The 2020 Formula 3 Championship will go down to the final race of the season in Mugello as Sargeant and Piastri sit level at the top with 160 points.
Saturday in Mugello brought the penultimate race in the 2020 Formula 3 season. With only eight points separating the main title contenders (Piastri and Sargeant) and many drivers starting out of the place on the grid, the race promised to be a thriller. Lirim Zendeli started on pole ahead of Jake Hughes and Frederik Vesti. Due to penalties carried over from Monza, both Sargeant and Piastri started further down the order with Sargeant in P5 and Piastri in P16.
As the lights went out, all of the leading drivers made a good start with Zendeli managing to hold onto P1 despite some ambitious moves by Hughes in P2. Sargeant made a particularly great start moving past Enzo Fittipaldi on the opening corners and up into P4. However, the American driver soon found himself under attack from Theo Pourchaire who even without DRS managed to get past the PREMA. Meanwhile, Sargeant’s closest title contender Piastri struggled in P16 and was unable to make any opening lap moves within the midfield.
The activation of DRS allowed Hughes to challenge for the lead on lap 5, the British driver attempted to pass Zendeli using the inside line. However, during the maneuver, the two drivers made minor contact and Zendeli was able to retain a fragile lead ahead of Hughes. In the following laps, the leading pair continued to battle for position exchanging the lead lap after lap with Zendeli attempting to move out of DRS range and establish a gap out at the front.
Second Half
As Hughes made a successful move on Zendeli on lap 13 for the lead of the race, Vesti moved into contention behind the feuding pair. Vesti’s moment came on lap 15 as Zendeli moved out of DRS range of Hughes allowing the PREMA driver to strike and seize P2. Not satisfied to remain in second, Vesti continued his attack, pressuring the race leader into mistakes. The PREMA made a successful move on the HWA driver on lap 17 allowing Vesti to seize victory in Mugello.
Meanwhile, further down the order, Sargeant found himself in difficulty as the American driver struggled to keep his car out of the gravel. The situation was worsened for Sargeant as Fittipaldi passed the PREMA driver, moving into P5.
In the closing stages of the race, Hughes and Vesti recommenced battle with Vesti eventually securing victory on the final lap. Pourchaire managed to seize the final podium position after the French driver was able to take advantage of tire degradation on the Trident. Sargeant came home in sixth whilst Piastri failed to reach the crucial P10 which would have given the Australian racer reverse grid pole for the critical final race of the season.
With only tomorrow’s race remaining both Piastri and Sargeant have 160 points in the championship. Pourchaire is 9 points adrift on a 151.
Top 10
1. F. Vesti PREMA
2. J. Hughes HWA Racelab
3. T. Pourchaire ART Grand Prix
4. L. Zendeli Trident
5. E. Fittipaldi HWA Racelab
6. L. Sargeant PREMA
7. A. Smolyar ART Grand Prix
8. D. Beckmann Trident
9. S. Fernandez ART Grand Prix
10. L. Lawson Hitech Grand Prix
Featured Image Credit: @FIAFormula3 Twitter
