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Megan White

F3 Austria: Hadjar takes pole in red-flagged qualifying

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 team-mate 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-run car, 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.

Isack Hadjar, Hitech GP (Photo by: FIA F3)

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: Full qualifying result

Cla Driver Team Time Gap Interval
1 Isack Hadjar United Kingdom HitechGP 1'19.759    
2 France Victor Martins France ART Grand Prix 1'19.980 0.221 0.221
3 Oliver Bearman Italy Prema Powerteam 1'20.058 0.299 0.078
4 Monaco Arthur Leclerc Italy Prema Powerteam 1'20.069 0.310 0.011
5 United States Kaylen Frederick United Kingdom HitechGP 1'20.134 0.375 0.065
6 Czech Republic Roman Staněk Italy Trident 1'20.178 0.419 0.044
7 United Kingdom Jonny Edgar Italy Trident 1'20.199 0.440 0.021
8 Barbados Zane Maloney Italy Trident 1'20.290 0.531 0.091
9 Argentina Franco Colapinto Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1'20.297 0.538 0.007
10 Jak Crawford Italy Prema Powerteam 1'20.351 0.592 0.054
11 United States Juan Manuel Correa France ART Grand Prix 1'20.380 0.621 0.029
12 Brazil Caio Collet Netherlands MP Motorsport 1'20.421 0.662 0.041
13 Israel Ido Cohen Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 1'20.431 0.672 0.010
14 Finland William Alatalo Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 1'20.433 0.674 0.002
15 United Kingdom Zak O'Sullivan Carlin 1'20.510 0.751 0.077
16 Russian Federation Alexander Smolyar Netherlands MP Motorsport 1'20.516 0.757 0.006
17 Italy Enzo Trulli Carlin 1'20.568 0.809 0.052
18 Switzerland Gregoire Saucy France ART Grand Prix 1'20.591 0.832 0.023
19 Spain David Vidales Spain Campos Racing 1'20.607 0.848 0.016
20 Pepe Martí Spain Campos Racing 1'20.668 0.909 0.061
21 Reece Ushijima Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1'20.747 0.988 0.079
22 Malaysia Nazim Azman United Kingdom HitechGP 1'20.782 1.023 0.035
23 Hunter Yeany Spain Campos Racing 1'20.859 1.100 0.077
24 Italy Francesco Pizzi Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 1'20.868 1.109 0.009
25 Mexico Rafael Villagomez Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1'20.927 1.168 0.059
26 India Kush Maini Netherlands MP Motorsport 1'21.098 1.339 0.171
27 United States Brad Benavides Carlin 1'21.304 1.545 0.206
28 Italy Federico Malvestiti Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 1'21.370 1.611 0.066
29 Hungary László Tóth Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 1'22.566 2.807 1.196
30 Zdenek Chovanec Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 1'27.895 8.136 5.329
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