Sztuka wins, Antonelli punctures in third Italian F4 bout in Austria

Photo: ACI Sport

Kacper Sztuka earned his second Italian Formula 4 win of the season in a messy third race of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring.

There was drama from the off, with the cars immediately behind poleman Andrea Kimi Antonelli fighting each other for position. Taylor Barnard locked up at Turn 3 and went way off, while Ugo Ugochukwu tried passing Antonelli but instead lost several spots through the first two laps.

The firt safety car interruption came on lap four as Rishab Jain got loose out of the final corner and crashed heavily on the pit straight. The order for the restart was Antonelli, Barnard, Conrad Laursen and Sztuka at the front, with Laursen having pulled off a great move on Sztuka on lap two.

When racing resumed, the drama did too as Barnard attacked Antonelli at turn three and broke his front wing against the leader’s rear-left tyre. The tyre delaminated as Antonelli reached turn four and he went through the gravel, which Sztuka got back by Laursen and then passed the struggling Barnard too.

On the next lap there was more action as Alfio Spina drove into the side of Charlie Wurz at turn three and came to a stop, requiring a second safety car period with Sztuka and Laursen up front after Barnard fell to third but tried regaining a spot.

Barnard and Antonelli both pitted after falling to the back, and drivers mostly dialled down the agression once racing eventually resumed. Sztuka pulled away to win, and Ugochukwu recovered to pass Laursen for second place.

An incredible dive down the inside of Nikita Bedrin at turn four earned Martinius Stenshorne fourth place, although fifth was still a great result for Bedrin having started in 14th.

Barnard recovered to 13th, helped by a five-second penalty given to Valerio Rinicella for track limits abuse, and Antonelli set fastest lap on the way to 23rd. His points lead was unimpacted by the results, with main rival Rafael Camara not contesting the race.

Race result (16 laps)