Hadjar inherits win in season-opening F3 Sprint Race

Isack Hadjar inherited a hard-earned victory in the season-opening Sprint Race of the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship this afternoon, held as part of the weekend’s events in the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Oliver Bearman of Prema Racing crossed the finish line in first, but was then given a five-second penalty for track limits, dropping him to the runner-up spot on the final classification.
Hadjar was promoted as the winner on his debut in F3. The Hitech Grand Prix ace had a winning time of 37 minutes 30.285.

Bearman had to settle for second place 1.589 seconds behind, while Alexander Smolyar of MP Motorsport took the final podium place in third after finishing 3.593s from Hadjar.

Finishing the Sprint fourth through eighth were Zane Maloney of Trident, Arthur Leclerc of Prema, pole-sitter Zak O’Sullivan of Carlin, Caio Collet of MP Motorsport and Kaylen Frederick of Hitech Grand Prix.

The F3 field is now set for its first Feature Race of the season on Sunday starting at 11.45am, with Franco Colapinto of Van Amersfoort Racing in the leading grid position.