SAM HALL
FORMULA 3 IMOLA (ITA)
18-19 MAY
ROUND 3/10
Luke Browning lost his grip on the F3 championship battle at Imola while continuing the worrying statistic of failing to register a point in any sprint race this season. But it was better news for Oliver Goethe and Sami Meguetounif who took their first victories, meaning there is still yet to be a repeat winner in 2024.
Bernd Maylander led the majority of the Saturday sprint race, his Mercedes safety car sent onto the track on four occasions. Reversed-grid polesitter Kaper Sztuka was quickly thrust down the order and out of the podium places, with Noel Leon moving in front from Tim Tramnitz and sixth-placed starter Goethe. But the action was quickly frozen after Mari Boya spun into the gravel at the Villeneuve chicane after contact with Tommy Smith. No sooner had the action resumed when Charlie Wurz kindly assisted Callum Voisin off the track and into the barriers at Tosa, an act that, like Smith’s, resulted in a 10-second penalty.
A trip into the gravel for Meguetounif, after making contact with the rear of Dino Beganovic, made it three interruptions, and then Maylander completed his private game of Connect Four with a ‘phantom’ safety car period when Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak pulled off the circuit. He had restarted and was motoring into the pits when the race was neutralised.
Browning was sixth by the final restart, but a half-move on Sztuka at Tosa on the penultimate lap put his Hitech GP car out of the race, and the VSC was deployed as cars passed through the area on the final tour. Leon had remained cool on each restart, but the Mexican was caught napping by the ending of the VSC on the downhill run to Rivazza, and Campos Racing-run Red Bull Junior Goethe pounced on the Van Amersfoort Racing man to snatch the win with just two corners remaining.
The drama continued post-race when Goethe and Tramnitz, who had finished third, were handed five-second penalties for speeding behind the safety car. This meant Leon collected the winner’s trophy on the podium, but these penalties were reversed an hour after the race, and Leon handed
