Formula 3 heads to Austria for Round 6 of the 2025 FIA F3 Championship. Championship leader Rafael Câmara arrives at the Red Bull Ring with 105 points, closely followed by Nikola Tsolov in P2 with 79. The F3 Austrian Grand Prix weekend kicks off with Free Practice. This is the drivers’ first and only chance to prepare before this afternoon’s Qualifying session. Tsolov claimed the Sprint Race win here in 2024. Now, the question is, can he repeat that success again this year?
The Red Bull Ring features a 4.318 km circuit with three DRS detection zones. On Saturday, the Sprint Race will run over 21 laps, while the Feature Race will follow on Sunday, spanning 26 laps.
In past seasons, Round 6 has been a turning point, with strong results often setting the tone for the second half, where plenty of points remain.
Nikita Johnson joins the grid this weekend with Dams Lucas Oil, replacing Nicola Lacorte. He is suspended for the F3 Austrian GP after breaching his 12 available Super Licence points.
It’s lights out in Austria as Practice is underway
The 45-minute Free Practice session kicked off at the high-speed Red Bull Ring. After completing their installation laps, most drivers headed back to the pit lane. Johnson stayed out, looking to gain additional track time and build familiarity with the F3 car. Soon after, Stromsted joined him on track and set the early benchmark, going P1 with a 1:23.663.
30 minutes left on the clock
The track roared to life as the rest of the field streamed out of the pit lane, joining Strømsted and Johnson, who were already circulating. Moments later, Badoer ran wide and got stuck in the gravel, prompting the first Red Flag of the session.
As the cars were sat dormant in the pit lane, Leon’s car started to overheat, causing flames in the engine bay of his Prema Racing vehicle. He was ruled out of the Free Practice session.
Green Flag’s again with 19 minute left of F3 Free Practice in Austria
At this point of Free Practice, only Johnson, Strømsted, and Leon had logged flying lap times.
With 17 minutes remaining, Xie became the next driver in trouble as his car came to a stop on the exit of Turn 3. A Virtual Safety Car was initially deployed, but despite efforts from both Xie and the marshals to push his Hitech TGR car off the track, the steep incline proved too much. A Red Flag was eventually called to allow recovery vehicles access.
10 Minutes left to round out Practice
As green flags waved again for the F3 Austrian GP Practice session, the cars promptly returned to the track. With only 10 minutes remaining on the clock, the remainder of the session simulated a Qualifying structure.
Tsolov was the first to set a flying lap, clocking a time of 1:22.018. He remained the only driver to complete a timed run, as Benavides slid into the gravel at the exit of Turn 4. Consequently, the Red Flag came out for the third time.
With 2 minutes left on the clock, the track was then cleared again for the drivers to take to the Red Bull Ring to push to the limits and squeeze flying laps in.
The chaotic session concluded with Tsolov P1, Câmara P2 and Strømsted P3.
Full results from F3 Austrian GP Free Practice Round
- N.Tsolov
- R. Câmara
- N. Strømsted
- T. Taponen
- M. Boya
- U. Ugochukwu
- J. Wharton
- T. Inthraphuvasak
- L. Van Hoepen
- C. Wurz
- C. Voisin
- M. Zagazeta
- R. Bilinski
- J. Hedley
- L. Sharp
- T. Nael
- N. Leon
- N. Marinangeli
- N. Johnson
- T. Tramnitz
- C. Ho
- A. Giusti
- B. Del Pino
- M. Stenshorne
- J. Carrasquedo
- I. Domingues
- S. Ramos
- B. Benavides
- B. Badoer
- G. Xie
