Championship leader Logan Sargeant looks set to extend his lead after taking pole in Barcelona ahead of title rivals Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson.
The sixth round of the Formula 3 2020 Championship got underway in Barcelona with Qualifying this afternoon. Today’s qualifying would prove especially important for PREMA teammates Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant. Piastri hoped to bounce back after disappointments at Silverstone whilst Sargeant aimed to extend his lead at the front.
With rocketing track temperatures, all drivers with the exception of David Schumacher made it out onto the circuit to set early times. Trident’s Lirim Zendeli was the first driver to set a competitive lap time of a 1:34.7 but was soon pushed down the order by the following pack of drivers. After the first run of fast laps, Oscar Piastri found himself on provisional pole by two tenths, fending off challenges from both Liam Lawson and Logan Sargeant.
Both Zendeli and Beckmann took ambitious alternative qualifying strategies by deciding to run during the Qualifying gap. This decision proved advantageous for both drivers with Zendeli setting a time of 1:33.6, allowing him to steal provisional pole. Meanwhile, Beckmann managed to move up the order into P5.
In response to the challenge posed by Zendeli, it was Australian driver Alex Peroni who struck first in the final ten minutes of qualifying. Peroni set purple sectors in both the first and second parts of the circuit, enabling the Campos driver to gain provisional pole by two tenths.
Results
In the final flurry of laps, provisional pole switched hands multiple times with Beckmann and then Hughes throwing down the gauntlet to the PREMA drivers. Sargeant answered the challenge by taking pole with a 1:32.9 however, Piastri could only manage the second row of the grid behind Lawson and Hughes.
Any chances of a final attempt by Piastri were scuppered after Campos Racing driver Alessio Deledda found himself in the gravel trap, resulting in yellow flags in sector two.
In tomorrow’s race, Logan Sargeant will once again start on pole and will be looking to extend his lead at the front of the Championship.
Standings of the top 10:
1. L. Sargeant PREMA 1:32.974
2. J. Hughes HWA Racelab 1:33.085
3. L. Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1:33.117
4. O. Piastri PREMA 1:33.171
5. S. Fernandez ART Grand Prix 1:33.222
6. C. Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing 1:33.239
7. D. Beckmann Trident 1:33.319
8. T. Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1:33.386
9. A. Peroni Campos Racing 1:33.407
