Wurz fastest on home soil in FIA F3’s Red Bull Ring practice

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz was fastest on home soil in FIA Formula 3 practice at the Red Bull Ring.

Rodin Motorsport duo Callum Voisin and Piotr Wisnicki were first to the top in the 45-minute session, the former setting a 1m40.158s.

Four minutes in Jenzer’s Max Esterson lowered the pace to 1m37.366s, then Joseph Loake set a 1m33.920s a minute later to lead a Rodin 1-2-3.

AIX Racing’s Joshua Dufek was top of the times after seven minutes, having posted a 1m22.962s, but only 14 of the 30 drivers had set flying laps. He was then shuffled down to sixth as ART Grand Prix’s drivers took over the top three places, with Laurens van Hoepen laying down a 1m22.409s as the new benchmark.

A few minutes later the team’s lockout was ended by Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon, who set a 1m22.387s.

Trident’s Sami Meguetounif and Prema’s Gabriele Mini became the drivers to beat a third of the way through the session, but only narrowly beat Leon’s time at first. Mini then set a 1m22.066s, which kept him on top until 20 minutes in Hitech GP’s Luke Browning jumped from 30th to first with a 1m21.781s. His team-mate Martinius Stenshorne also broke the 1m22s barrier.

Soon drivers were heading back to the pits, but among those to stay out was Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli who scrubbed 0.118s off the fastest lap.

With 13 minutes to go only Voisin and Loake were on track, but in the final 10 minutes it got busier again although few improved their pace until late on.

Wurz, who had been in 20th place, set a 1m21.182s with two minutes left on the clock to become the fastest driver and lead Trident’s Santiago Ramos by just 0.054s.

Fornaroli and Browning did not improve and ended practice in third and fourth, with Mini and Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe in fifth and sixth until VAR’s Tommy Smith set a 1m21.851s on his final lap to claim fifth place. The trio were split by 0.024s.

Free practice results