Formula 3 - Shwartzman looking to pull away

The debut season of this repurposed FIA Formula 3 championship, with its new technical and sporting regulations is turning out to be a closely contested series. There have been four different winners in the six races to date, confirming that the racing has been of the highest order, making the fact that Robert Shwartzman currently leads the championship all the more noteworthy.

90 points. The Russian Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) student has scored 90 points from the six races, including two wins, a second place and a third, along with one fourth and a fifth. The results are proof of his level of consistency and speed and Robert is keen to extend his lead this weekend at Silverstone, which hosts the fourth round of the season. The English track is much loved by the drivers mainly because of the flowing nature of its many fast corners. It’s a familiar venue for Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong, as they both raced there last year, finishing in the top ten.

No hard feelings. The FDA duo last race at Spielberg ended in a collision at turn 3 on the last lap of Race 2, when Marcus and Robert were first and second respectively. In the days following the race, the two men had a constructive meeting aimed at getting the most out of the rest of the year. Even incidents like this can be a useful lesson for a young driver and indeed, fierce competition between team-mates has always been a feature of motorsport.

Marcus. Armstrong is well used to winning, but is still looking for his first victory of the year. The 18 year old New Zealander is fourth in the classification on 54 points, with two podium finishes, even though Marcus probably deserved more, given how he has performed. The Silverstone weekend marks the start of the second part of the season and Armstrong is hoping to make up ground on those ahead of him: there’s still plenty of time and there’s no lack of talent.