Frederik Vesti takes maiden FIA Formula 3 victory in red-flagged Austria opener

Frederik Vesti has taken his first FIA Formula 3 win, as Race 1 at the second Austria round was red flagged due to inclement weather, with Lirim Zendeli and David Beckmann completing the podium.

Frederik Vesti celebrates his maiden FIA Formula 3 victory in Austria. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)

Despite speculation of rain throughout the day, several drivers at the rear of the field gambled for slick tyres, instantly regretting their installation laps and diving into pit lane before the race was underway.

Vesti enjoyed a solid start from pole position, with Oscar Piastri charging from fourth place to challenge the leader by Turn 1. Beckmann, who started in second, slipped temporarily down the running order, before putting his car on the outside for Turn 1 and recovering his starting position from the Australian.

It was Lirim Zendeli, however, who rocketed from P6 to P2, and drew even closer in Vesti’s rear-view mirror on the approach to Turn 3.

The rain was quickly getting more intense, and the tightly-packed field were sending banks of mist into the Austrian hills as they made their way around the circuit.

Kiwi Liam Lawson seemed to quickly master the conditions, eyeing up a challenge on Alex Peroni, with the pair bumping wheels as the Red Bull junior completed the move. This wasn’t the end for the Tasmanian, who took an elbow to the ribs from Verschoor as the Dutch driver made his way past in the following laps.

The first casualty of the conditions was Russian Alex Smolyar, who spun out on the final corner, making contact with the barriers and bringing out the Safety Car.

Vesti held his ground on the restart, before Clement Novalak suffered a puncture, sending him temporarily off the track, and bringing out the Safety Car on Lap 9, which returned to the pits after a lap when Novalak was able to return under his own power.

After the restart on Lap 11, the only movement at the top of the field was Olli Caldwell, making a late move on Piastri for fourth position down the inside of Turn 2. Verschoor was also on his way through the field, winning sixth position with his fifth overtake of the race.

The Safety Car returned on the following lap, as Roman Stanek spun wide and Sebastian Fernandez had an ugly incident unsighted in the mist. The Round 1 pole sitter spun off on his own accord, before his car, hidden under the heavy mist, was struck by following cars.

The incident that brought out the 🚩🚩🚩 in Race 1#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F3 pic.twitter.com/X2gJyDCdOE

— Formula 3 (@FIAFormula3) July 11, 2020

The Safety Car was called out, but the race was quickly red-flagged, and did not resume. Vesti earned his first FIA Formula 3 victory as well as bonus points for the fastest lap, with Zendeli and Beckmann both earning their first podiums.

Vesti said “I am very happy and pleased with the win and I would like to thank PREMA for doing a great job.”

“Yesterday was dry and today was wet so it was a big change, but we managed to do well and I am very happy for the good points and a nice race, so thanks to PREMA and to my good sponsors.”

The sporting regulations, mandating a countback if a race finishes under a red flag, slightly disrupted the results, with the standings as of the Lap 11 restart lodged as the official finishing order.

This left Australian Oscar Piastri in fourth position, while Alex Peroni was extremely unlucky, with the Tasmanian demoted from P10 - reverse-grid pole posiiton - down to P11.

Kiwi Liam Lawson finished P8, with fellow Red Bull junior Jack Doohan in P22 and Calan Williams in P25.

Piastri said “we expected rain and it definitely came.”

“It was not really much of a race, to be honest, we were just trying to stay on the track. The last three laps I was struggling to stay on a straight line. P4 was not too bad and we didn't lose much ground in terms of the standings with today being half points. I think we can leave the track in sort of a good mood and look forward to tomorrow's race 2."

With the reduced running only half points were awarded, meaning Piastri holds the championship lead by just 1.5 points over Vesti ahead of Race 2 on Sunday.