F3 Australia: Colapinto wins chaotic sprint race

Colapinto took control of the race after executing a brilliant pass on poleman Sebastian Montoya through the Turns 9/10 complex after the first of three safety car restarts.

The MP Motorsport driver then survived two subsequent restarts and was over three seconds clear of the field when the safety car was called for the fourth and final time, with the first-ever F3 race at Albert Park ending under caution.

Prema’s Zak O’Sullivan made it a one-two for Williams-affiliated drivers after going around the outside of Hitech man Montoya in the closing stages.

Reverse grid polesitter Montoya initially held the advantage at the start as Oliver Goethe and Luke Browning tussled over second heading through Turns 1 and 2.

Browning looked to have cleared Goethe when the two cars made light contact on the run down to Turn 3, giving the latter driver a puncture and ploughing into the gravel and prompting the first safety car of the race.

Montoya led Browning and Colapinto - up from sixth on the grid - at the restart, with Browning immediately putting his Hitech team-mate Montoya under pressure.

But the Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award Winner lost ground on lap 5 of 20 when he went over the kerbs at Turn 9, briefly sending the nose of his Hitech-run machine skywards, allowing Colapinto to take over as Montoya’s nearest challenger.

The following lap, Colapinto pulled off the move that Browning couldn’t to take a lead he wouldn’t lose, moments before the safety car was called a second time to retrieve the stricken Rodin Carlin car of Ido Cohen.

Colapinto quickly gapped Montoya at the subsequent restart, with O’Sullivan, by now up to third from eighth on the grid, now challenging for second.

But the British driver would have to wait until lap 18, following another caution triggered by local driver Tommy Smith hitting the barriers at the final corner, before finally getting an opportunity to pass Montoya around the outside at Turns 11 and 12.

Montoya hung on for the final podium spot, marking his first top-three finish in F3.

Paul Aron survived contact with Caio Collet to grab fourth for Prema, albeit with that incident to be investigated after the race, while Alpine junior Gabriele Mini grabbed fifth from Dino Beganovic in the latter stages when Aron pushed his Prema team-mate wide at Turn 3.

Points leader and feature race polesitter Gabriele Bortoleto claimed seventh ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli, Mari Boya and Gregoire Saucy.

Browning finally finished 11th on the road with what he believed was a damaged car, but was relegated to 20th by a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.

F3 Australia - sprint race results (20 laps):

Cla	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Franco Colapinto	MP Motorsport	20	-
2	Zak O'Sullivan	Prema Powerteam	20	0.4
3	Sebastian Montoya	Hitech Pulse-Eight	20	0.7
4	Paul Aron	Prema Powerteam	20	1.0
5	Gabriele Minì	Hitech Pulse-Eight	20	1.2
6	Dino Beganovic	Prema Powerteam	20	1.8
7	Gabriel Bortoleto	Trident	20	2.0
8	Leonardo Fornaroli	Trident	20	2.4
9	Mari Boya	MP Motorsport	20	3.4
10	Gregoire Saucy	ART Grand Prix	20	3.9
11	Jonny Edgar	MP Motorsport	20	6.0
12	Christian Mansell	Campos Racing	20	7.8
13	Kaylen Frederick	ART Grand Prix	20	8.8
14	Nikola Tsolov	ART Grand Prix	20	9.3
15	Taylor Barnard	Jenzer Motorsport	20	10.3
16	Pepe Martí	Campos Racing	20	11.4
17	Rafael Villagomez	Van Amersfoort Racing	20	13.5
18	Nikita Bedrin	Jenzer Motorsport	20	13.6
19	Sophia Flörsch	PHM Racing by Charouz	20	14.1
20	Luke Browning	Hitech Pulse-Eight	20	15.1
21	Roberto Faria	PHM Racing by Charouz	20	16.2
22	Hugh Barter	Campos Racing	20	16.8
23	Oliver Gray	Rodin Carlin	20	18.1
24	Caio Collet	Van Amersfoort Racing	20	19.2
25	Hunter Yeany	Rodin Carlin	20	20.4
26	Piotr Wiśnicki	PHM Racing by Charouz	20	21.0
	Alex Garcia	Jenzer Motorsport	17	3 laps
	Tommy Smith	Van Amersfoort Racing	12	8 laps
	Ido Cohen	Rodin Carlin	5	15 laps
	Oliver Goethe	Trident	0
View full results