Martins leads FIA F3 standings from Stanek after Barcelona win

The FIA Formula 3 Championship has reached one-third distance after two thrilling races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The weekend brought the fifth different winner from six races so far this season, and the first repeat winner.

Zane Maloney’s weekend started with disappointment, as after qualifying 12th for Sprint Race pole, he was ordered to start both races from the pitlane.

That promoted Campos Racing’s David Vidales into pole position for Saturday morning, following up his third-place starting position for the season opener at the Bahrain International Circuit.

He managed to hold on for his first win in F3, also delivering a home win for himself and the team.

It was far from an easy maiden victory, though.

Jak Crawford pushed the Spaniard all the way, feeling he himself was pushed off the track between Turns 1 and 2 as he tried to get around the outside.

By attempting that move, he put himself in a quickly-closing gap and had to bounce over the sausage kerb on the run-off area, risking floor and suspension.

He was able to continue unabated, bringing home his best result of the season after Prema Racing’s request for the stewards to look into the incident yielded no further action.

Caio Collet took his first podium of 2022 in third, and MP Motorsport’s second.

Victor Martins had entered the weekend level on points with Arthur Leclerc at the top of the standings, but retired from the Sprint Race for the second time this season, this time with a mechanical failure, having collided with team-mate Gregoire Saucy in Bahrain.

Again for the second time, though, he came through to win the feature race, getting past pole-sitter Roman Stanek into Turn 1.

Stanek held on for another podium, having won the Feature Race at Imola last time out, with Isack Hadjar adding third to his Bahrain Sprint success.

Martins now leads the standings as he did after Bahrain, while Stanek has kickstarted his season with two podiums and a win in three races, after two punctures in Bahrain.

Behind the Trident driver in third, are Crawford and Leclerc, who has slipped three positions to fifth after a disappointing Barcelona.

Isack Hadjar sits fourth in the standings after six of the 18 races scheduled this season, and is currently the highest-placed rookie after stepping up from fifth in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.

Fellow Formula 1 junior Oliver Bearman is seventh with one podium in Bahrain, while Franco Colapinto sits eighth with a win in Imola’s Sprint Race.

In the Teams’ Standings, Prema lead ART Grand Prix by 22 points at the top, with Trident, Hitech GP and MP rounding out the top five.

Van Amersfoort Racing are an impressive sixth in their first season, courtesy of Colapinto’s win and podium, and a points finish for Reece Ushijima in the Sprint Race in Barcelona.

The next round will be at Silverstone on 1-3 July, supporting Formula 1 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship.