F3 British Sprint Race: Isack Hadjar wins after penultimate lap move
2nd July 2022Hitech’s Isack Hadjar moved up from P4 to secure the race win after he made a successful overtake on the championship leader, ART’s Victor Martins, on the penultimate lap.
How the race unfolded…
Before the race started the stewards had an awkward situation to deal with, as the pack lined up on the grid ahead of the race, Carlin’s Brad Benavides was seen trundling around the Silverstone circuit in a very slow manner. The start was soon aborted and the pack had to conduct a second formation lap, of which the pole sitter, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Reece Ushijima, almost lapped the Carlin driver.
On the second time around, the race finally got underway as the Carlin arrived in the pit lane.
It was a great start from both Ushijima and ART’s Victor Martins, both drivers went side-by-side into the first corner but the battle was soon won by Martins by the second corner. As the pack raced into Stowe, turn 15, Martin’s attempted to break the tow for Ushijima of which the championship leader was able to hold onto P1.
By the end of the first lap, the top three lined up; Martins, Ushijima and MP Motorsport’s Kush Maini, in P1, P2 and P3 respectively.
After the opening laps, on lap four, Hitech’s Isack Hadjar looked to join the fight with the top three as the French driver successfully overtook Maini down into Stowe. A lap later, Ushijima almost regained the lead of the race as he went side by side with Martins around Stowe. However, the race leader forced the British driver off the track – of which the VAR driver was given a track limits warning.
On lap six, Benavides rejoined the race despite his troubles at the beginning of the session. The Carlin would likely rejoin the track to gather additional experience and data as the American driver returned to the circuit six laps down.
An intense fight began between Hadjar and Ushijima as the two drivers arrived into Luffield (turn seven), on lap eight, to battle for second place. Hadjar had a great exit out of Luffield and was forced to take the outside line into Copse (turn nine), of which Ushijima was able to maintain his track position. As Hadjar was able to remain close to the back of the VAR driver, the Hitech made light work of Ushijima into Stowe and moved up to P2.
The safety car was soon deployed, on lap 10, after the Charouz drivers of Laszlo Toth and Zdenek Chovanec made contact into the penultimate corner. As the two drivers went side-by-side into turn 16, Chovanec made contact with his teammate into turn 17 which serverly damaged the Portuguese driver’s front left suspension. A lap later, Toth returned to the pit lane to retire from the race.
At the end of Lap 12, the safety car returned to the pit lane after the damaged Charouz car was removed from the circuit. As a result, Martin’s bolted early – before Stowe – to try catch Hadjar out. However, Hajdar wasn’t caught napping and was able to remain on the gearbox of Martins.
When the Drag Reduction System was reactivated, Hadjar moved up to the lead of the race on the penultimate lap, into Stowe’s braking zone, after he utilised DRS to pass the championship leader. On the final lap, Martins wasn’t close enough to retaliate. This allowed Hadjar to drive off to secure the sprint race win with minimal pressure.
Top three:
- Isack Hadjar, Hitech
- Victor Martins, ART
- Reece Ushijima, VAR
That’s it for the article: ! ? Let us know in the comments!
Read more F3 here
- F3 British GP: Zak O’Sullivan takes maiden pole position
- 2022 Spanish Grand Prix: Victor Martins commands feature race win
- 2022 Spanish GP: David Vidales secures sprint win pending investigation
To keep up to date with the latest news from Apex Motorsports, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
