F3

Vips ends 2019 with lights-to-flag victory in Sochi

Estonian wins ahead of Armstrong, who claims P2 in the Championship
Juri Vips

Sochi, 29 Sept 2019: Jüri Vips closed off the FIA Formula 3 season with his third victory of 2019, dominating Race 2 from start-to-finish, with an electric lights-to-flag performance. Drama played out behind him, as Marcus Armstrong ran rampant, rising from seventh to second to secure P2 in the Drivers’ standings. Champion Robert Shwartzman ended the campaign on the podium, with third place.

Temperatures had risen to 20 degrees as the session got underway, following a brief spell of rain in yesterday’s Race 1. Vips was clean off the line to hold on to first, fighting off an attack from Jake Hughes, which never looked like sticking. The Brit was then thrust into the path of Leonardo Pulcini, who began to harry the back of him. Meanwhile, Armstrong had started his chase from seventh, getting ahead of Niko Kari and latching on to the rear of Pedro Piquet.
Having waited patiently, Pulcini made his move on Hughes and lunged down the left of him. As the Briton looked to react, he caught the rear tyre of the Hitech racer and sent him skidding into the gravel. Pulcini managed to get going again, but returned at the back of the field, while Hughes dropped to fourth. The stewards deemed it a racing incident, which needed no further action.
This put Armstrong and Piquet into the battle for first, handing the Kiwi an opportunity to claim second in the Championship, having seen his teammate, Daruvala, stall on the formation lap. The Indian had been forced to start from the pitlane and was sat back in 22nd.
Sensing his opportunity, he sliced his way past Pedro Piquet and fired off into the distance. P2 wouldn’t be enough though – the PREMA man needed first, or the fastest lap. With Vips nearly 4s ahead, he opted for the latter and roared around the Sochi Autodrom, Qualifying style, to snatch the extra points. By this point, Daruvala had risen as high as 16th, as he battled to save second in the standings.
Vips continued to flex his muscles out in front, as Shwartzman seized fourth from Hughes to set his sights on ending 2019 with a podium place. He achieved this when Piquet was forced to retire from the race, pulling over onto the tarmac. Second would prove a place to far for the Russian though, as Armstrong and Vips amassed a near 10s lead ahead of him.
The order remained unchanged as they crossed the line, with Vips comfortably claiming a third win of the campaign, ahead of Armstrong in second. Shwartzman completed the podium and was followed by Hughes, Kari and Ye Yifei, who scored his best finish of the year. Richard Verschoor and Liam Lawson completed the top eight.
With the 2019 season concluded, Shwartzman wins the Championship with a total of 212 points, ahead of Armstrong on 158. Daruvala is third with 157, Vips fourth with 141 and Piquet fifth with 98. PREMA Racing end the season with 527 points, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 223, ART Grand Prix on 174, Trident on 134 and HWA RACELAB on 100.
2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship Round 8 – Race 2 provisional classification
DRIVER
TEAM
1
Juri Vips
Hitech Grand Prix
2
Marcus Armstrong
PREMA Racing
3
Robert Shwartzman
PREMA Racing
4
Jake Hughes
HWA RACELAB
5
Niko Kari
Trident
6
Ye Yifei
Hitech Grand Prix
7
Richard Verschoor
MP Motorsport
8
Liam Lawson
MP Motorsport
9
Christian Lundgaard
ART Grand Prix
10
Logan Sargeant
Carlin Buzz Racing
11
Max Fewtrell
ART Grand Prix
12
Devlin DeFrancesco
Trident
13
Raoul Hyman
Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
14
Jehan Daruvala
PREMA Racing
15
Felipe Drugovich
Carlin Buzz Racing
16
Leonardo Pulcini
Hitech Grand Prix
17
Bent Viscaal
HWA RACELAB
18
Andreas Estner
Jenzer Motorsport
19
Teppei Natori
Carlin Buzz Racing
20
David Schumacher
Campos Racing
21
Leong Hon Chio
Jenzer Motorsport
22
Alessio Deledda
Campos Racing
23
Keyvan Andres
HWA RACELAB
24
Sebastian Fernandez
Campos Racing
25
Yuki Tsunoda
Jenzer Motorsport
NOT CLASSIFIED
Pedro Piquet
Trident
Fabio Scherer
Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
Simo Laaksonen
MP Motorsport
Lirim Zendeli
Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
OVERALL FASTEST LAP
Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing) – 1:55.860 on Lap 15
FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing)
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