Formula 3

Sargeant regains championship lead after Prema 1-2 at Spa

Fraser Masefield
30 Aug 2020
2 min read

Logan Sargeant regained the lead of the FIA Formula 3 championship after leading home Prema teammate Frederik Vesti in Sunday’s sprint race at Spa for a 1-2 for the Italian team, partnered by Acronis.

The American had started the reverse-grid race in third position after a disappointing Saturday saw him finish eighth, having being hampered by engine issues. But on Sunday, it was a different story, Sargeant passing both Liam Lawson and Richard Verschoor by lap 3.

With Vesti also making his way past the Hitech of New Zealander Lawson on the exit of Raidillon, the race developed into a straight fight for the victory between the Prema duo, the Dane narrowing the gap to within a second over the closing laps. But he couldn’t get close enough to mount a serious attempt for the overtake, and Sargeant held out for his second win of the season.

“I think we’ve had the pace all weekend,” said Sargeant. “We did what we could in Qualifying, considering the situation. Yesterday was extremely unfortunate with the technical issue, but anyways, we were able to bounce back today which is the most important thing. We still got a good handful of points this weekend, and I think the Championship lead, so that’s definitely where we want to be. I’m confident going into the last two rounds.”

Victory also means that Sargeant retakes the lead of the championship from the other Prema of Oscar Piastri, who endured a strangely subdued race, finishing sixth after being handed a five-second penalty for leaving the circuit in overtaking Verschoor.

With four races remaining, Sargeant now holds a 14 point advantage over Australian Piastri and, with Lawson and David Beckman a further 34 points behind Piastri, it looks a straight fight between the Prema drivers.

Fraser Masefield

Sports news and features writer, web editor and author.

View all posts

You may also like