F3: Hauger takes dominant Race 3 win at Zandvoort to extend title lead

Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger has one hand on the 2021 Formula 3 title after a dominant Race 3 win in Zandvoort, beating Clement Novalak and Alex Smolyar by more than five seconds, the pair gifted a podium with three laps to go when Victor Martins collected the second placed car of David Schumacher.

Two of those final three laps were spent under a Virtual Safety Car, with Martins handed a 10s penalty for the collision that took Schumacher out of the race. The Alpine junior dropped to 10th as Novalak claimed his second podium of the weekend, ahead of Smolyar.

F3: Ecstatic Martins triumphs over Novalak in Race 2 at Zandvoort

Hauger was already well in front after starting from pole and set the fastest lap to add an additional 27 points to his championship lead with one round to go. The PREMA driver’s main rival, Jack Doohan, finished ahead of Caio Collet in fourth but unable to find a way onto the podium.

Logan Sargeant got ahead of Red Bull junior Jak Crawford, who managed to drag his Hitech to seventh after a race-long battle with tyre degradation. Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti finished in eighth ahead of Ferrari Academy driver Arthur Leclerc and the penalised Martins.

READ MORE: Ferrari junior Leclerc takes Race 1 win from Sargeant at Zandvoort

Hauger takes a 43-point lead into the final round of the season, which will now take place a month earlier than planned at the Russian Grand Prix following the third tier’s announcement on Saturday that Sochi will replace Austin on its seven-round calendar.

For the full report, results and more news, visit the official F3 website.