Italian GP: Smolyar on pole after Hadjar crash

MP Motorsport’s Alexander Smolyar secured pole position for the Italian Grand Prix feature race, as championship contender: Isack Hadjar (Hitech) crashed out.

How qualifying unfolded…

As the pit exit light went green, the field didn’t immediately rush out onto the circuit – as they usually do. Instead, the Jenzer trio of Cohen, Malvesititi and William Alatalo were the first drivers to peel out onto the circuit.

After the first set of runs, Trident’s Roman Stanek topped the timing board with a 1:38.431, 0.405 seconds faster than his teammate Jonny Edgar. However, Edgar soon had his lap time deleted.

Championship leader, ART’s Victor Martins failed to set his first inital qualifying run as the Frenchman was forced to twist through the run off area, into turn one, as he couldn’t slow the car down in time. However, the French driver was able to set the fourth fastest lap.

After the second set of runs, Edgar temporarily jumped his teammate on the leaderboard but Stanek soon returned to the top spot. As a result, Stanek sat on provisional pole, 0.262 seconds ahead of Edgar and their teammate Zane Maloney – in third.

The red flag was soon brought out as Hitech’s Isack Hadjar ran wide on the exit of the Parabolica before he skipped across the gravel and into the barrier. The Frenchman suffered heavy rear wing and terminal rear suspension damage.

The session quickly restarted after the stranded Hitech was removed from the gravel trap. In unusual fashion, two Carlins of Josep Maria Marti and David Vidales and Malvestiti peeled out onto the circuit.

However MP Motorsport’s Alexander Smolyar claimed pole position ahead of Maloney – in second, ahead of Stanek in third.

After Hadjar’s crash, the Frenchman – who sat second place in the drivers standings – dropped down from eight to 16th in the order, providing the Hitech with a hill to climb to topple Martins from securing the championship.

Following the events of qualifying, a handful of the drivers were slapped with post-qualifying penalties, ahead of the sprint race:

• Juan Manuel Correa – 10-place grid drop: failing to respect double yellow flags, will start 22nd
• Francesco Pizzi – 10-place grid drop: failing to respect double yellow flags, will start 29th
• Reece Ushijima – 10-place grid drop: failing to respect double yellow flags, will start 30th
• Brad Benavides – three-place grid drop: causing a collision with William Alatalo (Jenzer) in Zandvoort, will start 23rd

That’s it for the article, Italian GP: Smolyar on pole after Hadjar crash! Who do you think has a chance to win the championship this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

Read more F3 here

• Dutch Feature Race: Maloney takes back-to-back win in Zandvoort
• F3 Dutch Sprint: Collet secures victory after early move on Correa
• F3 Dutch GP: Maloney secures pole as Alatalo causes late red flag
• Belgian GP: Maloney heads Trident 1-2 in Spa with maiden win
• Belgian Sprint Race: Bearman secures win after red flag stop

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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.

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.