Mercedes F1 junior Vesti takes first F3 victory of 2021 in Austria

The Mercedes Formula 1 junior didn’t look back when he overtook F3 points leader Dennis Hauger on Lap 5 into Turn 4.

Vesti controlled the pace from the front, ultimately taking the win by 1.1s ahead of Hauger.

Hauger resisted late pressure from Prema teammate Olli Caldwell to hold onto second, ensuring the Norweigan driver a third podium finish at Austria. 

Hauger’s chances of the win were ruined when he lost ground following the late Virtual Safety Car period as a result of Jack Doohan and Jak Crawford’s collision at Turn 3 on Lap 22. 

As Doohan went wide to relinquish the position to Ayumu Iwasa, Crawford ran into the back of him, resulting in front wing damage.

Doohan picked up a puncture from the contact with Crawford, forcing him into a stop and dropping him well out of the points.

Aleksandr Smolyar finished fourth, having run as high as second in the early stages, overtaking Hauger around the outside of Turn 4 on Lap 7.

Matteo Nannini finished fourth ahead of Iwasa in fifth, both benefiting from a dramatic crash involving Victor Martins and Arthur Leclerc. 

On Lap 14, Leclerc tried to go down the inside of Martins into Turn 4 but there wasn’t enough room for the Prema driver, forcing the Monegasque driver onto the grass and spearing into an innocent Clement Novalak just ahead.

Leclerc and Novalak were forced out of the race, while Martins finished 25th, having been spun by Ido Cohen after the Safety Car restart.

Caio Collet recovered from a botched start where he dropped to the back of the field to finish seventh ahead of Logan Sargeant and Calan Williams.

Carlin’s Jonny Edgar rounded out the top ten with Oliver Rasmussen and David Schumacher narrowly missing out on a points-paying position.

Click here for the full FIA Formula 3 feature race results from the Red Bull Ring.