Formula 3: Jack Crawford wins for the first time

The first career win for Red Bull youth program member Jack Crawford ended Saturday’s Formula 3 race in Spielberg, Austria. Chao Collet and Franco Colapinto climbed the podium with him.

Pole holder Collet held onto the lead at the start but was overtaken by Juan Manuel Correa in Turn 4. Franco Colapinto overtook Jack Crawford in the battle for third place.

At the end of the first lap, the safety car came out to allow the marshals to remove Rafael Villagomes’ car, which had been retired from the race – the Van Amersfort driver broke his suspension in the third corner battling rivals .

The race resumed on the fourth lap. At the restart, the top four held their positions, while a battle for fifth place unfolded behind them between Zane Maloney, Roman Stanek and Johnny Edgar. Maloney retained fifth place, with Edgar ahead of Stanek.

At the start of lap six, the lead Correa’s car lost speed on the straight due to technical problems, and Juan Manuel rolled back to the end of the pack. The ART driver attempted to return to the pits, but stopped outside the track in the first sector, resulting in the appearance of yellow flags.

On lap eight, the yellow flags reappeared on the track and virtual safety car mode was turned on. The reason was another technical descent – the engine of William Alatalo’s car was smoking and the Jenzer racer stopped on the straight between the third and fourth turns. The marshals promptly evacuated his car and the race continued.

On lap 10, Maloney, Berman and Leclerc battled for fifth place. Leclerc attacked Berman in the third corner and Oliver attacked Maloney in turn. Berman got stuck between two cars and sent Zane into a U-turn. Maloney retired, Leclerc moved up to fifth, Berman dropped to ninth and the safety car pulled onto the track.

The race resumed on lap fourteen. In turn four, Jack Crawford, who had passed Colapinto earlier, attacked Collet. The drivers took several turns side by side and Crawford took the lead as he exited Turn 7. Around the same time, Arthur LeClair succeeded in a similar maneuver – overtaking Johnny Edgar in the battle for fourth place.

In the seventeenth lap Edgar lost another position – Roman Stanek overtook him and after one lap Kaylen Frederik also overtook him. At this point, Oliver Berman was given a five-second penalty for entering the area. Enzo Trulli has been fined ten seconds for speeding in the pit lane.

Jack Crawford confidently took the race to a win, not two chances for Chao Collet to attack on the final lap. Franco Colapinto withstood Leclerc’s pressure in the battle for third place.

Arthur Leclerc received an extra point for the best lap in addition to points for fourth position. This result allowed the Prema rider to narrow the difference in leader Viktor Marten’s individual classification to one point.

Alexander Smolyar earned two points for ninth place.