Nikola Tsolov led the F3 FP session of the 2025 Austrian GP weekend. With Rafael Câmara close behind in second, and Noah Strømsted in third.
Round 6 of the 2025 F3 season got underway at the Red Bull Ring with Free Practice at the Austrian GP. Rafael Câmara currently holds the top spot in the championship with a 29 point lead, which may seem comfortable. As is the nature of F3, everything can change from race to race.
As it happened
Teams wasted no time getting on track around the Red Bull Ring, with the entire grid heading out on some initial discovery laps getting a feel for the track underneath them as well as running a Virtual Safety Car test.
Nikita Johnson is new to the F3 calendar for the Austrian GP and was taking all the track time possible, putting in consistent laps. Noah Strømsted’s Trident was the only other car on the circuit at this stage of practice, putting in the leading time of a 1:24.311.
As Strømsted crossed the line, the rest of the grid filtered out of the pit lane, ready to use the final 30 minutes of practice to learn as much as possible on track.
Noel León was one of the first driver to embark on a flying lap, putting in a personal best first sector, and an overall best middle. When León crossed the line, he was second with a 1:24.001. Strømsted improving his time to a 1:23.663.
Just as the PREMA of León crossed the line, Brando Badoer spun into the gravel. He dipped one tyre off the curb and losing control. The McLaren junior brought out a red flag with his car beached in the gravel.
The car looked as though it wasn’t badly damaged, but Badoer would go into qualifying lacking important running time.
Green flag
The Green flag was waved as the cars prepared in the pits. However, Noel León’s PREMA was on fire under the hood of the engine. The team maintained the flame, preventing it from spread, but León would not be going out on track any time soon.
The grid flooded onto the track. But Gerrard Xie pulled his Hitech off the side of the track at Turn 3, stopping the car and climbing out.
The mechanical error brought out a virtual safety car and brought Xie’s running in Free Practice to a close. Not long after the VSC was called, a red flag was waved for the second time.
Back on track
With just ten minutes left in the session, cars got back out on track with the final few minutes of vital track time. Tsolov wasted no time, embarking in a fast lap with three purple sectors and a time of 1:22.018. A second faster than Taponen in second.
Tsolov sits second in the championship, desperately fighting to close the gap to Câmara’s lead.
While the majority of the grid were on fast laps, another yellow flag was waved as Brad Benavides’ AIX ran through the gravel. The car getting stuck. The car was being recovered, and the clock was counting down. It was unclear on if cars would get back on track.
With just two minutes remaining, the green flag waved. The entire field made their way out of the pits.
The chequered flag waved, but Rafa Câmara was on a flying lap. The championship leader took a purple first sector. But as the Trident driver crossed the line, he found himself second with a 1:22.173.
Full Results:
- N. Tsolov
- R. Câmara
- N. Strømsted
- T. Taponen
- M. Boya
- U. Ugochukwu
- J. Wharton
- T. Inthraphuvasak
- L. Van Hoepen
- C. Wurz
- C. Voisin
- M. Zagazeta
- R. Biliński
- J. Hedley
- L. Sharp
- T. Naël
- N. León
- N. Marinangeli
- N. Johnson
- T. Tramnitz
- C. Ho
- A. Guisti
- B. Del Pino
- M. Stenshorne
- J. Carrasquedo
- I. Domingues
- S. Ramos
- B. Benavides
- B. Badoer
- G. Xie
