Disaster struck for 18-year-old Kiwi driver Louis Sharp as he had his first DNF this year while racing in Austria during a chaotic sprint race. The weekend was full of close and exciting moments as the 30-strong grid fought for positions throughout the weekend.
Qualifying:
The 30-minute session set the grid for Sunday’s main race, with 1st-12st getting reversed for the sprint race.
After being the quickest in practice earlier that day, Nikola Tsolov took the provisional pole early in qualifying, showing his speed in sector 2. Championship leader Rafael Câmara was faster in sector 1 but only made it to 6th and was quickly overtaken on the leaderboard.
Sharps’s first flying lap put him in 6th place, ahead of other fast drivers, showing promise for his qualifying session. When everyone had done a lap, he dropped just out of the top 10 into 11th position.
Câmara improved to 2nd position after his second flying lap, while Tsolov held the provisional pole with a time 3-tenths faster than his first lap.
When the drivers paused mid-session and pitted for new tyres, Sharp had only completed one fast lap and dropped down the standings to 24th out of 30.
He pitted early for a change of tyres, coming out for his second set of laps while most drivers were off the track, ensuring he had clear air. Sharp was able to improve to 18th with a time just 0.542 seconds off Tsolov’s.
In a tight end to the session, Câmara briefly took the provisional pole before Tsolov took it back with the only time under 1:21.0. He then improved his time again, finishing with a time of 1:20.743 and officially taking pole position.
After a quick pit stop, Sharp came out again but wasn’t able to improve his time, finishing qualifying in 21st place. Roman Biliński finished in 18th but was given a 5-place grid penalty for the sprint race, bringing Sharp’s starting position up to 20th for it.
Saturday Sprint Race:
Australian Rookie James Wharton started in pole position for the sprint race after qualifying in 12th position. He had a great start, securing the lead and quickly building a gap.
On lap 2, Taponen locked up going around turn 3, forcing the cars behind to slow down and run off the track. Multiple cars got hit during the chaotic incident.
Unfortunately for Sharp, he got caught up in the incident and was sent off the track and into the barriers, ending his race early when he couldn’t make it out for his first DNF of the 2025 season.
Christian Ho had his front wing torn off, which got caught behind his front wheels, forcing him to pit and retire from the race. Later in the race, he was given a ten-second penalty, but since he was already out of the race, it couldn’t be applied.
Hagley also had to pit after getting damaged, but after his nose was replaced, he was able to return to the track and continue racing.
As the cars remained close throughout the race, another incident occurred when Bruno Del Pino’s car became loose while running beside Brad Benavides, accidentally slamming into the side of him and causing damage to both vehicles.
Fortunately for Benavides, he kept his car on the track and made it into the pit despite producing a lot of smoke. He had to retire from the race, while Del Pino was able to make it back out after changing his nose due to the car losing its front wing.
After making a pass on a corner, Brando Badoer missed braking and clipped the rear of Charlie Wurz, sending both cars spinning in the middle of the track. Badoer made it into pits, where his nose was replaced, along with the right front tyre, which had been punctured. Meanwhile, Wurz couldn’t get moving again, and a yellow flag was called to retrieve the car from the track.
When the cars restarted with three laps left, Wharton held onto the lead and earned his first F3 win and the first one for an Australian driver in four years.
Sunday Grand Prix Race:
It was a close start to the Grand Prix race, with drivers taking every opportunity to pass each other off the start line and sending pieces flying as they bumped into one another in the first few corners.
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak immediately stalled, dropping 11 places from 5th to 16th before he was able to get his car running and start racing. Santiago Ramos also stalled but wasn’t as lucky, as he dropped to the back of the field and had to pit to get his car running properly.
Pole sitter Tsolov held onto the lead and started building a solid gap while competitors behind him were fighting for places while running next to each other.
Sharp gained a place from Ramos’ stalled car and one from Del Pino falling behind as he also had issues at the start and dropped 18 places. He also passed Bilinski off the start, gaining 3 places and putting the Kiwi into 18th position.
The racing intensified further on lap two as DRS was enabled. Race leader Tsolov built a two-second gap off the first lap, successfully avoiding the car behind him gaining DRS, while the group behind him took advantage of it to battle for podium positions.
Noah Stromsted held second with the fastest lap before being taken by Ugo Ugochukwu, while the racers behind them stayed close by and fought for position.
Câmara was in the lead pack but got squeezed off the track and into the gravel. He was able to rejoin and only lost a few places, which he quickly made up to stay in podium contention.
Ugochukwu started to close the gap behind Tsolov, who maintained a two-second lead before being overtaken by Câmara and Stomsted, who held the top three positions for half of the race.
On lap 12, Badoer ran into the gravel on turn 7, suffering suspension damage to his car’s left front, which could no longer hold the wheel firmly in place. This forced him to pit and retire from the race.
Sharp gained a position from Badoer’s retirement but was soon passed by Jesse Carresquedo, putting him back in 18th position. Matias Zagazeta also passed him a turn later, but Sharp was able to take the position back and hold onto it for the rest of the race.
Câmara was passed by multiple drivers and finished the race in 6th place, as Tsolov extended his lead to over 5 seconds ahead of Martinius Stenshorne, who finished in second position after starting 15th on the grid.
In a shock twist, following the conclusion of the Feature Race, Tsolov had been found in breach of the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Technical Regulations, resulting in disqualification from the results, which saw Stenshorne inherit the feature race victory, making it the second win of 2025 for the McLaren junior.
Having heard from the team representative, it was determined that the plank on Car 12 (Tsolov) was not within the regulatory limits, with a maximum thickness of 3.7mm at the periphery of one of the designated holes, below the minimum thickness level of 4mm.
Laurens Van Hoepen was also disqualified from the race, after breaching the FIA Formula 3 Technical Regulations. He was referred to the Stewards post-race after it was found that the front and rear tyre pressures on his car did not conform within the regulations. Van Hoepen originally crossing the finish line in 9th place.
After disqualifications, Câmara holds onto the lead in the Driver’s Championship standings with 117 points, with a 24 point gap to Tramnitz in second place with 93 points and Tsolov in third with 89 points. Sharp ends the weekend 21st in the standings with 11 points.
The Formula 3 championship continues next weekend for round 7 at Silverstone in Great Britain.
Header Image: James Gasperotti Photography
