Logan Sargeant’s first three Qualifying sessions of the season read P4, P3 and P2, so it was only fitting that the PREMA racer took his first ever pole position in Round 4 at Silverstone, just four hundredths of a second ahead of a much improved Liam Lawson.

The sun remained out at Silverstone for Qualifying and Richard Verschoor was the first man out of the blocks to give track conditions the once over on a steady flying lap.

Having topped Free Practice, Théo Pourchaire was straight back in top spot, setting the first fast time at 1m 47s, before David Beckmann and Lawson both stole a march on the Frenchman and dipped under that.

PREMA took control at the midway stage and appeared to be in a class of their own. Oscar Piastri briefly led the table, before teammate Sargeant fired around one tenth quicker. The final of the Italian team’s drivers, Frederik Vesti, was quick enough for third.

The cars dived into the pits and headed out for their second stint with seven minutes to go. With temperatures rising above 30 degrees, it didn’t take long for the tyres to warm, and it was Lawson who led the train of cars on the next set of fast laps.

Hitech had evidently been hard at work in the break between Rounds 3 and 4 to fix their Qualifying struggles. The best the Silverstone-based outfit had managed up until Round 4 was 10th, but they were much improved around their home circuit. Ahead of the final set of laps, Lawson sat in second, and Max Fewtrell fifth.

The Red Bull junior briefly claimed first as the cars crossed the line for the final time on Friday, but PREMA’s Sargeant had gone fastest in the first and third sectors and was eying a maiden F3 pole. As was Piastri, but he was running marginally slower than his American teammate.Lawson was knocked off provisional pole by Sargeant, who set a time of 1:46.257, while Piastri had to settle for third place. Fewtrell found enough on his final lap for fourth, ahead of Vesti in fifth. Sebastián Fernández claimed sixth, ahead of Jake Hughes, Lirim Zendeli, Alex Smolyar and Clement Novalak.
Sargeant will be gunning for his first F3 victory in Race 1 tomorrow, which takes place at 9.25am (local time).

1st – 3 Logan SARGEANT PREMA Racing 1:46.257
2nd – 5 Liam LAWSON Hitech Grand Prix 1:46.315
3rd – 1 Oscar PIASTRI PREMA Racing 1:46.383
4th – 4 Max FEWTRELL Hitech Grand Prix 1:46.730
5th – 2 Frederik VESTI PREMA Racing 1:46.785
6th – 9 Sebastian FERNANDEZ ART Grand Prix 1:46.896
7th – 15 Jake HUGHES HWA RACELAB 1:46.910
8th – 10 Lirim ZENDELI Trident 1:46.941
9th – 8 Alexander SMOLYAR ART Grand Prix 1:46.941
10th – 26 Clement NOVALAK Carlin Buzz Racing 1:46.986
11th – 11 David BECKMANN Trident 1:47.002
12th – 7 Theo POURCHAIRE ART Grand Prix 1:47.044
13th – 18 Bent VISCAAL MP Motorsport 1:47.148
14th – 17 Richard VERSCHOOR MP Motorsport 1:47.162
15th – 20 Calan WILLIAMS Jenzer Motorsport 1:47.177
16th – 31 Sophia FLOERSCH Campos Racing 1:47.344
17th – 12 Olli CALDWELL Trident 1:47.382
18th – 29 Alexander PERONI Campos Racing 1:47.394
19th – 6 Dennis HAUGER Hitech Grand Prix 1:47.429
20th – 27 Ben BARNICOAT Carlin Buzz Racing 1:47.462
21st – 16 Jack DOOHAN HWA RACELAB 1:47.474
22nd – 19 Lukas DUNNER MP Motorsport 1:47.504
23rd – 23 Roman STANEK Charouz Racing System 1:47.624
24th – 24 Igor FRAGA Charouz Racing System 1:47.656
25th – 14 Enzo FITTIPALDI HWA RACELAB 1:47.667
26th – 22 Matteo NANNINI Jenzer Motorsport 1:47.717
27th – 25 David SCHUMACHER Charouz Racing System 1:47.731
28th – 28 Cameron DAS Carlin Buzz Racing 1:48.237
29th – 21 Federico MALVESTITI Jenzer Motorsport 1:48.289
30 30 Alessio DELEDDA Campos Racing 1:48.384