Martins victorious and new championship leader

Fall to get up better. This is how we can summarize the weekend of Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) in Bahrain. Down this Saturday during the Sprint Race after contact with his teammate Grégoire Saucy, the Habs got back upright this Sunday by winning the Main Race.

Well off to a good start while maintaining his 3^e place when the lights went out, Victor Martins took advantage of the race restart at 4^e lap (Safety Car called to the track after the problems with Caio Collet, Zane Maloney and Francesco Pizzi) to get rid of Roman Stanek (Trident) and come back into contact with poleman and leader Franco Colapinto (VAR). Then began the hunt for first place.

Facing his former Formula opponent Renault 2020, Victor Martins played the patience card and waited behind the Argentinian for around ten laps while always remaining under second. After a dozen loops to wait, the Frenchman went on the attack at the start of the 15th^e passage seizing the race lead at the end of the start/finish straight.

Full of authority, the ART Grand Prix driver put down his counterpart and could set his own pace. Not bothered by the return of Arthur Leclerc (Prema), author of a comeback from 13th to 2nd place, Victor Martins was heading straight towards his first victory of the season 24 hours after being forced to retire during the Sprint race. The icing on the cake, the member of theAlpine Academy took control of the championship with 25 points.

Look at what it means to @VictorMartinsFR 💙#BahrainGP #F3 pic.twitter.com/jk5XDRALMN

- Formula 3 (@ Formula3) March 20, 2022

ART Grand Prix in force

Unhappy 3rd on the line, Franco Colapinto finally fell to 5th position at the finish. Caught by the patrol, the Argentinian received a 5-second penalty for non-compliance with track limits. A sanction which did business for ART Grand Prix. The Burgundian team took the opportunity to place its two other drivers in the Top 5 with Grégoire Saucy on the last step of the podium and Juan Manuel Correa in 4th place.

🥇 @VictorMartinsFR
🥈 @arthur_leclerc7
🥉 @GregoireSaucy #BahrainGP #F3 pic.twitter.com/Pkko3Fzd3g

- Formula 3 (@ Formula3) March 20, 2022

Also note the good performance of the Prema drivers this Sunday after missing their qualifications on Friday. In addition to Arthur Leclerc and his 11 positions gained, Oliver Bearman and Jak Crawford caught up during the Main Race. Respectively 11th and 21st on the grid, the two men finished 6th and 7th at the finish, scoring a few points and limiting the damage. David Vidales (Campos), William Alatalo (Jenzer) and Kaylen Frederick (Hitech GP) completed the Top 10.

Winner of the Sprint Race on Saturday, Isack Hadjar (Hitech GP) finished 25th. In the fight for 5th place, the Ile-de-France native was hit by Alexander Smolyar (MP Motorsport) and suffered a right rear puncture. He thus saw his hopes of a podium reduced to nothing in the space of a turn.

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