SPRINT RACE: Wharton takes lights-to-flag victory in Spielberg

James Wharton put in a composed performance to take a lights-to-flag victory in Spielberg, achieving his first ever FIA Formula 3 win.

The ART Grand Prix rookie held off the challenge of Alessandro Giusti all race long, with the MP Motorsport driver forced to settle for second place. PREMA Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu finished in third to achieve his maiden F3 podium.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a strong getaway from pole for Wharton, but it was the same for his fellow front row starter Giusti, although the ART rookie kept his rival at bay on the opening lap.

Behind them, Charlie Wurz was struggling to keep hold of P3 from Ugochukwu. But the PREMA rookie ended up losing a place at Turn 7 to his teammate Brando Badoer, dropping him to fifth.

As Lap 2 ended there was a multi-car collision in the midfield between Christian Ho, Louis Sharp and Tuukka Taponen at Turn 4, ending all three drivers’ race.

Ho brought his DAMS Lucas Oil machinery back to the pitlane, but Sharp and Taponen’s cars needed to be cleared from the track, bringing out the Safety Car.

Action resumed at the start of Lap 5 of 21, and Nikola Tsolov was on the move, diving to the inside of Callum Voisin at Turn 1 to take P7, as Wharton kept the lead ahead of Giusti.

At the start of Lap 6, Badoer ran wide at Turn 1, allowing Ugochukwu to take P4. Rafael Câmara looked to have overtaken the PREMA rookie, but the Italian fought back at Turn 3 to keep fifth.

In the battle for ninth, Bruno del Pino and Brad Benavides collided at Turn 3, with both drivers forced to pit with damage, before coming back out, although the latter later retired.

Lap 9 and Câmara looked to go round the outside of Badoer at Turn 4. However, a bad run on corner exit allowed Championship rival Tsolov to get past for P6 at the exit of Turn 6.

The two drivers continued to battle on the next lap, but as they went side-by-side through Turn 4 once again, Câmara dipped a wheel in the gravel, dropping him down to P9.

Lap 12 of 21 kicked off with Giusti half a second behind Wharton, and the MP driver looked to make a move to the inside at the popular Turn 4 but again found no way through.

The battle for the podium places continued on the next lap as Badoer looked to dive to the inside of Ugochukwu at Turn 3. However, the PREMA driver braked too late and went into the rear of Wurz in P3, sending both into a spin.

The Safety Car was deployed moments later with Wurz’s TRIDENT on the side of the road, while Badoer came into the pitlane to change his front wing before coming back out.

Racing resumed on Lap 18 of 21, and Wharton had another good restart, as did Giusti. But Ugochukwu, now in third, was coming under pressure from Tsolov and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.

However, the Campos pair started to battle, allowing Ugochukwu to keep the position.

As Wharton crossed the line to start Lap 20, the Australian rookie had built a lead of 1.1s to Giusti, while Ugochukwu was 2.2s behind the race leader, while fighting to keep Tsolov behind.

Onto the final lap and Giusti has closed to within DRS range of Wharton, but could not get ahead of the ART driver, who crossed the line to take his first win in FIA Formula 3.

Giusti achieved his second consecutive podium finish in second, while it was a maiden trip to the rostrum for Ugochukwu, who held off the challenge from Tsolov to finish in P3.

All three Campos drivers made it into the points, with Inthraphuvasak and Boya in fifth and sixth respectively, while Tramnitz fought through the field to finish in seventh place, having started in P17. Martinius Stenshorne finished eighth for Hitech TGR, with Voisin in eighth as Câmara rounded out the points in P10.

KEY QUOTE – James Wharton, ART Grand Prix

“P1 in the Sprint Race today, first win in F3, which is incredible. I can’t thank the team enough. We’ve had a tough start to the season, but we’ve been pretty strong the last couple of races. Barcelona we were pretty fast and we’ve shown our pace here in Austria. Can’t thank the team enough and super happy with the win.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Rafael Câmara continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship and moves to 106 points, but his lead over second-placed Nikola Tsolov is now down to 20. Tim Tramnitz is third on 74 points, with Noah Stromsted fourth on 56, as Alessandro Giusti moves up into the top five on 54 points.

In the Teams’ Standings, TRIDENT continue to lead the way on 177 points, while Campos Racing stay second on 148. MP Motorsport are third with 139 points, followed by Van Amersfoort Racing on 106, as ART Grand Prix also jumped up into the top five on 100.

UP NEXT

The drivers have another opportunity to racing at the Red Bull Ring with Sunday’s Feature Race set to get underway at 08:30 local time.