Nikola Tsolov once again managed to take pole with an incredible lap of 1:20.743 during qualifying. The Red Bull junior has been impressive so far this F3 season, and is looking to start another race on the front row at the F3 Austrian GP.
The wait after the three-week break since the Spanish GP is finally over, and the chaos of F3 is back in full force with Round 6 at the Red Bull Ring. Earlier today, the free practice session ended with Tsolov once again on top with a superb 1:22.015. Closely behind him were the championship leader, Camara, and Trident’s Strømsted.
After a busy free practice session in the morning, the young drivers were eager to get out on track.
A traffic-filled start
The fight for pole began as the drivers filtered out of the pit lane and thirty minutes counted down. As the Red Bull Ring is one of the most competitive tracks in F3, it was bound to be an interesting session.
First out on track was Nikola Tsolov, the Red Bull junior and one of the favourites for pole. The circuit quickly became a traffic hotspot, as most drivers rushed to get a lap on the board early. Tsolov opened his first flying lap with a purple Sector 1, but that was soon eclipsed by Camara. The championship leader went even quicker before aborting his run.
Meanwhile, the Bulgarian completed his lap with a 1:21.282, putting him at the top of the timesheets, at least for the moment.
Shortly after, yet another Red Bull Junior, Tim Tramnitz, went 0.064s behind Tsolov, while Camara was in third, 0.172s off the current fastest time. With 30 drivers on track, the traffic became intense. Van Hoepen tried to set a flying lap, but running wide down the hill and drifting over the gravel would be considered track limits for him. Meanwhile, Strømsted experienced a few oversteers but managed to keep control of the car despite sliding off the track.
PREMA appeared to be improving throughout the session, despite having a rough free practice session. Their drivers took up P5, P6, and P11, with 13 minutes left on the clock.
Benavides set a strong lap, followed by a tow from Bilinski, putting him 0.152 s off the fastest time and placing him at P4 with ten minutes left of the session.
10 minutes on the clock
With just 10 minutes remaining, most of the field exited the pit lane to set another flying lap. As drivers began their outlaps, Wharton reported a loose engine cover, suspecting that a screw had come undone. Despite the issue, he continued his lap before eventually returning to the pits.
The championship leader began another flying lap, this time hoping to beat Tsolov’s time of 1:21.282. Camara went green in the first sector, followed by two purple sectors, and took pole position for the moment. Tsolov did not let Camara keep provisional pole for long, as he set a 1:20.927 immediately after Camara finished his lap.
In the meantime, Voisin placed himself P3; however, he was quickly bumped down due to Ugochukwu going slightly faster.
Last Push Lap
The last two minutes were counting down, and the drivers still had a chance to fight for pole. The field was tight as many kept improving until the last second.
As Ugochukwu looked to be flying through the middle sector, he spun around into the final corner, and with that, went his chances of improving his time. Luckily, the PREMA driver was able to keep the engine running, and no red flags went out. Benavides set a time of 1:21.1, placing himself in P2 for the moment while Strømsted flew into third.
With seconds left on the clock, Nikola Tsolov set another amazing time of 1:20.743, securing another pole position. The Red Bull junior was followed by Benavides in P2 and then Strømsted with an amazing lap that put him P3.
Provisional Qualifying Results:
- N. Tsolov
- B. Benavides
- N. Strømsted
- B. Del Pino
- T. Inthraphuvasak
- C. Voisin
- R. Camara
- U. Ugochukwu
- B. Badoer
- C. Wurz
- A. Giusti
- J. Wharton
- N. Leon
- M. Boya
- M. Stenshorne
- S. Ramos
- T. Tramnitz
- R. Bilinski
- T. Nael
- T. Taponen
- L. Sharp
- L. Van Hoepen
- C. Ho
- J. Carrasquedo
- M. Zagazeta
- I. Domingues
- J. Hedley
- N. Marinangeli
- G. Xie
- N. Johnson
