Zak O’Sullivan won a relentless Formula 3 feature race at the Red Bull Ring, notching up his third victory of the season.
The Prema driver started sixth but quickly moved up the order in the race’s middle stage to emerge on top in a lively battle for the lead. He was joined on the podium by Dino Beganovic and Gabriel Bortoleto.Gregoire Saucy lined up in pole position for the first time in his F3 career, joined on the front row by Beganovic. Championship leader Bortoleto and yesterday’s sprint race winner Paul Aron were directly behind on the second row.
All the front runners started well and held their position on the first lap. However further back championship contender Gabriele Mini locked up into turn four and hit Luke Browning on his way into the gravel. While Browning limped back to the pits with a puncture, Mini’s car was beached and the Safety Car was brought out so it could be recovered.
The race restarted on lap four and a constant, back-and-forth battle at the top soon developed on the long straights of the Red Bull Ring. On lap seven Beganovic attempted to take the lead at turn three, which Saucy thwarted, but only temporarily. Beganovic claimed the place at the following corner with the assistance of DRS.
Saucy almost lost another place in a similar move the following lap, as Bortoleto tried to take second place. At this point, the top five drivers were all separated by a second with O’Sullivan at the tail of the queue. Soon Saucy had lost his grip on the podium places, as Aron overtook the pole-winner into turn three.
By now Franco Colapinto in sixth then joined the fight at the top. But things drastically changed ahead of him on lap 11.
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Going down the inside of turn three, Aron made contact with Saucy’s rear-right tyre which gave the ART driver a puncture. The incident also damaged the Mercedes junior’s front wing, which sent both drivers tumbling down the order in the subsequent laps.
That presented a great opportunity for O’Sullivan who moved into the top three, while Beganovic and Bortoleto ahead were jostling for the lead. The Trident driver ultimately came out on top in that fight, just as the Williams junior was closing in.
On lap 14, the rapid O’Sullivan overtook Beganovic into turn four before taking the lead from Bortoleto the following lap. While O’Sullivan held the lead, the battle at the top continued.
With 10 laps remaining, Colapinto had joined the fight and overtook Beganovic for third while Caio Collet and Sebastian Montoya, who started 15th, scrapped behind for fifth. They soon joined the drivers at the top while Beganovic quickly slipped down the order.
Collet was the first to overtake him, before Montoya made a brilliant move on Beganovic on the outside of turns five and six. By lap 23 the front runners were all covered by two seconds of each other.
As the final laps ticked down, Colapinto attempted to take second from Bortoleto but the Trident driver held him off. As the last tour began, Colapinto’s mirrors were filled by Montoya. The Red Bull Junior Team driver tried to take third with a daring move down the outside of turn six, but contact was made with Colapinto, which sent both drivers into the gravel.
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Collet profited as he moved through to join Bortoleto on the podium. O’Sullivan took the chequered flag fourth, just 0.8 seconds ahead of his pursuers.
Colapinto ultimately finished in fourth, ahead of Beganovic, Jonny Edgar, Christian Mansell, Hugh Barter and Sophia Floersch, as Montoya salvaged the final point in 10th.
It leaves Bortoleto still in the championship lead ahead of Beganovic in second, with 36 points separating the top two. O’Sullivan rises up to third, where he is tied on points with Pepe Marti who are both two points behind Beganovic. Having won races in both of the last two weekends, O’Sullivan has the chance to make it three in a row in his home event at Silverstone.
Formula 3 Austria race two results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Zak O’Sullivan | Prema |
| 2 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident |
| 3 | 17 | Caio Collet | Van Amersfoort |
| 4 | 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP |
| 5 | 2 | Dino Beganovic | Prema |
| 6 | 12 | Jonny Edgar | MP |
| 7 | 24 | Christian Mansell | Campos |
| 8 | 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos |
| 9 | 29 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 10 | 14 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech |
| 11 | 23 | Pepe Martí | Campos |
| 12 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident |
| 13 | 6 | Oliver Goethe | Trident |
| 14 | 21 | Hunter Yeany | Rodin Carlin |
| 15 | 27 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer |
| 16 | 26 | Caio Collet | MP |
| 17 | 20 | Oliver Gray | Rodin Carlin |
| 18 | 18 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| 19 | 9 | Nikola Tsolov | ART |
| 20 | 31 | McKenzy Cresswell | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 21 | 19 | Tom Smith | Van Amersfoort |
| 22 | 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 23 | 16 | Luke Browning | Hitech |
| 24 | 28 | Alejandro García | Jenzer |
| 25 | 11 | Mari Boya | MP |
| 26 | 1 | Paul Aron | Prema |
| 27 | 7 | Kaylen Frederick | ART |
| 28 | 8 | Gregoire Saucy | ART |
| DNF | 22 | Ido Cohen | Rodin Carlin |
| DNF | 15 | Gabriele Minì | Hitech |
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