F3: Crawford scores first win in dramatic Austria Sprint Race

Jak Crawford took his first Formula 3 victory, winning the Sprint Race at Spielberg ahead of Caio Collet and Franco Colapinto. The PREMA Racing driver benefitted after ART Grand Prix’s Juan Manuel Correa was forced to retire with an issue on his car and seized the lead from Collet two-thirds in.

Despite the disadvantage of not having a tow from any car ahead as well as not having use of DRS, the American driver held on to the lead for the remainder of the race.

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Two separate Safety Cars ensured the pack was bunched up for the entirety of the race, which provided plenty of thrills and spills.

Arthur Leclerc rose from ninth on the grid to take fourth position by the chequered flag, but a near miss with team mate Oliver Bearman and Trident’s Zane Maloney almost ended the charge prematurely. His drive moved him to within one point of championship leader Victor Martins, who leads on 80 points to the Monegasque’s 79 after finishing P8.

Silverstone Sprint Race winner Isack Hadjar had a difficult race, ending up P10 having started from 12th place. The Frenchman remains third but will be hoping for a much better race starting from Feature Race pole tomorrow.

Crawford’s victory moves him up the table into fourth position in the championship, narrowly ahead of Trident’s Roman Stanek who rounds out the top five on 67 points.

PREMA extends their lead in the teams’ standings, now on 193 points. Next best are ART Grand Prix with 116 points while Hitech remain third albeit now tied on points with Trident on 98.

The F3 Feature Race will start at 0835 local time on Sunday.

For the full report, results and more news, visit the official F3 website.