Leclerc takes first win of 2022 in double PREMA podium

PREMA Racing finally delivered its first win of the year in the FIA Formula 3 Championship race 2 at Silverstone. Starting from the front row, 21-year-old Arthur Leclerc secured P1 with a move on lap 6 and never looked back. The Ferrari Driver Academy racer also bounced back to championship contention after showing remarkable potential throughout the whole year and now stands in P2.

Fellow FDA member Ollie Bearman had an equally spectacular run. The British rookie put up an aggressive race. After surviving an early contact, Bearman set his sight on the podium, tracking the P3 car of Collet and eventually getting the nod on him. In the closing stages, he went for P2 with a last-lap assault that ended 0.05s short of completion. Hi still enjoyed a memorable trip to the podium on his home racetrack. 

Jak Crawford finished in P6 after being involved on a long battle and losing position due to contact. The Red Bull Junior American was able to fight back in the final stages and even claimed the fastest lap of the race. Coming out of the weekend, he and Bearman are holding P5 and P6 in the driver ranking respectively, while PREMA retained its lead in the team classification.

#4 ARTHUR LECLERC

“It was a really positive race, but the result is not awesome with P8 at the end. However, we can be really happy because the pace was amazing, the car was great as well, and we kept climbing positions. With a few more laps, we could have done even better. It is positive for tomorrow as the race is longer and we are starting P2. Let’s see how it goes.”

Qualifying: P2

Starting position Race 1: P11

Starting position Race 2: P2

Fastest lap: 1:44.624

Race 1: P8

Race 2: P1

#5 JAK CRAWFORD

“It hasn’t been the greatest race for me. I had a good start, but I had contact in the opening lap, and after that, I wasn’t as fast as I expected because of the big slide and the resulting oversteer. In the end, I was just falling back and trying to hang on. Starting higher up tomorrow, hopefully we can rebound in the feature race.”

Qualifying: P5

Starting position Race 1: P8

Starting position Race 2: P5

Fastest lap: 1’44″805

Race 1: P10

Race 2: P6

#6 OLIVER BEARMAN

“A difficult race. I lost a position at the start, and then I got pushed off the track trying to retake it and lost another spot because of that. It was a challenging first lap. From there, I was trying to take the ground back, but it was a DRS train. I managed to gain one at the end. P9 it is, I’m hoping to improve for tomorrow.”

Qualifying: P6

Starting position Race 1: P7

Starting position Race 2: P6

Fastest lap: 1’44″863

Race 1: P9

Race 1: P6

Source | Photo: PREMA Racing