Paul Aron won a relentless Formula 3 sprint race in Austria after taking the lead from Josep Maria Marti with just three laps to go.
The Mercedes junior overtook Marti at turn three before the Campos driver eventually finished off the podium.Gabriele Mini and Caio Collet joined Aron in the top three during a very wet outing at the Red Bull Ring where wheel-to-wheel racing was non-stop.
Martí lined up in pole position on a partially-reversed grid, having won on the previous two race weekends. Mini joined him on the front row, with Kaylen Frederick and Oliver Goethe directly behind.
The formation lap happened behind the Safety Car due to a wet track, but race control ruled a standing start to begin proceedings. As the lights went out, Frederick overtook Mini into turn one, while Goethe stalled at the start to dramatically fall down the order, miraculously avoiding being hit by other cars.
One of the big beneficiaries was Aron, who climbed up top fourth on the opening lap having started in eighth. That was just one of many position changes at the start, which included championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto dropping from ninth to 12th.
Before the end of lap one, Aron had gained another position after overtaking Mini down the inside of turn seven for third. Seconds later Alejandro Garcia, already running out of the points, had skidded into the gravel.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
While Martí continued to extend his lead in the following laps, some drivers behind struggled with the extremely tricky conditions. Hugh Barter spun out of the final corner on lap six, while Frederick gradually fell down the order.
After a poor exit out of turn three on lap eight, Frederick lost second-place to Aron into the following corner. The ART driver then dropped another position the next lap.
Despite initially thwarting an attack from Mini at turns three and four, Frederick was eventually overtaken at turn six to drop to fourth. However, he was then under attack again where Frederick lost fourth-place to Caio Collet on lap 10.
A Safety Car period was then called on lap 11, after Oliver Gray and Rafael Villagomez collided in the midfield. The Carlin driver tagged Villagomez down the inside of turn four, which caused the Van Amersfoort car to spin and hit Gray mid-turn forcing both drivers to retire.
Marti perfectly controlled the race restart on lap 13 to keep his lead, while Mini attempted to overtake Aron for second at turn three but that attack proved unsuccessful. Drivers in the midfield continued to exchange positions, while the fight at the front started to heat up.
On lap 17, Aron tried to take the lead at turn seven but Martí defended well by going down the inside of the following corner. This allowed Mini to join the fight, with the Alpine junior just half-a-second behind.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Aron’s next attack came at lap one on the following lap, before the top three were all side-by-side going into turn three. With Aron in the middle of the trio, he edged his car in-front to take the lead into that corner.
With Martí on the outside, he was the driver to lose out as Mini took second on the inside of turn three. The top two drivers then extended their lead out in front, while Martí was suddenly under attack from behind again.
This came to a conclusion at the beginning of the final lap, as Collet took the final podium position from Martí down the start-finish straight. The pole winner then lost another two positions to Zak O’Sullivan and Johnny Edgar before the race end.
Frederick, Dino Beganovic, Sebastian Montoya and Bortoleto then rounded up the final points positions. The result leaves Bortoleto still in charge of the championship by 20 points ahead of Marti, with Mini and Aron now sharing third eight points behind second.
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Paul Aron | Prema |
| 2 | 15 | Gabriele Minì | Hitech |
| 3 | 17 | Caio Collet | Van Amersfoort |
| 4 | 3 | Zak O’Sullivan | Prema |
| 5 | 12 | Jonny Edgar | MP |
| 6 | 23 | Pepe Martí | Campos |
| 7 | 7 | Kaylen Frederick | ART |
| 8 | 2 | Dino Beganovic | Prema |
| 9 | 14 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech |
| 10 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident |
| 11 | 16 | Luke Browning | Hitech |
| 12 | 11 | Mari Boya | MP |
| 13 | 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP |
| 14 | 24 | Christian Mansell | Campos |
| 15 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident |
| 16 | 9 | Caio Collet | MP |
| 17 | 26 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer |
| 18 | 22 | Ido Cohen | Rodin Carlin |
| 19 | 29 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 20 | 21 | Hunter Yeany | Rodin Carlin |
| 21 | 8 | Gregoire Saucy | ART |
| 22 | 19 | Tom Smith | Van Amersfoort |
| 23 | 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos |
| 24 | 31 | McKenzy Cresswell | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 25 | 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 26 | 6 | Oliver Goethe | Trident |
| 27 | 27 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer |
| DNF | 20 | Oliver Gray | Rodin Carlin |
| DNF | 18 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| DNF | 28 | Alejandro García | Jenzer |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Formula 3
- Prema announce move into IndyCar with new two-car team in 2025
- Beganovic passes Fornaroli and Mini for Australia feature race victory
- Red Bull junior driver’s track limits penalty cancelled by stewards
- Stenshorne holds off Lindblad for first F3 win in sprint race
- Fornaroli pips Mini in late scramble for pole after Meguetounif crash
