Aleksandr Smolyar took his first Formula 3 win in the Silverstone sprint race, fighting off a rapid David Beckmann in the closing laps.
Smolyar got a good start from his reverse grid pole to hold the lead from Beckmann on the first lap. By lap 4 the Russian was able to just break out of DRS range of Beckmann, but this gap was lost on the following lap when Igor Fraga stopped on track and brought out the safety car.
At the restart Smolyar and Beckmann again held position, but Beckmann was able to stick with the ART and prevent Smolyar breaking more than a second away. After setting the fastest lap, Beckmann made his first move for the lead on lap 14, diving to the inside at Stowe. Beckmann momentarily took first, but Smolyar was able to repass him immediately.
Beckmann tried the same move on the following lap, but was again unsuccessful and fell back from Smolyar into the clutches of third-placed Clement Novalak. Beckmann managed to recover and get within two tenths of Smolyar in the final laps, but ultimately was unable to find a way around the ART. Smolyar eventually crossed the line with just half a second in hand over Beckmann, with Novalak close behind in third.
Alex Peroni finished fourth, capping off a strong weekend at Silverstone. Frederik Vesti and Logan Sargeant took fifth and sixth for Prema, with Sargeant also taking the points for fastest lap. Vesti and Sargeant were able to take advantage of technical woes for their championship rival and teammate Oscar Piastri, who was forced to retire on lap 11 when his DRS flap stuck open.
Saturday’s feature race winner Liam Lawson finished seventh after a fierce battle with the Premas ahead. Theo Pourchaire, Richard Verschoor and Jake Hughes rounded out the top ten.
Despite logging his first retirement of the year, Piastri still leads the championship after round four with 94 points over Sargeant’s 76. Beckmann’s podium keeps him in third place ahead of Lawson. Smolyar’s sprint race win moves him up to ninth.
In the teams’ standings, Prema have extended their lead over ART to 117.5 points. Trident remain in third with only 8.5 points between them and ART, while Hitech move up to fourth following Lawson’s win this weekend. Find the full Formula 3 drivers’ and teams’ standings here.
Formula 3 returns to Silverstone next weekend in support of the Formula 1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Full race result:
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Aleksandr Smolyar | ART Grand Prix | 15 |
| 2 | David Beckmann | Trident | 12 |
| 3 | Clement Novalak | Carlin Buzz Racing | 10 |
| 4 | Alex Peroni | Campos Racing | 8 |
| 5 | Frederik Vesti | Prema Racing | 6 |
| 6 | Logan Sargeant (FL) | Prema Racing | 7 |
| 7 | Liam Lawson | Hitech Grand Prix | 4 |
| 8 | Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 3 |
| 9 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 2 |
| 10 | Jake Hughes | HWA Racelab | 1 |
| 11 | Lirim Zendelli | Trident | |
| 12 | Ben Barnicoat | Carlin Buzz Racing | |
| 13 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 14 | Calan Williams | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 15 | David Schumacher | Charouz Racing System | |
| 16 | Bent Viscaal | MP Motorsport | |
| 17 | Dennis Hauger | Hitech Grand Prix | |
| 18 | Roman Stanek | Charouz Racing System | |
| 19 | Enzo Fittipaldi | HWA Racelab | |
| 20 | Max Fewtrell | Hitech Grand Prix | |
| 21 | Sophia Floersch | Campos Racing | |
| 22 | Sebastian Fernandez | ART Grand Prix | |
| 23 | Lukas Dunner | MP Motorsport | |
| 24 | Matteo Nannini | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 25 | Cameron Das | Carlin Buzz Racing | |
| 26 | Olli Caldwell | Trident | |
| 27 | Jack Doohan | HWA Racelab | |
| 28 | Alessio Deledda | Campos Racing | |
| Ret. | Oscar Piastri | Prema Racing | |
| Ret. | Igor Fraga | Charouz Racing System |