The Silverstone Spectacle: F3 British GP Races Preview
- therookiereporters
- Jul 5
- 4 min read
Fia F3 will arrive at Silverstone this weekend for the 7th round of the season and will be a key weekend that will influence the title battle which got closer last round and began a good stream of momentum for Tsolov and Tramnitz. Can Camara respond to this symbol of intent? Tsolov has taken multiple pole positions as of late and won in Austria on track before a post-race Dsq for the Bulgarian. Meanwhile, Tramnitz had 2 great drives from P17 to P7 in the sprint race and from P17 to P2 in the feature race. Silverstone should provide brilliant excitement if the races in the past are anything to go by, with these drivers fighting tooth and nail through this high-speed test of character and skill in which we call Silverstone.
Practice Summary
All drivers got in some solid running time to get acclimatised to the Silverstone race circuit all clocking up over 10 laps but when it came to raw pace, Tsolov hit the ground running once again, hitting the front of the field with a scintillating lap time of a 145.837- a quarter second clear of his nearest challenger. Whilst his pace isn't a surprise, what's more of a surprise was Wurz in P2 showing good pace whilst the championship leader, Camara, had a solid but nothing special practice session in P5. The other protagonist of Tramnitz ended a strong session in P3. There was a particularly strong showing from Campos, MP Motorsport and Trident as an outfit with a few cars both within the top 12 and would be looking to replicate this in qualifying.
Qualifying Summary
Qualifying tightened up as imagined but his superiority remained as Tsolov took his 3rd pole position in 4 races with an amazing lap but don't be fooled : the margin was as tight as you want it with Ugochuckwu performing above expectations to end up in P2, only 0.023 from Pole. Lining up from the front row on Sunday, Ugochuckwu will look for his elusive first win in the category.
Meanwhile, Camara, consistent as ever collects a second-row start of P3 for the feature race whilst Tramnitz fixes up his quali troubles recently placing it in a more respectable P5 with the clear motive of moving forward on Sunday. A clear standout out team performance from Campos, being the only team with all 3 cars in the top 12. Also, the teams of Hitech and Trident will be satisfied with qualifying having 2 cars up in the top 12. Whilst Tsolov will line up at the top of the grid for the main feature race, he will start P12 for the sprint race tomorrow morning with his teammate Tasanapol Inthraphuvusak aiming to start off the possible Campos clean sweep for this weekend. A team disappointed with work to do would definitely be ART Grand Prix with only 1 car in the top 10 and 2 outside the top 18.
Race Preview
The drivers tomorrow will be set and ready for the sprint race - Race 1 of the weekend - where the top 12 qualified drivers will begin in a reverse grid format. They will be driving 18 laps of Silverstone in a fast and frantic race which will have reduced points but still the usual prizes for the podium and Victory, which will be eagerly contested with both cars on the front row gunning for their first Fia F3 race win. What a place it would be to do it at such a historic venue like Silverstone. With the top 5 all winless in F3, they will recognise this as an amazing opportunity for glory. They will have their work cut out though as, starting on the third row, Martinius Stenshorne - a multiple race winner in F3- will be looking to play spoiler to the possible first-time winner's parade. Silverstone usually sees an influx of overtaking passes in the races in F3. This is usually mainly down into Stowe through DRS usage down the Hangar Straight or into Loffield corner or if they're bold on the brakes the final chicane provides an opportunity to surprise the driver in front. Although these opportunities could be thrown out the window with the risk of rain looming at large, it will be fascinating to see whether it appears or not but if mixed conditions occur we could see a 2024 repeat of the feature race. If this happens, expect chaos and the title battle to have a few twists and turns with Tsolov, Camara and Tramnitz all within the top 5 of the starting grid for the Feature Race.
Predictions
These are purely speculative and a bit of fun. Let’s see how I do with these, especially with tomorrow's and Sunday's weather uncertain.
Top 5 Sprint
Stenshorne
Inthraphuvusak
Tramnitz
Nael
Leon
Top 5 Feature
Ugochuckwu
Camara
Tsolov
Stenshorne
Tramnitz
Biggest Mover
I think this will be Tuuka Taponen because he has shown his ability to move through the field, which will be useful from his out-of-position qualifying result.
F3 Race Schedule
If you want to follow along to the 2 races of Fia F3 this weekend here are the important times
9:15 AM Sprint Race Saturday
9:30 AM Feature Race Sunday
(All times are in BST)
Engines will roar as the crowd's cheers will flood Silverstone with a rampant atmosphere as these young drivers try to stamp themselves into motorsport history with a win at this historic race and have a moment to cherish on the podium. Who will rise above the rest and who will fold under the pressure?
Are you ready for the racing action?
Article written by Taegan Hignett.
