The Prema Power team, partnered by Acronis, bounced back brilliantly from Saturday’s opening sprint race to take the first two positions on the podium in the afternoon, Arthur Leclerc winning from championship leader Dennis Hauger and Victor Martins.
And another second place finish for Hauger in Sunday’s feature race means that the Norwegian driver now leads the championship standings by six points from Victor Martins with Prema heading the team table.
Leclerc, who started on a reverse grid pole, led away teammate Olli Caldwell and Hauger from the line before a dramatic race saw the Monegasque hold off his rivals to the flag.
Brotherly love 🥰@Charles_Leclerc was there to congratulate @arthur_leclerc7 on his F3 win! 🤗#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F3 pic.twitter.com/fQeHUuW7RW
— Formula 3 (@FIAFormula3) June 19, 2021
“It was crazy,” reflected the race winner. “On Friday I would never have expected to have a win the day after, so amazing job, the car was great. To come back from P13 to P12 this morning and now I’m P1.”
For championship leader Hauger, P2 was also a highly satisfactory outcome, the Norwegian racer now level on points at the top of the standings with race 1 winner Martins.
“I think we did the maximum we could this race, reflected Hauger after stepping from his car. “Race 1 was a bit messy but good to bounce back in race 2 and show our pace. We still have another race tomorrow so we still have some opportunity tomorrow, so we just have to keep pushing.
“We showed great race pace so we just have to keep the rhythm and have some small things to work on, but I think yes, we will manage tomorrow and try to be on top as well.”
It could have been even better for the Prema team, had Barcelona winner Caldwell not been passed on the penultimate lap by Martins, denying the Prema team a 1-2-3 finish.
🚨 TOP TEN 🚨
It's a first F3 victory for @arthur_leclerc7 👏#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F3 pic.twitter.com/PABAvAr0tp
— Formula 3 (@FIAFormula3) June 19, 2021
Championship leader = @DennisHauger 👑
Meanwhile @jackdoohan33 jumps to P3 💪#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F3 pic.twitter.com/GzbaPY3ELd
— Formula 3 (@FIAFormula3) June 20, 2021