Formula 3 – Oliver Bearman’s stunning season ends with a brace of second places at Monza

The 17 year old Englishman was a front runner in the final round of the season, taking third place in the championship. Arthur Leclerc picked up points to finish sixth.

The 2022 FIA Formula 3 championship came to an end this weekend in Monza. It was an intense few days for the Ferrari Driver Academy students, particularly Oliver Bearman. He staged exciting climbs up the order to finish second in both races. The points he accumulated saw the 17 year old end up third in the championship on 132 points, just seven off the winner Victor Martins. Arthur Leclerc’s weekend did not go so smoothly. In both the Sprint and Feature races, the Monegasque got caught up in scraps which meant he never had a clear track, but once out of the traffic he managed to make up places in the closing stages. He finished eighth and fifth, to ensure he was classified sixth in the championship on 114 points. 

Qualifying. The grid-deciding session was red flagged with 15 minutes remaining and the inevitable traffic in a field of 30 cars all trying to slipstream as usual on the Italian track, made for a difficult session. Leclerc secured a good fifth place, with Bearman one place behind him.

Sprint Race. Oliver and Arthur started the first race from seventh and eighth places. Bearman got a great start and in the space of three laps he had moved up to fifth place, while Leclerc was caught up in a chaotic opening lap, coming round in 13^th place, following a coming-together with Martins. After three laps under the Safety Car, the race restarted with OIlie immediately putting pressure on those ahead of him. He moved up to fourth and with two laps remaining, he out-braked Caio Collet and Jonny Edgar at the First Variante and set off in pursuit of the leader Franco Colapinto. “I was getting ready to attack for the lead, but because of a hard to hear radio message, I didn’t realise that it was the final lap and I was taking the chequered flag just as I was thinking of attacking,” explained Oliver. “Nevertheless it was a great race.” Leclerc also made up places to finish eighth. “It’s a shame about what happened with Martens,” he said. “After the collision, for a few laps, my car didn’t feel perfect, then in the second half of the race, luckily I was able to pick up the pace again and get into the points.”

Feature Race. Leclerc and Bearman started the final race of the season from fifth and sixth places respectively. The Safety Car was required immediately after the start when three cars collied at Lesmo. By this time, the two FDA drivers had swapped places after Leclerc overshot at the first chicane. The race resumed on lap 3 and the pair began to make up places. Bearman was third on lap 10 before overtaking the championship leader Martins two laps later. Leclerc lost out in a fight, but still managed to move back to sixth with six laps remaining. On the next lap, the race was red flagged because of a heavy crash at the second Lesmo. Damage to the barriers meant the race had to be stopped and declared over. There were further changes to the finishing order linked to track limits penalties. In the end, Bearman was confirmed second and Leclerc was classified fifth.