Wharton takes maiden F3 victory in chaotic Red Bull Ring sprint race

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

James Wharton held off Alessandro Giusti to become an FIA Formula 3 winner in the sprint race at the Red Bull Ring.

The ART Grand Prix driver, who started on reversed-grid pole, led lights-to-flag and his first challenge after lap one was an early safety car restart.

A collision that eliminated Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp, DAMS’ Christian Ho and ART GP team-mate Tuukka Taponen at turn three had been the cause of the interruption, with the safety car period only lasting one lap.

Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov had charged up the field during the interim, gaining four places in the first four laps then passing Rodin’s Callum Voisin for seventh on the restart.

The next car to pass was Trident’s Rafael Camara, and Tsolov began to pile pressure on his title rival. When Camara attacked Prema’s Brando Badoer ahead and had his line compromised, Tsolov sensed his chance and made another overtake.

Camara’s race worsened when his attempt to get back past Tsolov ended up with him running through the gravel and losing out to Hitech GP’s Martinius Stenshorne and Campos’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.

The safety car returned on lap 14 of 21 after Trident’s Charlie Wurz was spun round by Badoer at turn four following an opportunistic move by the Italian on the inside of his Prema team-mate Ugo Ugochukwu.

Following the restart, MP Motorsport’s Giusti attacked Wharton but he fended him off to win by 0.612 seconds. Ugochukwu finished third, leading home Tsolov.

Gaps opened up behind Tsolov late on, with his team-mates Inthraphuvasak and Mari Boya in fifth and sixth. Boya lost time, but held position, as he became preoccupied in defending and he beat MP’s Tim Tramnitz by 0.169s.

Race results (21 laps)