Campos Racing’s Ernesto Rivera claimed his maiden F3 Sprint Race victory after hard fought race in the 2026 Austrian GP Spielberg Round, full results below.
James Wharton started from pole position alongside Campos Racing’s Ernesto Rivera on the front row. Pedro Clerot lined up third, with Jin Nakamura completing the second row.
Wharton made a strong launch to retain the lead off the line. However, further back, drama unfolded at Turn 1 as TRIDENT teammates Noah Strømsted and Freddie Slater went three-wide into the corner. Contact sent Slater into a spin, prompting the deployment of the Safety Car.
When racing resumed, Wharton quickly pulled out a 1.4-second advantage over Rivera in second. Behind them, Clerot headed a DRS train that stretched from fourth place all the way back to De Palo in 19th. Rivera then made slight contact with the rear of Wharton’s car, and their battle at the front allowed the chasing pack to close the gap.
On Lap 15, Rivera finally made his move after several laps of intense battling, overtaking Wharton into Turn 4. Behind them, Clerot began piling the pressure on Nakamura in the fight for third.
On the penultimate lap, Wharton ran wide at Turn 8, allowing both Nakamura and Clerot to capitalise. Clerot then passed Nakamura to secure second place.
Rivera crossed the line to claim his maiden Formula 3 Sprint Race victory. Clerot finished second, while Nakamura completed the podium in third, matching his best Formula 3 result.
See the full F3 Sprint Race report here.
2026 F3 Austrian GP | Sprint Race results
- Ernesto Rivera
- Pedro Clerot
- Jin Nakamura
- James Wharton
- Noah Strømsted
- Tuukka Taponen
- Taito Kato
- Hiyu Yamakoshi
- Ugo Ugochukwu
- Bruno del Pino
- Alessandro Giusti
- Nicola Lacorte
- Maciej Gładysz
- Louis Sharp
- Théophile Naël
- Gerrard Xie
- Mattia Colnaghi
- Matteo De Palo
- Yevan David
- Enzo Deligny
- Brando Badoer
- Christian Ho
- Fernando Barrichello
- José Garfias*
- Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi*
- Woohyun Shin*
- Salim Hanna*
- Fionn McLaughlin*
DNF Freddie Slater
Disqualified Kanato Le
Penalties
Le – Disqualified – Technical nonconformity
Bhirombhakdi – 10 second time penalty and 5 second time penalty – Weaving on the straight and a false start
Shin, Hanna, Garfias, McLaughlin – 5 second time penalty – False start
