Theóphile Nael won on the morning of this Saturday (12) the Sprint of the Madrid stage of Formula 3, held on the street circuit of Madring, Spain. The Campos Racing driver started from second position and took the lead still in the first of the 16 laps, after James Wharton, the pole position, cut a corner and was instructed to give up the first position.
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Second position went to Wharton, a Prema driver who at no point was able to keep up with Nael’s pace. The team also saw Alex Powell, who is only in his second stage in the category, complete the podium with third place. Bruno del Pino, with Van Amersfoort, finished the race in fourth position, followed by Alessandro Giusti, fifth with MP Motorsport.
Ernersto Rivera, from Campos Racing, finished the race in sixth, ahead of Jin Nakamura, seventh with Hitech after benefiting from a ten-second penalty against Enzo Deligny, who gained an advantage after cutting a corner. Ugo Ugochukwu, championship runner-up, was eighth with Campos Racing, followed by Taito Kato, from ART Grand Prix. The top 10 was closed by Tuukka Taponen, from MP Motorsport.
Brazilian Pedro Clerot crossed the finish line in 11th position with Rodin Motorsport and was very close to the points zone in the Sprint. Fernando Barrichello, from AIX Racing, was 25th. Also having a modest performance in the first race of the weekend was the championship leader, Freddie Slater, who finished the race in 18th with the Trident car.
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The first F3 race in Madring did not have many overtakes, but also had no accidents that caused the Safety Car to enter during the race. The category, three weeks ago, held a two-day test session at the circuit and had 19 red flags during that period.
Later this Saturday, starting at 1 pm, the first main race of the F3 weekend in Madrid will be held. The championship decision is scheduled for Sunday (13) with another race, starting at 4:45 am.
Read more F3: Check out how the grid for the Sprint race of the Madrid stage turned out
