F3: Colombo dominates in the drizzle at Spa to win maiden F3 race

Campos Racing’s Lorenzo Colombo clinched a maiden Formula 3 victory in treacherous wet conditions in Race 1 at Spa, becoming the third tier’s 10th winner of the season – a new record.

The win comes exactly one round on from when the Italian was dramatically denied a maiden victory in Race 1 at Budapest by a five-second time penalty.

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After significant delays due to the weather, reverse grid pole-sitter Colombo eventually started the race from behind the Safety Car – almost an hour later than scheduled.

Benefitting from a lack of spray at the front when the Safety Car returned to the pits, Colombo built up a 13.4s advantage over Hitech duo Jak Crawford and Roman Stanek, who finished second and third. Red Bull junior Crawford’s maiden rostrum makes him the third tier’s youngest ever podium-finisher.

Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti and Alpine Academy driver Victor Martins made it up to fourth and fifth respectively during a chaotic final three laps, coming out unscathed from a mega five-car brawl.

Johnathan Hoggard survived the fight and came out behind them in sixth, but Alpine junior Caio Collet and David Schumacher lost out and dropped to ninth and 11th respectively. Clement Novalak, Logan Sargeant and Alex Smolyar steered clear of the trouble to finish seventh, eighth and 10th.

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Despite being 14th and out of the points for the first time in 10 races, championship-leader Dennis Hauger retains a 63-point advantage at the top of the standings, with second-placed Jack Doohan failing to score.

Finishing 12th, the Australian will look to gain ground on his fellow Red Bull junior from reverse grid pole in Race 2 at 1755 local time.

Race 3 takes place on Sunday at 1040 local time, the grid set by Friday’s qualifying session.

For the full report, results and more news, visit the official F3 website.