FIA Formula 3 European maiden win for Callum Ilott

The 17-year-old Brit finished ahead of Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam) in second and the best-placed rookie driver, Guanyu Zhou (Motopark) in third place. Thus, 16-year-old Zhou secured the first-ever podium finish by a Chinese driver in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. 21-year-old New-Zealander Cassidy has now taken over the lead in the drivers’ standings following the retirement of erstwhile points’ leader Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam) after an accident on the opening lap.

Just after the start, Lance Stroll, the winner of the first race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season, already saw his hopes of another success blown. The Canadian became involved in a collision in the first corner, in which four drivers retired. Ben Barnicoat (HitechGP) missed his braking point and hit Stroll, who, in turn, collected Joel Eriksson (Motopark). Next to Stroll and Barnicoat, Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam) and Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing) also retired. Race control deployed the safety car out for the first time.

At this time, Nick Cassidy was leading from Callum Ilott, Mikkel Jensen (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), Guanyu Zhou and Anthoine Hubert (Van Amersfoort Racing). At the restart on lap four, this order initially remained unchanged until Zhou worked his way past Jensen into third on lap eight. Seven laps later, Cassidy suddenly was down in third place at the track in the south of France after having made a mistake when the rain increased. Ilott took the lead and then safely brought victory home, also assisted by a second safety car intervention.

The safety car came out for the second time after Ralf Aron (Prema Powerteam) had spun on lap 19 and stayed on track until lap 22. After the restart, there was one lap remaining for the young drivers, during which Cassidy mounted a successful challenge against Zhou and thus secured himself second place. In a race marked by many entertaining battles, Jensen finished fourth from Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark), Alessio Lorandi (Carlin), Ryan Tveter (Carlin), Hubert, Eriksson and Raoul Hyman (Carlin).

Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing): “Scoring my maiden FIA Formula 3 European Championship victory is a great feeling, and that after our weekend didn’t get off to a good start with the fire we had on Thursday during testing. Because of that, this success, for which we have laid the foundation with hard work over the winter, is even more beautiful. In the race, I had a good start, but then, the safety car came out for the first time. When Nick made a mistake later in the race, I was able to take the lead. Then, it was just about keeping the car on track, because it was quite slippery at some places as the rain increased.”

Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam): “Somehow, I was surprised myself by the speed I had, because I was using my oldest set of tyres in this race. In the opening stages, defending first place was still a challenge, but things got better as the race went on. Later on, I made a mistake in turn six when the track got more slippery due to the rain. That was really annoying, because I was in control of the race. At least, I was able to get back second place on the final lap after the restart.”

Guanyu Zhou (Motopark): “Admittedly, I never expected a podium finish in only my second Formula 3 race. At the start, I was already able to overtake Anthoine Hubert and also Mikkel Jensen later in the race. When the rain intensified, I particularly tried to avoid making any mistakes and risking too much. I continued that when Nick Cassidy attacked me on the final lap. I am really happy with my third place.”


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