F3: Ferrari junior Arthur Leclerc takes maiden victory from reverse grid pole at Paul Ricard

An overtake-laden Race 1 for Ferrari junior Arthur Leclerc was followed up by a controlled run from lights-to-flag in Race 2, with the PREMA driver taking his maiden victory in Formula 3 from reverse grid pole at Paul Ricard.

A Qualifying retirement on Friday looked to have dashed Leclerc’s hopes of a win in Round 2, but he put on a sensational performance in Race 1, charging from 30th to 12th to earn reverse grid pole.

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Greeted by a smiling Charles Leclerc at parc fermé, the PREMA driver was thankful for a much calmer second race, looking untroubled throughout the 20 laps to win by 4.2s over Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger.

PREMA missed out on a triple podium thanks to another brilliant performance from Alpine Academy prospect Victor Martins, who nabbed the final podium spot from Olli Caldwell on the penultimate lap.

The MP Motorsport man put on another show for the French fans on home soil, rising eight places from 11th to make it two podiums in as many races.

Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti will be looking to translate his brilliant pole lap from Friday’s Qualifying into a first win of the season when he lines up from P1 in Race 3 on Sunday at 1140 local time. Rivalling the ART driver will be the PREMA of Hauger, hoping to follow up his Race 2 rostrum with a win.

For the full report, results and more news, visit the official F3 website.