Oscar Piastri holds FIA F3 lead as Theo Pourchaire becomes youngest race winner
Australian Oscar Piastri holds the lead of the FIA Formula 3 Championship after Round 2, with Theo Pourchaire taking the Race 2 victory ahead of Logan Sargeant and David Beckmann.
Theo Pourchaire celebrates his maiden FIA Formula 3 race win. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
The French 16 year-old took the lead from pole sitter Jake Hughes off the line, but came under renewed pressure from Hughes under DRS. A two-lap battle between the pair opened the door for chasing kiwi Liam Lawson, who saw the gap heading into Turn 4 and went for it, pulling himself up from third to first in one corner.
Hughes stuck with Lawson, and quickly regained the lead of the race before Alex Smolyar spun Campos driver Sophia Floersch, sending her spinning backwards along the long straight at the top of the Austrian circuit.
⚠️ LAP 11/24 ⚠️
Smolyar makes contact with Floersch on the back straight and she is spun into the barrier#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F3 pic.twitter.com/zlY80FFmawJuly 12, 2020
It was an incredibly difficult lap for the Spanish team, with Australian Alex Peroni running wide into the gravel trap, and Alessio Deledda damaging his front wing.
Lawson snuck ahead of Hughes before the Safety Car neutralised the field, and the New Zealander held firm at the restart, hoping to secure his second win of the season.
The battle between the two continued, with Hughes eventually past Lawson once again. The pair was inseparable lap-after-lap, until disaster struck.
Lawson, oversteering through Turn 4, clipped the curb and collided with Hughes, sending Hughes into the gravel with Lawson retiring a few corners down the road.
Pourchaire, watching the heated battle unfold ahead of him, inherited the race lead as the Safety Car emerged from the pits once again, and he led the pack across the line to become the fourth victor in four races. Sargeant was second, with Beckmann in third.
Theo Pourchaire becomes the youngest race winner in FIA Formula 3. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
Pourchaire, the youngest ever FIA Formula 3 race winner, said “it feels amazing to win Race 2 here in Austria.”
“I made a really good start, but then was third for most of the race with good battles ahead of me. Then Lawson and Hughes crashed, and I was able to win the race.“
“To win the race is amazing. It is only my second round in Formula 3, and I would like to thank ART Grand Prix for their amazing work with the car.”
Oscar Piastri leads the FIA Formula 3 Championship after two rounds. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
Australian Oscar Piastri, finishing in fifth place with bonus points for the fastest lap, held on to his championship lead, sitting on 44 points ahead of Vesti with 37.5 and Sargeant with 34.
Piastri said "a very eventful race again.”
“The first few laps weren't amazing and I lost a few spots, then I had some big problems with the DRS which were also compromising. Towards the end it wasn't too bad and I made up a few spots on track, plus two spots from the contact on top.”
“The fastest lap on the last lap definitely helped out with the points. Not too bad overall, but we still have room for improvement and hopefully in Hungary we can keep the championship lead."
Alex Peroni finished P11, with Jack Doohan in P20 and Calan Williams in P24.
Red Bull junior Liam Lawson holds P7 in the Championship standings, with Tasmanian Alex Peroni behind him in P8.
FIA Formula 3 heads to Budapest in Hungary for Round 3 next weekend, where Piastri will be looking to extend his lead of the Championship.
