F3: Mercedes Junior Stromsted secures maiden Formula 3 victory, Ferrari junior Camara strengthens his championship lead

Having only competed 17 F3 races so far, Mercedes junior driver Noah Stromsted took his maiden race victory in FIA Formula 3, beating his closest rival by six seconds.

Freddie Slater started from pole position in today’s sprint F3 race, but the Briton lost his lead on the opening laps after Noah Stromsted managed to pick off the Hitech TGR rookie.

From there, Stromsted established a comfortable margin over the chasing pack which grew to over six seconds as he crossed the finish line to take his maiden F3 victory.

McLaren Development Driver Ugo Ugochukwu started from seventh on the grid, but made a string of moves to end up second behind Stromsted.

Race winner’s team-mate Charlie Wurz rounded out the podium, earning his first podium finish in the series. Championship contender Nikola Tsolov had an eventful morning in the F3 Sprint, but he ended up fourth to add some vital points to his tally.

Championship leader Rafael Câmara started from 11th on the grid, but he made a fantastic comeback to finish in P5.

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak claimed sixth place, followed by Hitech TGR’s Martinius Stenshorne and MP Motorsport’s Bruno Del Pino.

Although he looked strong in the opening stages of the race, Brando Badoer dropped down to P9, whilst pole-sitter Freddie Slater rounded out the top ten.

Mari Boya remained fourth in the Drivers’ Championship after he was hit with a late-race time penalty for exceeding track limits, which dropped him out of the points.

Reflecting on his maiden F3 victory, Stromsted stated: “Finished P1, first of the season. Extremely happy, the pace today was very, very strong. To bounce back from two difficult weekends in Silverstone and Austria is amazing. So thank you very much to the team.”

Câmara continues to lead the way in the Drivers’ Championship, the Brazilian going onto 126 points ahead of Tsolov, who goes second on 98. Tim Tramnitz drops to third on 93, ahead of Boya on 85. Martinius Stenshorne rounds out the top five on 80.

TRIDENT take the lead back in the Teams’ Standings with their 1-3-5 finish. The Italian outfit lead Campos Racing 232 points to 221. MP Motorsport are third on 164 points ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing on 124, and ART Grand Prix in fifth place on 119 points.