Today’s race saw Ernesto Rivera deliver a commanding performance, combining impressive pace with unwavering determination to claim the reverse grid victory.

Qualifying Results

Yesterdays Qualifying delivered plenty of drama as Hiyu Yamakoshi secured his maiden Formula 3 pole position. Lining up alongside him on the front row on Sunday is Ugo Ugochukwu, while Tuukka Taponen claimed third ahead of Noah Strømsted in fourth.

Freddie Slater completed the top five, with Alessandro Giusti just behind in sixth. Further down the order, Pedro Clerot rounded out the top 10. Taito Kato claimed seventh, Kanato Le secured eighth, Jin Nakamura took ninth.

Light’s Out

Wharton made a superb launch off the line to retain the lead into Turn 1. All whilst Clerot and Rivera battled side-by-side in a fierce fight for second place. Up behind the top three, drama unfolded at Turn 1 as Strømsted made contact with his teammate, Slater. This sent the British driver into a spin and forcing him to retire from the race. The incident brought out the Safety Car.

Behind the Safety Car, Wharton continued to lead the field. He had Rivera running second and Nakamura third. Meanwhile, Clerot held fourth ahead of Le, while Taponen, Yamakoshi, Kato, Giusti and Strømsted completed the top 10.

Racing Get’s Back Underway

Just as he did last year, Wharton timed the restart to perfection. He accelerated out of Turn 8 to bring the field back up to racing speed. Wharton had stretched his advantage to 0.6 seconds over Rivera at the front, but with DRS set to be enabled on the next lap, the battle for the lead is only just beginning.

After a slow start, Kato began to fight back through the field. He dived to the inside of Yamakoshi at Turn 4 to snatch seventh place with a decisive move. Another superb overtake followed, this time from Giusti. He swept around the outside of Yamakoshi at Turn 7 to claim eighth place in style.

Further back, Fionn McLaughlin and Enzo Deligny made slight contact, leaving McLaughlin with front-wing damage.

DRS With Different Outcomes

After the Virtual Safety Car from McLaughlin and Deligny’s contact we began to see different outcomes that DRS can offer. Clerot came under increasing pressure in fourth place, leading a tightly packed DRS train that stretched all the way back to De Palo in 19th. All whilst Rivera began to catch up to Wharton at the front. He closed the gap with impressive pace.

Rivera made slight contact with Wharton into Turn 3 before launching another attack at Turn 4. However, the PREMA driver defended firmly, holding onto the lead despite the sustained pressure. The battle at the front tightened as the chasing pack closed in. Wharton is once again was forced onto the defensive at Turn 4.

The field remained incredibly close, with the top 16 drivers all running within DRS range of one another. Every position was under threat as the pack continued to race nose-to-tail.

Battle For The Podium

Eventually, Rivera made the move stick. Diving to the inside at Turn 4, he finally completed the overtake on Wharton to seize the lead of the Sprint Race and take on his reverse grid victory. With Wharton still within DRS range, the question became whether he would launch an attack on Rivera before the chequered flag.

Behind the fight for P1, Clerot launched a move down the inside of Nakamura at Turn 4 in the fight for third, but the Hitech driver stood firm and held onto the final podium position.

Rivera locked up into Turn 3, but it proved to be a minor mistake as he held onto the lead. However, the lock-up was unlikely to have done any favours to his front-right tyre in the closing laps.

Closing Laps

The battle for the final podium place continued as Clerot attempted to sweep around the outside of Nakamura at Turn 4. Once again, however, the Hitech driver defended superbly to retain third place.

Wharton ran wide at Turn 8, dropping out of DRS range of Rivera. The mistake also left him vulnerable to the charging Nakamura and Clerot, who closed right onto the rear of the PREMA driver. Wharton’s mistake proved costly. Clerot swept past him on the run to Turn 4, before Nakamura completed a superb move around the outside at the corner to snatch third place and move onto the podium.

Rivera Wins!

RIVERA WINS! After an intense battle from lights to flag, Rivera crossed the line to claim a deserved Sprint Race reverse grid victory. A perfectly judged overtake for the lead and a composed drive under relentless pressure secured a memorable triumph in Spielberg.