Hauger retains championship lead with race 3 podium
PREMA Racing’s Dennis Hauger took his second podium finish of the weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard, as the final race of the FIA Formula 3 weekend was held today at the French venue. With the rain starting to fall before the race, the 18-year-old Norwegian started from the front row and made a great jump to take the lead. Then, after being passed for P1 in the middle of the race, he remained in close pursuit but didn’t do anything that could jeopardize his championship lead. Bringing it home cleanly, Hauger took his fourth straight points finish.
Olli Caldwell had a quick start too, and quickly climbed to the top-10 until contact with another driver left him with a broken suspension. The British racer had to stop and retire after a positive run in race 1 and 2.
Starting from 30th place after a qualifying incident, Arthur Leclerc put his wet driving abilities to good use again. The Monte Carlo-based driver steadily improved his position as the race progressed and soon broke it into the top-20. He eventually took P13, barely missing the points zone but surely showcasing his speed potential. PREMA Racing now heads towards the third round of the 2021 season at Spielberg with the lead in the team championship.
#1 DENNIS HAUGER
“A really good start. I got off the line nicely, and after that, I just tried to create a little bit of a gap to save some tyres afterwards. I started struggling with the tyres quite early and Jack, having some more pace in the back, caught up to me. I tried to defend what I could, but I was trying to finish the race and score good points for the championship. We are leading now so I tried to play it smart as well. Overall, I think I maximised what I could and scored a good result ahead of Red Bull Ring.”
Qualifying: P2
Starting Position Race 1: P11
Starting Position Race 2: P4
Starting Position Race 3: P2
Fastest lap: 1:51.063
Race 1: P9
Race 2: P2
Race 3: P2
#2 ARTHUR LECLERC
“Overall, it was quite a positive weekend after what happened in qualifying, which is the weak point we have to work on now. I’m really happy about race 1 and 2. I gained 18 positions in race 1 and it was mega, then we won race 2 with a good gap so we proved we are not made for the last positions. It’s time to prepare for Spielberg, let’s fight for the win!”
Qualifying: P30
Starting Position Race 1: P30
Starting Position Race 2: P1
Starting Position Race 3: P30
Fastest lap: 2’30″239
Race 1: P12
Race 2: P1
Race 3: P13
#3 OLLI CALDWELL
“Unfortunately, it was not a great weekend for me at Paul Ricard. I managed to salvage some points in race 1 and 2, but we could have done a much better job, so apologies to the team. We will bounce back stronger in Austria and hopefully have a better weekend.”
Qualifying: P14
Starting Position Race 1: P14
Starting Position Race 2: P3
Starting Position Race 3: P14
Fastest lap: 1:51.648
Race 1: P10
Race 2: P4
Race 3: DNF
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing