O’Sullivan resists Bortoleto at Red Bull Ring for first F3 feature race win

Photo: Prema

Zak O’Sullivan held off Gabriel Bortoleto to take his first Formula 3 feature race win at the Red Bull Ring. 

The Williams junior led a four-car battle in the race’s closing stages, with Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto and Sebastian Montoya close behind.

Colapinto and Montoya made contact, and Bortoleto looked for any way past O’Sullivan. But the Prema driver didn’t put a wheel wrong and came home ahead to secure his third win of the season. 

Throughout the race, nobody who led had much breathing room at the front. On lap one, Gregorie Saucy had managed to break the gap to second, only for the safety car to be brought out when Gabriel Mini was sent throguh the gravel following contact with Hitech GP team-mate Luke Browning. 

Dino Beganovic and Bortoleto stayed with Saucy on the restart, with Beganovic taking the lead not long after. Paul Aron made it a four-car fight while O’Sullivan was a little way further back in fifth. 

Aron came through to third and attempted a late dive up the inside of Saucy, making contact with him and dropping them both out of the fight. 

O’Sullivan was now up to third and quickly closed the gap to the battling Beganovic and Bortoleto. Beganovic was struggling with tyre wear and didn’t have the pace to hold off chasing drivers. Later, a move up the inside of Bortoleto earned O’Sullivan the lead.

Montoya and Colapinto had also been working their way up through the order. As Beganovic slipped further back, the lead fight became a battle between O’Sullivan, Bortoleto, Colapinto and Montoya. 

There was plenty of side-by-side action in the closing stages. O’Sullivan managed to hold off Bortoleto, while Montoya and Colapinto made slight contact as the former tried to get past. Montoya was sent through the gravel and plummetting down the order, while Colapinto slipped back to fourth, behind Caio Collet. 

Beganovic managed to hold onto fifth ahead of Jonny Edgar and the Campos Racing duo of Christian Mansell and Hugh Barter. 

At one point, Kaylen Frederick had been leading the fight for seventh, with Mansell, Mari Boya and Pepi Marti close behind. Contact between Frederick and Boya damaged Frederick’s front wing and gave Boya a puncture. A lock-up then took Marti out of the fight. 

Sophia Florsch benefited as she came through to finish ninth, her first points finish of the season, ahead of Montoya, who rejoined the track in 10th.

Race result (26 laps)