season today, as he led home team mate Tom Blomqvist in the second FIA Formula 3 European Championship race of the weekend. Giovinazzi moved into second off the line then took the lead after race leader Max Verstappen retired, with Tom Blomqvist following him home in second. Sean Gelael suffered a torrid end to his race after running in a strong 14th place, ending his race with retirement.
Starting from pole position Blomqvist had a clear track ahead of him as the lights went out this morning. The Brit bogged down though, allowing second placed man Verstappen to steal through into the lead and team mate Giovinazzi into second. Gelael had made up one place on lap one to 16th.
Gelael was pushing hard to make up further places, passing Dennis Van de Laar and fighting with Felix Serralles for 14th place. The Indonesian youngster made up the place a few laps later to run in 14th.
At the front the order remained unchanged for several laps, with the top four drivers of Verstappen, Giovinazzi, Blomqvist and Esteban Ocon split by relatively stable gaps. On lap seven though, Blomqvist set the fastest lap of the race so far and was holding off Ocon comfortably.
By lap 12, the dynamic amongst the top four had changed, with Ocon suddenly closing on Blomqvist and putting the Jagonya Ayam driver under some pressure. Blomqvist was able to respond, holding off Ocon and closing slightly on team mate Giovinazzi however.
Gelael meanwhile, who was pushing hard to make it up into the points, suffered a spin on lap 15 which put him back down to 17th. Further drama for Gelael came a few laps later when he made contact with another car and was handed a drive through penalty. With only a few laps left, Gelael retired from the race.
At the front, the order was about to see a dramatic change. Race leader Verstappen suddenly slowed with an apparent mechanical problem, allowing Giovinazzi to sweep through into the lead, and Blomqvist into second the order they would maintain to the flag.
Race winner Giovinazzi said, “Yes it was a really good start; I took Tom and tried to pass Max [Verstappen] into the first corner but it wasn’t possible. After that I was following him but it was very difficult to overtake and after he had his problem I was able to move into the lead. So I just controlled the gap with Tom after that and it was a really good race. I want to say thank you to Carlin for a really great car. A one-two is a really nice result for the team.”
Team mate Blomqvist added, “It was a good result for the whole team but as for me I’m really disappointed as I was starting from pole and after 50 metres I was already third. The pace was good but we weren’t able to show it as it’s so hard to overtake here, so in that respect it was quite a frustrating race.”
The weekend’s racing action will conclude at 15.25 local time.
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