F3 Britain: Lindblad dominates sprint as Browning suffers puncture

Arvid Lindblad topped the podium on home soil in the sprint race at Silverstone, becoming the first British driver to win at home since George Russell in 2017.

The Prema driver had started second and was rewarded for his early aggression on polesitter Noel Leon (Van Amersfoort Racing), who also dropped behind Matias Zagazeta in the opening exchanges.

In a race delayed by nearly nine hours due to extreme wet conditions in the morning but taking place under blue skies, Lindblad was unchallenged at the front. Behind him, however, a number of collisions stopped the race from ever developing any flow.

The first was a heavy crash for Max Esterson (AIX) and Oliver Goethe (Campos) at Copse, with the pair tangling on the approach to the high-speed corner before skipping across the gravel and into the tyres.

Following the resulting safety car intervention, it was championship leader Luke Browning who found himself in strife, with Tim Tramnitz (MP Motorsport) locking up into The Loop and slamming into the side of the Hitech entry.

Browning pitted with a puncture and continued to finish 25th and last of those left running.

The final incident came on lap 12, when Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport) and Charlie Wurz (Jenzer) came to blows down the Wellington Straight. The incident was somewhat clumsy, with Dunne having allowed Wurz past moments earlier after originally gaining a place off the track, before attempting to move back up through a gap that never existed. Wurz was out on the spot and Dunne pitted but finished 22nd.

At the front, the order remained unchanged throughout, with Lindblad triumphant from Leon and Zagazeta – who scored his first points of the year. Also scoring for the first time was Callum Voisin (Rodin) in fourth.

Browning remains at the top of the standings with Gabriele Mini (Prema) closing the gap, having finished sixth.

 Silverstone – Sprint race

1	A. Lindblad Prema Powerteam	3		18
2	N. León Van Amersfoort Racing	20		18		6.500
3	M. Zagazeta Jenzer Motorsport	19		18		1.900
4	C. Voisin Rodin Motorsport	29		18		1.000
5	C. Mansell ART Grand Prix	23		18		1.400
6	N. Tsolov ART Grand Prix	25		18		0.500
7	G. Minì Prema Powerteam	2		18		0.100
8	S. Montoya Campos Racing	11		18		0.300
9	S. Meguetounif Trident	5		18		0.200
10	L. Van ART Grand Prix	24		18		0.200