Trans-Pacific battle to dominate FIA Formula 3 title decider
Six drivers are still in with a chance ahead of the final round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship at Mugello.
The 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship contenders. (Image: Twitter/FIAFormula3)
This season has shown how intensely competitive the thirty-car field can be. Nine different drivers have taken race victories—with no driver taking no more than two wins, so far.
Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant, Théo Pourchaire, Liam Lawson, David Beckmann, and Frederik Vesti all go into the weekend as mathematical contenders—with a total of 48 points available over qualifying and the two races.
All attention will be on the head-to-head battle between Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant, who stand clear of their competitors since the beginning of the season.
Australian Oscar Piastri took the championship lead from the first race in Austria and never looked back, dominating for 2019 team champions Prema Racing.
Oscar Piastri has led the FIA Formula 3 championship for most of the season. Can he win it? (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
Despite not finishing on the podium again until Hungary, and not winning another race until Round 6 in Spain, the Australian’s cool-headed determination and consistency saw him make the most of the highly competitive field each week.
His American teammate Logan Sargeant emerged as Piastri’s main championship rival when he won at Silverstone, taking the championship lead.
Sargeant has had ample opportunity to show his pure talent and aggressive style but was on the back foot behind Piastri from the opening race of the season.
Logan Sargeant heads into the final FIA Formula 3 weekend just eight points behind Piastri. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
Driving identical cars for the same team, it proved to be a true head-to-head fight, with the lead oscillating between the trans-Pacific pair for the rest of the year.
A retirement for both drivers in consecutive rounds equalised any disadvantage from bad luck. Piastri struck next with a win in Spain, before Sargeant topped the podium the following week in Belgum.
French rookie Théo Pourchaire has been another standout from this year’s championship—keeping up with the dominant Premas in his campaign for ART Grand Prix.
French rookie Théo Pourchaire is still in with a chance for the FIA F3 Driver’s Championship. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
Pourchaire was set back by a pair of poor results at the start of the season, finishing out of the points in both opening races at the Red Bull Ring.
Since then, he has almost matched Piastri’s record—with both drivers sitting on 2 wins, 3 second-place finishes, and 1 third-place finish.
When the chaotic pair of races last weekend threw the championship into disarray, Pourchaire was waiting in the wings to capitalise.
Sargeant, who went into the weekend as the championship leader, was taken out of both races by another driver, earning zero points.
Piastri, stealing the championship lead with a third-place finish in Race 1 after starting down in 15th, lost the chance to build this advantage when he was taken out of Race 2.
what a race! plenty of drama with the #FIAF3 championship pendulum constantly swinging back and forth between Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 and Logan Sargeant 🇺🇸 @FIAFormula3 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/gsfs5MlV7BSeptember 6, 2020
Pourchaire, entering the weekend 5th in the driver’s standings, was able to hold steady amidst the slip-streaming and DRS action, finishing both races in second place—propelling him to third in the championship.
All eyes this weekend will be on Piastri—who has a mammoth challenge ahead of him to hold the championship lead and take out the title.
Sargeant will start from 5th, with Pourchaire behind him in 7th. Meanwhile, the young Aussie will be all the way back in 16th, after a post-race penalty carried over from Monza.
The top 10 finishers from Race 1 start Race 2 in reverse order—so Piastri’s first challenge will be making his way through the field to the cut-off point in 10th.
“It’s far from ideal,” he said.
“We saw last week that anything is possible. I will keep my head up for tomorrow, trying to make the top-10 and to score big points on Sunday.”
Behind the lead trio, kiwi Liam Lawson is still in with a slim chance, 33 points behind Piastri.
Lawson has had a consistent second season in Formula 3, with bursts of brilliance resulting in two wins—however an unlucky spell of three retirements has left him languishing behind in the championship hunt.
All six still in the fight 👊
Here's where our championship contenders will start on Saturday!#TuscanGP 🇮🇹 #F3 pic.twitter.com/AIFQk6ZdkNSeptember 11, 2020
David Beckmann and Frederik Vesti both also remain in mathematical contention but will have enormous mountains to climb. Both could be eliminated after Race 1, with Vesti having to win and claim fastest lap in both races to best Piastri.
Still, this is Formula 3—and stranger things have happened.
Race 1 of the FIA Formula 3 weekend at Mugello begins at 6.25pm AEST Saturday, with Race 2 at 6.30pm on Sunday.
