Roman Stanek won a lively, rain-affected Formula 3 feature race by passing Oliver Bearman in the dying laps.
After overnight rain, drivers gambled whether to start the race on slick tyres or opt for full wets, F3 having no intermediate option. Pole-winner Zane Maloney and second-placed Stanek both opted to start on slicks, while Caio Collet, Franco Colapinto, Hunter Yeany, Reece Ushijima, Josep Maria Marti and Enzo Trulli took the option of wet tyres on the still very damp track.
Maloney initially held the lead at the start but drivers on slicks were reluctant to venture beyond the drying groove. Collet and Colapinto on their wets quickly rose from ninth and 12th, the former grabbing the lead halfway around the opening lap.
Their progress was halted after Ushijima and Brad Benavides came together at Villeneuve, Ushijima’s race over but Benavides able to continue. Francesco Pizzi also found himself beached in gravel after losing grip through the second part of Tamburello, the combined incidents bringing out a safety car on lap three.
Collet and Colapinto pitted for slicks during the safety car, putting them to the back of the pack. F3 crews are seldom called upon to make tyre changes during races, and swapping tyres is a lengthier process than in F2 or F1.
At the restart on lap five, Josep Maria Marti and Hunter Yeany still had wet tyres on their Campos cars, letting them hunt their way forwards against the drivers still struggling for grip. Marti was able to move up from fourth to take the lead, passing Oliver Bearman, Stanek and Maloney easily and Yeany following behind him, up to third from fifth by lap six.
Franco Colapinto, already down in 21st following his pit stop, was issued a 10-second stop-go penalty for being out of position behind the safety car line on the formation lap.
By lap seven, cars on wet tyres were losing their advantage and Maloney reclaimed the lead from Marti, the two Campos drivers fading quickly. Marti and Yeany pitted under the safety car…