Williams junior Zak O’Sullivan has taken pole for the Silverstone round of the FIA Formula 3 championship, after track evolution foiled his rivals.
Although the session started much drier than Formula 1’s first practice, it was still somewhat greasy on track and heavily overcast. Officially declared dry, drivers headed out on slicks with the track temperature slowly falling from a starting 26C.
Oliver Bearman initially set the fastest time, with a 1’45.107. However, running on relatively high fuel at the start of an F3 qualifying session meant times were destined to drop.
With just under 20 minutes to go, Kush Maini took the top spot from Bearman, the MP Motorsport driver having topped the earlier practice session confidently. Maini’s 1’44.963 was over a tenth ahead of Bearman,but nearly half a second slower than his own 1’44.481 best free practice time.
Several drivers found themselves overcooking things through Copse, halfway through the session, still searching for grip in the changeable conditions. Isack Hadjar, in particular, went well over the kerb and had to save what could have been a massive snap of oversteer.
The session’s rhythm saw most drivers pit until just under ten minutes were remaining in qualifying.
At just under five minutes to go, Caio Collet beat Maini with a 1’44.823 but times were rapidly falling. Zane Maloney, then Arthur Leclerc, then Zak O’Sullivan were able to take the top spot in quick succession with O’Sullivan’s 1’44.597 the closest drivers had come to Maini’s morning time.
The sun came out for final runs, improving track conditions as drivers tried to be the last across the line before the chequered flag. On their final laps Maloney was able to improve to third, four tenths off O’Sullivan but other drivers did not seem able to take advantage of the track conditions. The Williams junior driver held on to the top spot to claim pole position for Sunday’s feature race.
“The car was pretty good I think, thank you, let’s see what we can do on Sunday,” said O’Sullivan, mildly, while celebrating his pole. Hadjar was able to rescue a dip in position from 11th to ninth, but was vocally unhappy on the radio with his final run.
O’Sullivan will take up pole for the Formula 3 feature race on Sunday, Leclerc alongside him on the front row. For the sprint race, the partially-reversed-grid format will see Reece Ushijima on pole with points leader Victor Martins in second.
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