Franco Colapinto Triumphs F3 British GP Sprint Race At Silverstone In Challenging Conditions

As Colapinto stuck to slicks the entire time irrespective of rain, he continued to lead throughout as the race track dried up after light shower, while other competitors faced worn out tyres.

Race winner Franco Colapinto of Argentina and MP Motorsport (C), Second placed Gabriel Bortoleto of Brazil and Trident (L) and Third placed Christian Mansell of Great Britain and Campos Racing (R) stand on the podium during the Round 7:Silverstone Sprint race of the Formula 3 Championship at Silverstone Circuit on July 08, 2023 in Northampton, England.

Source : Getty Images

F3 contestant Franco Colapinto won the Silverstone Circuit sprint race for the first time this season, that too amidst heavy rain and slippery track conditions. The Argentine- Italian driver and his team devised a strategy to win the race in spite of bad weather conditions by sticking with slicks Perellis the entire time.

Due to weather changes that occurred while the cars were on the starting grid, the race was delayed by ten minutes. Due to this, only Gregoire Saucy decided to swap to wet tyres, leaving the other front-runners on the dry compound.

A light shower on lap 8 put drivers and their teams in a dilemma on whether to change to wets - most out of the top 10 decided to do the same under Safety Car.

After resuming on lap 13, the race faced riveting drama - with the top two competitors, led by Sebastian Montoya and followed by Taylor Bernard, were both wiped out after contact on Turn 1. This eventually allowed Colapinto to take the lead, which turned into a whopping victory. 

As Colapinto stuck to slicks the entire time irrespective of rain, he continued to lead throughout as the race track dried up after light shower, while other competitors faced worn out tyres. 

FRANCO COLAPINTO WINS THE SPRINT RACE!!! 🏆

The @WilliamsRacing Academy driver put in a fantastic drive in the changing conditions to take his third win in Formula 3 👏

Vamos, Franco! 💪#BritishGP #F3 @FranColapinto pic.twitter.com/CTG0AL04XG

— Formula 3 (@Formula3) July 8, 2023

The man's first victory since Monza the previous year came after he took the lead early on. The championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto finished second for Trident, and Campos' Christian Mansell earned his first podium finish in third.

Leading after Williams Academy was Gabriel Bortoleto, who also stuck with dries the entire time as well, hence finishing second for Trident, even after starting eighth at the starting line.  Now Josep Maria Marti, who finished the Sprint in 10th place. was hence 44 points behind him in the Drivers' Championship.

Finally, rounding up in third place for the 2023 season was Chriss Mansell for Campos racing.