The Formula 3 sprint race at Silverstone delivered plenty of fights as usual. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak made the most of his reverse-grid pole position and took win on the British soil.
Early Contact and Safety Car
Inthraphuvasak had a strong start, while Ho directly behind him lost out to Nael in the opening corners. The first lap saw a clash at between Badoer and Tsolov, which ended Badoer’s race on the spot. Tsolov dropped to the back of the field but was able to continue. The incident will be investigated post-race.
A Virtual Safety Car was quickly deployed, later replaced by a full Safety Car, which remained out until lap 5. Before the restart, Wurz voiced his frustration over the radio, complaining about his teammate Camara. All three Trident drivers were running tightly together, though replays showed no direct contact before Wurz went wide.
Nael Takes the Lead Briefly
At the restart, Nael took the lead, while Stenshorne moved past Ho into third. Further back, Tsolov began his recovery, climbing from the very back of the grid to P26 by lap 9. The contact lost him a lot though.
Nael’s move on Inthraphuvasak was under investigation, with his engineer instructing him by lap 10 to give the position back. He did so at Stowe section, but the timing left him vulnerable. Stenshorne was now right on his tail and looking to attack.
Trident Pushes Through
Both Camara and Wurz were told to push on lap 12, eventually overtaking Tramnitz, who slipped to P11. Interestingly, the instructions gave Wurz no room to fight his teammate, but rather follow his lead.
Nael made a mistake with his tyres falling off. He went wide and touched the dry grass, losing DRS on the race leader. That made him more fragile to the pressure from behind.
Ho’s struggles with tyres continued as Boya overtook him for sixth on lap 14. That pushed him even further down the grid despite starting on the front row.
Nael’s tyre degradation also started affecting his pace. He lost second place to Stenshorne and then fell out of his DRS range too. Van Hoepen took advantage and moved past. Nael ran wide when being overtaken which helped him gain on Van Hoepen again. Their fight unintentionally left the door open for Boya, who overtook both and moved into third.
Last-Lap Dominance and a Post-Race Penalty
Despite briefly holding onto third in the race, Van Hoepen finished the race in fifth, visibly frustrated. He even reported over the radio that Nael had made contact during the fight.
At the front, Inthraphuvasak controlled the pace of the final lap with confidence. He took the flag almost two seconds ahead of Stenshorne. Boya joined them on the podium, capitalizing on the chaos behind.
Nael, who originally crossed the line in fourth, was later handed a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. This move dropped him down the order and promoted Van Hoepen to fourth.