Martins wins F3 Bahrain feature race ahead of Leclerc

Starting from third on the grid, Martins overtook Roman Stanek into Turn 1 on Lap 5 at the Safety Car restart. 

The race was put on hold early on after a number of cars were forced to retire from the race.

Caio Collet picked up suspension damage after running over the kerbs at Turn 6/7, while Zane Maloney and Francesco Pizzi were out on the opening lap. 

Once the race got back underway, pole-sitter Franco Colapinto led Martins and Alexander Smolyar.

As the race progressed, Colapinto's lack of experience became apparent as he struggled with his rear tyres. 

On Lap 15, Martins completed a switchback move out of Turn 3 to take the lead of the race. 

The ART Grand Prix driver controlled the race from the front, eventually winning by 1.5s ahead of Leclerc in the Prema.

Leclerc completed a similar move on Colapinto on Lap 18, completing a sensational recovery from outside of the top 10.

If the Monegasque improves his qualifying pace for future races then no doubt he will be a serious threat in the title race. 

Gregoire Saucy completed the podium in the second ART car after Colapinto picked up a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits on multiple occasions, dropping him to fifth in the final classification.

Juan Manuel Correa made it three ARTs in the top four with a strong drive to P4, getting ahead of Colapinto thanks to his penalty.

Oliver Bearman finished sixth in the second Prema as he led an intense midfield fight.

Jak Crawford, David Vidales, William Alatalo and Kaylen Frederick rounded out the top 10.

Sprint race winner Isack Hadjar finished 25th after contact with Smolyar handed him an unfortunate puncture.

Click here for the full FIA Formula 3 feature race results from Bahrain