Ernesto Rivera won on Saturday morning (27) the Sprint that opened the fourth round of Formula 3, held at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The Campos Racing driver started from second place, overtook James Wharton in the early stages of the second half of the race, and stayed at the front to take the victory after 23 laps. It is the Mexican’s first triumph in the category.
Second place went to Pedro Clerot, Brazilian driver for Rodin Motorsport who started from third, dropped one position, but climbed to second by pulling off a double overtaking maneuver on the final lap. Jin Nakamura, from Hitech, completed the podium in third, followed by James Wharton, Prema’s driver who started on pole. Noah Stromsted, from Trident, finished fifth.
Kanato Le, driving for ART Grand Prix, concluded the race in sixth, while Tuukka Taponen of MP Motorsport finished seventh. Taito Kato, also with ART Grand Prix, crossed the line in eighth. Hiyo Yamakoshi of Van Amersfoort finished ninth, while Ugo Ugochukwu of Campos Racing claimed the final points in tenth.
Another Brazilian on the Formula 3 grid, Fernando Barrichello, staged a comeback race and finished the event in 24th place with a car prepared by AIX Racing. The driver had started from 29th.
The race featured a Safety Car deployment right on the first lap. Freddie Slater was bumped by Noah Stromsted, his teammate at Trident, and retired with a broken suspension. The race was neutralized immediately.
The Austrian leg of Formula 3 will conclude on Sunday (28) with the main race, scheduled for 3:40 PM local time.
