Hauger takes victory after storming drive in Austria

Dennis Hauger delivered one of FIA Formula 3’s greatest drive as he charged through to victory from 12th on the grid , extending his championship lead considerably.

The PREMA driver started from the sixth row by virtue of securing pole position yesterday but he was able to make decisive moves when others couldn’t to get through to third behind Matteo Nannini and Clément Novalak.

The leading duo went wheel-to-wheel into turn four on lap 21 but they both ended up in the gravel with Novalak not making it out, opening the door for Hauger to cruise through on his way to the top step of the podium, with fastest lap to boot.

His teammate Olli Caldwell joined him in the rostrum by holding off Logan Sargeant for second although the American struggled with tyre wear in the latter stages and fell back on the final couple of tours.

The second train of cars in a race which saw endless overtaking was eventually led home by Victor Martins who recovered from a brief gravel visit himself to beat Jak Crawford who looked accomplished fighting against the best of Formula 3.

Caio Collet lost pole position yesterday due to track limits but came home sixth for MP Motorsport ahead of Jack Doohan who couldn’t make his pace count in the Trident.

Nannini managed to drag his HWA Racelab car to eighth to salvage some points and a decent grid slot for the second race, beating Ayumu Iwasa who gained ten places to finish ninth.

Aleksandr Smolyar completed the top ten while Jonny Edgar took reverse grid pole for the second race finishing 12th. Enzo Fittipaldi will start second after his 11h placed finish.

Arthur Leclerc retired after presumed contact sent him into the gravel, but he made it to the pits before stepping out while Frederik Vesti stalled on the grid but recovered to 13th.