The Formula 3 race in Austria got off to a flying start for Nikola Tsolov, who won the first race of the weekend on Saturday after a three-way battle.
Pole position went to Martinius Stenshorne (Hitech Pulse-Eight), who lost position to Christian Mansell (ART Grand Prix) already at the first corner. In an attempt to regain the lead, the Norwegian widened his line at turn three, allowing Tsolov (ART Grand Prix) to overtake him.
Kacper Sztuka (MP Motorsport) stopped on the first lap, prompting the safety car to be deployed. The action resumed on lap five, with Mansell maintaining the lead. However, on lap seven Tsolov made good use of DRS to pass his teammate at turn four, taking the outside line.
The battle continued after this move, with the two exchanging positions at more than one point. On lap 17, Tsolov took the lead for good, while Mansell came out of turn four slower and gave Stenshorne the opportunity to move into second place at turn five.
A battle for fourth place ended in the worst possible way, with Sebastián Montoya (Campos Racing) colliding with Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport), in an accident that required the intervention of the safety car. The neutralization ended to restart the race on the last lap.
Tsolov stood firm under pressure from his rivals and took the win with a 0.673s advantage over Stenshorne, while Mansell finished third. Dunne and Laurens van Hoepen (ART Grand Prix) completed the top five. Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) finished 12th.
Results:
