Hadjar takes maiden pole in hectic Formula 3 qualifying at Spielberg

Isack Hadjar claimed pole in a hectic FIA Formula 3 qualifying session around the Red Bull Ring ended two minutes early by a red flag.

The Red Bull junior driver was one of only two drivers to break into the 1’19s, taking pole for Sunday’s feature race by two tenths of a second from Victor Martins.

Enzo Trulli set the first fast time of the session, a 1’22.730, before being beaten by William Alatolo on a 1’21.724 and then Roman Stanek taking another second out for a 1’20.182. Victor Martins dipped below 1’20 for the first time, with 22 minutes to go, on a 1’19.980.

Zdenek Chovanec was involved in a peculiar incident when he stopped at the bollard at the entrance to the pit lane, seemingly missing the entry but not quite crossing the white line before getting going again. Chovanec was placed under investigation, to be resolved after the session, for erratic driving.

At the halfway point in the 30 minute session, Martins’ time still stood at the top. Drivers pitted for final adjustments and the track fell relatively quiet until there were less than six minutes to go.

All cars seemed to go out virtually in formation, with several cases of two, three or even four cars driving alongside each other on their warm up lap. David Vidales was noted for erratic driving during the painfully crowded outlap to the line.

Isack Hadjar set provisional pole with a 1’19’966 with three and a half minutes left in the session, which he improved on his following lap to a 1’19.759.

Then, the red flag was called for Chovanec having stopped at the side of the track out of turn one after missing the turn. With two minutes to go, it was announced the session would not restart, ending qualifying and securing pole for Hitech driver Hadjar.

Martins took second place, with Oliver Bearman third but under investigation for an unsafe release from the pit lane hanging over him. Partially-reversed-grid pole for tomorrow’s sprint race goes to 12th placed Caio Collet, with Juan-Manuel Correa joining him on the front row.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Formula 3 Austria qualifying results

Position	Car	Driver	Team
1	18	Isack Hadjar	Hitech
2	7	Victor Martins	ART
3	6	Oliver Bearman	Prema
4	4	Arthur Leclerc	Prema
5	17	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech
6	2	Roman Stanek	Trident
7	1	Jonny Edgar	Trident
8	3	Zane Maloney	Trident
9	29	Franco Colapinto	HWA
10	5	Jak Crawford	Prema
11	9	Juan Manuel Correa	ART
12	10	Caio Collet	MP
13	23	Ido Cohen	Jenzer
14	25	William Alatalo	Jenzer
15	26	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin
16	11	Alexander Smolyar	MP
17	28	Enzo Trulli	Carlin
18	8	Gregoire Saucy	ART
19	20	David Vidales	Campos
20	22	Pepe Marti	Campos
21	31	Reece Ushijima	HWA
22	19	Nazim Azman	Hitech
23	21	Hunter Yeany	Campos
24	16	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz
25	30	Rafael Villagomez	HWA
26	12	Kush Maini	MP
27	27	Brad Benavides	Carlin
28	24	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer
29	14	Laszlo Toth	Charouz
30	15	Zdenek Chovanec	Charouz

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Formula 3

• 30-car Formula 3 field could get “messy” in Monaco, drivers say
• How Hamilton dominated F3’s last Monaco race – and what to expect from its return
• Formula 1 drivers and teams back decision to call off Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
• F1 cancels the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix due to flooding in Imola
• Bortoleto absorbs pressure from Saucy to take second straight feature race win

Browse all Formula 3 articles