Maiden F3 victory for Ivan Domingues in Barcelona sprint after leaders wipe out
The Portuguese driver etched his name into the history books with his win in Barcelona.
BARCELONA–Portuguese driver Ivan Domingues made the most of a chaotic start to the FIA Formula 3 sprint race in Barcelona to etch his name into the history books.
Domingues took his maiden F3 victory, the first for a Portuguese driver, and was joined by Santiago Ramos for a 1-2 finish, the first for team Van Amersfoort Racing since joining the series in 2022.
"I'm feeling very happy," said the 19-year-old. "First win this year, first win in F3."
"The year started... not as we wish, so to get this result now, this weekend before the summer break, it's really good to keep up the momentum and the work.
"I'm really happy."
It was a hectic start to the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the top three came together into turn two.
Roman Bilinski covered off Martinius Stenshorne from the front row, while Tim Tramnitz surged from behind them to take the outside line of turn one.
As the tight right-handed turn one becomes the sweeping left-handed turn two, Tramnitz was on the inside, clipping Stenshorne and sending the Norweigan into the path of Bilinski.
The top three were out of the race and Domingues was up from sixth on the grid into the lead of the race.
Behind them, Tuukka Taponen had a slow start and was collected by series contender Rafael Câmara off the line, with those two also suffering race-ending contact.
The safety car neutralised the field, with Domingues holding the lead ahead of Noah Stromsted and Laurens van Hoepen.
"It felt a bit like playing iRacing," laughed the Portuguese driver.
"When they had the contact and I was in the lead, I just tried to keep the focus and have a good restart.
"From there, just try to manage the DRS behind and the gap and my tyres; and in the end, it came out pretty, pretty good."
Domingues was away well at the restart while his teammate Santiago Ramos stole second by lap nine.
Stromsted set about chasing down the leader but suddenly slowed and pulled into the pit lane on lap 18, leaving the door open for Ramos and Nikola Tsolov, now up to third.
Domingues proudly waved the Portuguese flag as he got out of his Van Amersfoort Racing machine in pit lane.
"It's a joy," he said of the first win for his country.
"It's a very good thing for me, for my country, for my team, for the people who have been helping me in the last few years.
"See, I'm really, really happy."
Câmara retains his lead of the championship despite crashing out at the start, on 77 points, while Nikola Tsolov moves within touching distance on 69 points after his third-place finish.
Aussie James Wharton had his best result of the season, emerging from a tough battle with Théophile Nael second best but able to hold on for points in eighth.
The FIA Formula 3 championship returns with Câmara on pole position for the Barcelona feature race at 4.30pm Sunday (AEST).
