Hauger crowned 2021 F3 champion as Sargeant wins first sprint race in Sochi
Prema’s Dennis Hauger has won the 2021 Formula 3 title after finishing second in the first sprint race at the Sochi Autodrom behind Logan Sargeant.
Starting from fourth on the grid, Hauger maintained position at the start as Sargeant got past Victor Martins into the lead of the race.
The Charouz driver quickly built up a sizeable lead as Hauger was stuck behind Jak Crawford for a number of laps.
Hauger got past Crawford on Lap 4, before moving past Martins on Lap 11.
The 2021 champion nailed the Virtual Safety Car restart, cutting Sargeant’s lead at the front to 1.8s.
The Prema driver was in DRS range of Sargeant on the final lap but with main title rival Jack Doohan running outside of the points, Hauger didn’t take any unnecessary risks, settling for second place.
Sargeant claimed his first victory of the season ahead of Hauger, with Martins joining the pair on the podium.
Novalak enjoyed a strong race from 11th on the grid to finish fourth ahead of Caio Collet.
Lorenzo Colombo continued to impress in the Campos with sixth, beating Arthur Leclerc and Frederik Vesti finishing inside the top eight.
Juan Manuel Correa and Ayumu Iwasa rounded out the top 10 in Sochi.
After winning the title, Hauger said: “It was a tough race. We didn’t quite have the pace in qualifying. We made some changes and worked well as a team to come forward into the race today and get the championship. I have to say a huge thank you to Prema. I love you a lot, all of you. It’s been an incredible season. We have Saturday and Sunday to get the teams’ championship as well so we will keep pushing.”
Click here for the full FIA Formula 3 sprint race (1) results from Sochi
