F3: Home favourite Lindblad cruises to Silverstone Sprint Race victory

British driver Arvid Lindblad was in sublime form on Saturday evening as the PREMA Racing rookie dominated from start to finish to take a special victory in the Silverstone Sprint Race.

The Red Bull Academy junior started in second but came out on top in a three-way battle with pole-sitter Noel León and Matías Zagazeta heading into Turn 1 to take the lead.

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After surviving an early Safety Car restart, Lindblad would then go off into the distance, crossing the line six and a half seconds clear of second-placed León to take his third win of the season.

Zagazeta would take the chequered flag in third giving him his maiden Formula 3 podium and making him the first Peruvian driver in the Championship’s history to take to the rostrum.

Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin made it two British drivers in the top four as he scored his first F3 points on home soil, while Christian Mansell finished fifth on the road only to drop to P11 after he was found to have exceeded track limits one too many times.

This promoted his ART Grand Prix teammate Nikola Tsolov up to fifth ahead of PREMA’s Gabriele Minì in sixth as Campos Racing’s Sebastián Montoya came from P17 to finish in seventh.

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Just behind him was the Trident of Sami Meguetounif in P8 while Laurens van Hoepen continued his streak of achieving points in every single Sprint Race this year by finishing ninth while Leonardo Fornaroli took the final point in P10.

Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Championship leader Luke Browning is set to start from pole in Sunday’s Feature Race and he will be looking to bounce back after a collision with MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz left him with a puncture and saw him finish at the back of the field.

For a full report of the FIA Formula 3 Silverstone Feature Race, visit the official website here.