F3 Bahrain: Lindblad wins on debut in thrilling 2024 opener

Rookie Prema driver Lindblad took victory after climbing from fourth on the grid, taking advantage of in-fighting between ART team-mates Laurens van Hoepen and Nikola Tsolov.

Polesitter van Hoepen made a good start but dropped back on fellow front-row starter Tsolov and ART team-mate at Turn 2. But further back, it was disaster for Saturday’s pole man Dino Beganovic, who was forced to pit with a puncture at the end of lap one following Turn 1 contact with Trident driver Santiago Ramos.

As the 19-lap sprint appeared to be settling into a rhythm, the lead pair began to battle, switching places twice on lap four. This allowed Max Esterson to make it a three-way battle at the front, closing to within a second of the duo and regaining the DRS advantage.

Luke Browning made early ground to progress from 11th to ninth but found himself stuck in a DRS train behind Christian Mansell (ART) and Sami Meguetounif (Trident). On lap six, however, Browning forced the matter with a breathtaking move around the outside of Turn 4 to pass both drivers and progress to seventh.

But this move was subsequently looked at by the stewards and, as Browning was judged to have gained an advantage by driving off the track and over the Turn 4 kerbs, he was handed a 10-second penalty. At the time the penalty was awarded, Browning would have dropped to P20.

Lap seven saw yellow flags fly for the first time as Joseph Loake lost the rear of his Rodin-entered car at Turn 4, with those around him doing well to avoid contact.

Having dropped off the lead pair who were now working together, Esterson fell into the clutches or Lindblad, with the Prema driver lunging to the inside of Turn 1 to promote himself into a podium position.

As Lindblad closed on the leaders, the ART pair resumed their battle, with van Hoepen retaking the lead into Turn 1 before Tsolov quickly came back on the Dutchman. Into Turn 8, Lindblad showed a nose, something he repeated again into Turns 1 and 4 at the end or a pair of DRS zones.

Luke Browning, Hitech Pulse Eight

Luke Browning, Hitech Pulse Eight

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

An error from van Hoepen at Turn 11 on lap 13 saw the ART driver run wide and drop behind Red Bull-backed Lindblad, with the battle at the front now joined by Tim Tramnitz (MP Motorsport).

At the start of lap 15, Lindblad made his move for the lead. This position, however, was held only until Turn 4 as Tsolov made the most of DRS to pull ahead once more.

Lindblad repeated the move on lap 16 but was this time able to retain the position through the following DRS zone. With this, focus switched to the battle for the final podium position, with Fornaroli growing impatient in fourth.

Lindblad quickly established a two-second lead and, with three laps remaining, the fight for second involved nine drivers.

As Browning dropped down the order to ninth on the penultimate lap, Fornaroli put himself on the podium with a Turn 4 move on Tsolov.

Lindblad took the chequered flag with a margin of over five seconds, from van Hoepen who managed to hold Fornaroli behind in third. Browning’s penalty eventually dropped him from ninth to 15th.

Lindblad will start Saturday’s feature race from ninth, with Beganovic and Browning sharing the front row.

F3 Bahrain – Sprint race results