That Austrian Grand Prix Formula 3 Feature Race had everything you liked : drama, battles on track and tension until the last lap. Discover how Noah Strømsted finally won in 2026.
With his surprising pole position on Friday, Hiyu Yamakoshi managed to defend his position at the start but Ugo Ugochukwu took the upper hand after the first turn. Taponen and Slater also wanted to join the battle. Rivera spun but managed to join the track back. Behind, a contact between Gladysz and David saw them into the wall and created a safety car. Ugochukwu had a great restart and created a small gap with Yamakoshi behind, to the point of Slater managing to take the P2 away from him. Another yellow flag on lap 5 was waved, and it became a virtual safety car, as Shin and Barichello found themselves in the gravels after a small contact. Christian Ho went wide and drove in the gravel at the last turn.
On the restart, Taponen had a better reaction time and managed to overtake Strømsted. The Finnish didn’t have the DRS so the Trident driver took the position back. Alessandro Giusti managed to close the gap between the two drivers in front of him and joined the battle for fourth place. Freddie Slater overtook Ugo Ugochukwu for the lead with a beautiful late brake overtake. Yamakoshi tried to do the same but didn’t manage to take second position. However, it made the Campos Racing driver lose time to Slater.
Wheel to wheel racing
Mattia Colnaghi took a 5-seconds penalty for a safety car infringement. Ugochukwu started to struggle a bit on lap 12 and it gave the opportunity to Strømsted to come back on him. All cars from P1 to P9 were all very close on lap 16. Alessandro Giusti tried to defend his position but he went too wide and lost three positions. Fionn McLaughlin took a 5-seconds penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Freddie Slater’s ingenior told him to be careful on the curb. Ugochukwu attacked Yamakoshi again on lap 19, and took second place once more. Bhirombhakdi took a 5-seconds penalty for a false start.
A four drivers battle for the win was on on lap 21, with Ugochukwu trying to attack Slater, but the British driver managed to keep the upper hand by a millisecond. Strømsted took third position away from Yamakoshi. A beautiful wheel to wheel battle between Ugochukwu and Slater saw the American taking the lead of the race again. The Campos Racing driver lost an element of his front wing and it gave one more advantage for Noah Strømsted to overtake him. Just like during the Sprint Race , the Trident drivers battled hard on track. They kept it clean, and Strømsted passed his teammate. Ugochukwu overtook Slater and both drivers were battling really hard, with their tyres touching. They kept it clean but gave the opportunity to Strømsted in front to have a lot of air to breath. Pedro Clerot overtook two drivers at the same time on Turn 4 to take P4. Noah Strømsted took his first victory of the 2026 season, ahead of Ugochukwu and Slater.