Mazepin’s mistake benefits Hubert
GP3 SERIES SOCHI (RUS) SEPTEMBER 29-30 ROUND 8/9
If the GP3 Series was decided on number of wins, the outcome of this year’s title would probably be very different. But Anthoine Hubert’s balance of speed and consistency is paying dividends as he extended his points lead despite failing to win for a fourth round in a row.
If victories were the decider, Nikita Mazepin and David Beckmann are tied on three and top of the charts. But a costly mistake in race two left Mazepin falling further behind ART Grand Prix team-mate Hubert in the points, while Beckmann will be wondering what could have been, having completed a third round in a row with a victory in his fourth weekend with Trident after a mid-season switch from Jenzer.
Someone finally notching a mark on the win table was Leonardo Pulcini. He has been incredibly impressive this year, light years ahead of his Campos Racing team-mates. After a 15th and a 14th in the past two feature races, an upturn in form and luck was needed.
Mazepin was the initial polesitter but his lap was disallowed after the session, relegating him to eighth on the grid and robbing him of the four points for pole that had edged him ahead of team-mate Callum Ilott. Mazepin swiftly made light work of the disadvantage, scything through to fight Ilott and Giuliano
Alesi for third in race one as Hubert established himself behind Pulcini.
At quarter-distance Mazepin seized his opportunity at Turn 2, taking to the inside of the track in a move on Alesi and Ilott that was investigated by the stewards. Ilott ran wide on the outside, as Mazepin got ahead and began hunting down Hubert. Ilott and Alesi then dropped like bricks as the race progressed.
Mazepin took advantage of the home crowd cheering him on and, with a Drsassist, made it by Hubert on the last lap to cut his team-mate’s lead to 24 points, the Frenchman lamenting working his Pirellis too hard in pursuit of Pulcini. With Ilott, Jake Hughes, Hubert and Mazepin, ART Grand Prix sealed a seventh teams’ title in eight seasons in another dominant year.
Richard Verschoor continued his searing pace in just his third event with fourth, ahead of Beckmann, while Joey Mawson earned the reversed-grid pole in eighth.
Ilott meanwhile struggled with his tyres from much earlier on, and fell all the way to 13th. A retirement in the second race means he is now out of contention for the title.
It’s fair to say that Mawson has outperformed his troublesome Ardenrun car in GP3 on many occasions this year, and he would need another of those performances to convert the sprint race.
But more bad luck struck, as Mazepin played a huge part in the race-two outcome.
He jumped team-mate Hubert early on and looked like he would cut the points deficit again, but with three laps to go Hubert turned up the wick and closed on his stablemate for fourth.
But he didn’t need to make a move, as Mazepin first ran wide at Turn 13 and then couldn’t keep his car out of the wall at the exit, smashing into retirement. It means Hubert’s points gap is now 32, with 48 available at the last round in Abu Dhabi.
The resultant safety car was the bringer of bad luck for Mawson. Having been harried by Beckmann for the majority of the race, he managed to escape, only for the field to be bunched up again. On the last lap Beckmann dived inside at Turn 13 for his third win of 2018. Mawson had to settle for second, ahead of Verschoor and Hubert.