Bortoleto: Pointless Spa F3 sprint race "better for me" in title fight

The race saw Caio Collet take his first win of the season, but zero points were awarded because two full racing laps of the shortened contest were not completed.

Bortoleto was running in the points when he suffered contact from Prema driver Dino Beganovic at Turn 1, ending his race, in an incident which is being investigated.

The Trident driver currently leads the standings by 42 points, and will clinch the title if he finishes tomorrow’s feature race more than 40 points clear of second place.

Speaking afterwards, Bortoleto told Autosport that maintaining his lead is “absolutely” possible on Sunday but accepted Saturday’s circumstances benefited his title hopes.

He said: “I think finishing the race today would be very good for me because we were going to get some points for sure because I was very quick.

“But at the end of the day, no points is better for me, because I keep the distance that I am for now to P2.

“But tomorrow let’s see. It should be dry and a lot of things can happen.”

Asked whether he was relieved by the lack of points, he added: “Yeah, I can’t say no, because at the end of the day I DNF, so yeah for me it’s good that there were no points for anyone.”

Paul Aron, who finished third, said he was “very disappointed” by points not being awarded but accepted “we can’t do anything about it.”

He is currently fourth in the standings, and would have taken eight points for his podium on Saturday.

Speaking after the race, Aron told Autosport: “To be honest I’m very disappointed, obviously it is what it is, we can’t do anything about it.

“But as I said, we were very unlucky yesterday in qualifying, we didn’t really nail the strategy but we were still inside the top 12, so there was still many points to gain.

Zak O'Sullivan, Prema Racing

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

“Today we did a clean race but we didn’t win, which is disappointing looking at our pace, but we managed to get third and score good points, which in the end doesn’t count.

“For me, fighting in the championship for second place and even for the championship lead, it’s disappointing because it cost me a lot and tomorrow I’m starting further back, so let’s say my advantage of starting in front today was gone.”

Race winner Collet said the race was “really tricky” and suggested half points “would be nice,” though he accepted there was “nothing we can do.”

Second-place finisher Taylor Barnard, who took his maiden podium for Jenzer, added that he thought “all three of us sitting here disagree with the decision.”

Pepe Marti, who sits second in the standings for Campos, had a torrid race, coming together with Gabriele Mini (Hitech) in the fight for 10th at Pouhon, the Alpine Academy member tagging the Spaniard and sending him into a spin, with Mini’s race ended.

Marti then attempted to rejoin but crashed into the side of Rodin Carlin driver Ido Cohen, ending both drivers’ races in an incident which will be investigated by the stewards.

Though Bortoleto is confident he can seal the title on Sunday, he accept it will be tough given he lines up 15th for the feature race.

He said: “It’s difficult to be fair, I need to be honest. I’m starting P15, I don’t know what position Pepe is starting after what he did in the race, that was something quite dangerous I would say.

“For sure he didn’t make it on purpose but at the end of the day, it is what it is. The decision is not done yet but let’s see.

“To win the championship I need to finish in front of Pepe and O’Sullivan and probably some other cars.”