Torrential rain brought a premature end to Sunday morning’s F3 Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps, as poor visibility and repeated incidents forced officials to abandon the session. Despite a historic pole for AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides and a highly competitive grid behind him, the race failed to get underway under green-flag conditions. Two red flags, multiple incidents, and worsening track conditions halted the race. The lack of running awarded no points and left drivers frustrated by the anticlimactic conclusion.
Benavides Leads a competitive grid
Brad Benavides had started from pole, claiming AIX Racing’s first-ever P1 in Formula 3. The American, who returned to the series mid-season to replace Nikita Bedrin, delivered a flawless Qualifying performance in challenging conditions.
Trident’s Rafael Câmara, who had his lap reinstated after an initial track limits deletion, joined him on the front row. Callum Voisin and Roman Bilinski locked out the second row for Rodin Motorsport. Ugo Ugochukwu and Martinius Stenshorne lined up fifth and sixth respectively, with Ugochukwu buoyed by a maiden F3 podium in Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Campos Racing teammates Nikola Tsolov and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak occupied the fourth row. Tsolov, now second in the standings with 98 points, had finished fourth in the Sprint. Charlie Wurz and Bruno del Pino rounded out the top ten, both having scored valuable points the day prior. Further back, Tim Tramnitz—third in the standings—started 13th, while reverse-grid polesitter Freddie Slater lined up 12th after dropping back in the Sprint.
Heavy rain causes early chaos
The race began behind the Safety Car at 8:30 local time due to heavy rain and minimal visibility. As the field cautiously circulated, incidents quickly followed. James Hedley spun and damaged his front wing but managed to rejoin. Moments later, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz aquaplaned off track and was narrowly avoided by Brando Badoer, who also spun in reaction.
Tramnitz dragged his car back onto the circuit, but the danger posed by the low visibility and multiple incidents forced Race Control to deploy the red flag. While Tramnitz made it to the pits, Badoer retired on the spot.
Red flag and attempted restart
Shortly after 8:45, the Medical Car conducted a reconnaissance lap to assess track conditions. Rain intensity had reduced slightly, and team radio messages suggested lighter showers were expected near the top of the hour.
At 9:05, the session resumed under the Safety Car with 28 drivers. Though the spray remained heavy, visibility had marginally improved. However, racing under green conditions still proved impossible. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak spun off at Bruxelles and retired after narrowly missing Tsolov. With his car stranded, the Safety Car remained on track while marshals began recovery efforts.
Second red flag and eventual abandonment
Soon after, Bruno del Pino was instructed to let James Hedley back through following an earlier position gain under Safety Car. Then, Race Control issued a second red flag due to visibility concerns, and the 27 remaining cars returned to the pit lane.
With only 14 minutes remaining on the clock and no sign of conditions improving to a safe level, officials opted to abandon the race. No laps had been run under green flag conditions, and thus no classification was possible under the sporting regulations.
No points, no classification
As a result, no championship points were awarded. It was a disappointing end to what had promised to be a thrilling Feature Race, particularly for those who had qualified strongly or were building momentum in the title fight. The Belgian round concluded under a cloud—both literal and figurative—as the drivers and teams turned their attention to the next race weekend, hoping for clearer skies and cleaner racing.
