Alpine junior Victor Martins takes Formula 3 title in his second season: but the circumstances of how this came about were extremely bizarre
Victor Martins is the champion of the 2022 FIA Formula 3 season! The Alpine junior, who has been in the employ of ART Grand Prix this year, secured the title in bizarre circumstances at the finale in Monza.
How did these bizarre circumstances come about? Sunday’s race in Italy, the final F3 round of 2022, was red-flagged with five laps to go after an accident involving Kush Maini and Brad Benavides out of the Lesmo corners.
At this point Martins was in P3 behind Zane Maloney and Oliver Bearman, which would surely have been enough to win the title. However, then came the fade-in: Five-second penalty against the Frenchman for exceeding the track limits. The trembling began, especially as it was not yet clear at this point whether a restart would take place.
Moments later, race control confirmed that the race would not be restarted. The great calculating began: To which place would Martins fall back? Would it still be enough for the championship? In the meantime, more penalties against other drivers for the same offence were shown.
The chaos was perfect and the outcome of the championship completely open. More than ten minutes of waiting and trepidation passed before it was official: Martins was classified in fourth position behind Maloney, Bearman and Jak Crawford, making him the 2022 F3 champion.