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Megan White

F3 Austria: Hadjar seals pole after red flag ends qualifying early

The Red Bull junior, who won the sprint race at Silverstone last weekend, took the top spot for Hitech with three minutes left of the session, setting a 1m19.759s. 

Other drivers were on course to set their final lap times of the session before Zdanec Chovanec locked up at Turn 1, attempting to avoid the sausage kerb before running wide and coming to a stop, prompting the red flag. 

The early ending left many drivers unable to improve, including championship leader Victor Martins (ART), who was forced to settle for second, less than 0.2s behind his compatriot. 

Prema Racing’s Ollie Bearman took third, with teammate Arthur Leclerc in fourth, the Silverstone feature race winner having led this morning’s practice session. 

Jonny Edgar was first out the pits in his Trident, heading out for qualifying in his second race weekend back after illness. 

Martins was first to top the timesheet, setting a 1m19.980s on his maiden attempt as the only driver to break the 1m20s barrier. 

Bearman went straight into second, less than 0.1s behind, while Kaylen Frederick was third for Hitech. 

The yellow flags were waved briefly 10 minutes into the session after Chovanec stopped right at the pit entry in a bizarre incident for which he will be investigated after the session. 

Leclerc moved up from seventh to third on his next attempt, with a 1m20.100s demoting Frederick. 

The field dived into the pits, re-emerging with seven minutes left on the clock and causing traffic around the final corner as they jostled for position. 

With three minutes remaining, Hadjar snatched the top spot, demoting Martins and Bearman to their final positions before Chovanec’s off ended the session with two minutes left. Moments earlier, ART’s Gregoire Saucy also ran off into the gravel trap. 

Frederick took fifth place, with Trident’s Roman Stanek in sixth and Edgar in seventh. Zane Maloney (Trident), Van Amersfoort Racing’s Franco Colapinto and Jak Crawford (Prema) rounded off the top 10.  

MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet will start on pole for Saturday’s reverse-grid sprint race, with Juan Manuel Correa in second for ART and Crawford in third. 

Bearman faces an investigation for an unsafe release involving Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan, while David Vidales will be investigated for erratic driving during the final dash to the line. 

F3 Austria - Qualifying results:

Cla # Driver Team Time Gap
1 18 Isack Hadjar United Kingdom HitechGP 1'19.759  
2 7 France Victor Martins France ART Grand Prix 1'19.980 0.221
3 6 Oliver Bearman Italy Prema Powerteam 1'20.058 0.299
4 4 Monaco Arthur Leclerc Italy Prema Powerteam 1'20.069 0.310
5 17 United States Kaylen Frederick United Kingdom HitechGP 1'20.134 0.375
6 2 Czech Republic Roman Staněk Italy Trident 1'20.178 0.419
7 1 United Kingdom Jonny Edgar Italy Trident 1'20.199 0.440
8 3 Barbados Zane Maloney Italy Trident 1'20.290 0.531
9 29 Argentina Franco Colapinto Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1'20.297 0.538
10 5 Jak Crawford Italy Prema Powerteam 1'20.351 0.592
11 9 United States Juan Manuel Correa France ART Grand Prix 1'20.380 0.621
12 10 Brazil Caio Collet Netherlands MP Motorsport 1'20.421 0.662
13 23 Israel Ido Cohen Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 1'20.431 0.672
14 25 Finland William Alatalo Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 1'20.433 0.674
15 26 United Kingdom Zak O'Sullivan Carlin 1'20.510 0.751
16 11 Russian Federation Alexander Smolyar Netherlands MP Motorsport 1'20.516 0.757
17 28 Italy Enzo Trulli Carlin 1'20.568 0.809
18 8 Switzerland Gregoire Saucy France ART Grand Prix 1'20.591 0.832
19 20 Spain David Vidales Spain Campos Racing 1'20.607 0.848
20 22 Pepe Martí Spain Campos Racing 1'20.668 0.909
21 31 Reece Ushijima Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1'20.747 0.988
22 19 Malaysia Nazim Azman United Kingdom HitechGP 1'20.782 1.023
23 21 Hunter Yeany Spain Campos Racing 1'20.859 1.100
24 16 Italy Francesco Pizzi Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 1'20.868 1.109
25 30 Mexico Rafael Villagomez Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1'20.927 1.168
26 12 India Kush Maini Netherlands MP Motorsport 1'21.098 1.339
27 27 Brad Benavides Carlin 1'21.304 1.545
28 24 Italy Federico Malvestiti Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 1'21.370 1.611
29 14 Hungary László Tóth Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 1'22.566 2.807
30 15 Zdenek Chovanec Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 1'27.895 8.136
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