Williams junior Zak O’Sullivan claimed victory in the Formula 3 Sprint Race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday.
Prema’s O’Sullivan started from pole position and led throughout the 21-lap encounter that was twice interrupted by the deployment of the Safety Car.
The first was caused when Ido Cohen planted his Carlin-run car into the Turn 9 wall in the early stages, while the second was triggered following separate incidents on-track.
Prema’s Dino Beganovic wound up in the Turn 10 gravel after suffering a puncture while Christian Mansell was tipped into the Turn 2 gravel following contact with the recovering Gabriele Mini.
That left only enough time for a three-lap dash to the flag and O’Sullivan mastered the restart to ensure he was never threatened from behind.
Fellow Williams protégé Luke Browning shadowed O’Sullivan for most of the race, briefly threatening mid-distance, but was unable to live with his compatriot after the late restart.
Second nonetheless marked Browning’s first podium while Leonardo Fornaroli finished third, ahead of Trident team-mate and title leader Gabriel Bortoleto.
Paul Aron was fifth, in front of Franco Colapinto and Mari Boya, while Mini charged from 18th to eighth but was handed a 10-second penalty for his clash with Mansell.
That relegated Mini firmly out of the points and in the process promoted Pepe Marti to eighth, Grégoire Saucy to ninth, and elevated Taylor Barnard into the top 10.
