The seventh round of the championship took place at Silverstone in England.

Silverstone Circuit in England hosted the seventh round of the FIA F3 Championship this weekend, from July 7th to 9th. Drivers and teams from the competition arrived at one of the most traditional tracks in the world to continue the second of four races scheduled for July.

Leading the championship, Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto arrived in English territory with great enthusiasm. Despite never having raced on that track before, the driver felt prepared due to the intense preparation he had done on the simulator in the previous weeks.

With only 16 laps, Bortoleto showed that the virtual preparation had indeed helped him a lot. With a time of 1m45s976, he recorded the second fastest time in the only practice session of the weekend. Excited, a few hours later he took the #5 car from Trident team back on track, this time for the qualifying session. In a highly competitive contest, Gabriel secured the fifth best time, just one thousandth of a second behind the fourth-placed driver. With this result, he secured the eighth position for the start of the Saturday race (Sprint) and the fifth position for the beginning of the Sunday race (feature).

DIFFERENT RACES ON THE TWO DAYS

The Saturday race started with a dry track but with a chance of rain at any moment. The drivers were cautious about the weather conditions and started the race conservatively. Bortoleto, keeping the championship in mind, didn’t take any risks and maintained his starting position in the first few laps. However, after completing 10 laps, it started to rain on just a part of the circuit. The leaders chose to stay on the track while most cars entered the pit lane for a pit stop. Gabriel stayed on the track and, showing his daring, managed to maintain a fast pace on the dry sections and controlled the #5 car well on the wet parts, even with slick tires. A few laps later, the rain stopped and quickly started to dry. With precision, the Brazilian driver imposed a spectacular pace and overtook his opponents to reach the second position, where he received the checkered flag.

On the other hand, the Sunday race was completely contested on a dry track. Bortoleto had a good start and managed to jump into the battle for second place on the first lap. However, facing the determination of his competitors, he chose to preserve his position on the track and lost a few positions, dropping to sixth place. From then on, on a track that was difficult to overtake, the Brazilian driver managed to remain in sixth place and, even under pressure, remained focused on the championship points and finished the race in the sixth position.

After the seven rounds already held in the season, Gabriel Bortoleto remains the championship leader with 128 points, compared to 92 points for the second-placed driver and 77 points for the third. The eighth round of the championship will be held in two weeks, from July 21st to 23rd, at Hungaroring – Budapest, Hungary.

Pictures: James Gasperotti | KTF Sports

Press office of KTF Sports
Responsible journalist: Flávio Quick