Double round in Austria allowed the Brazilian to increase his lead in the standings by 12 points

The sixth round of the FIA F3 Championship, held at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg, Austria, concluded on Sunday (02). Leading the competition, Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto added 19 more points to his tally and extended his lead in the standings to 36 points.

Bortoleto’s weekend started off extremely positively with a first-place finish in the free practice session on Friday morning. In the qualifying session, which determined the starting grid for the two races, the Brazilian driver secured the third fastest time, with the top six drivers separated by just 90 milliseconds.

Unlike the conditions seen the previous day, the Red Bull Ring circuit woke up wet with rain for the Sprint Race. Due to the inversion of the top 12 from the qualifying session, Gabriel started from the fifth row of the grid in ninth place and proceeded to his race. Given a very wet track and extremely low visibility, the drivers completed two formation laps behind the safety car and then started the race. Bortoleto managed to stay in the top 10 throughout the race, although he struggled to keep the car on the track. The driver attempted to gain some positions, but the #5 car from Trident Racing did not have the same strength as it did on dry track conditions. Nevertheless, Gabriel made a great effort and finished the race in 10th place, securing another point in the standings.

BEST RACE OF THE YEAR ON SUNDAY

The sun went back to shine in Spielberg, and on Sunday, the races took place on a dry track, under the sun, with a large crowd in the stands. With the leading drivers closely matched in the standings, the expectation of a highly contested race came true, keeping the fans on their feet throughout.
Gabriel had a good start and maintained his third position but faced intense pressure. With a track that favors overtaking, featuring three DRS zones and wheel-to-wheel battles set the tone for the race, making it a challenging task for the drivers to stay safe on the track.

Bortoleto faced strong pressure from Paul Aron in the early laps. On the 11th lap, taking advantage of a battle ahead of him, Gabriel jumped to second place, while the leading group consisted of the top six cars in the race. On the 13th lap, in a bold maneuver, the #5 car took the lead. However, two laps later, Zak O’Sullivan overtook the Brazilian and took the lead, a position he would hold until the checkered flag. On the penultimate lap, Gabriel attempted a move to regain the lead but was unsuccessful, securing second place and, most importantly, the 18 points that contributed to his championship campaign. Another Brazilian driver, Caio Collet, completed the Austrian podium in third place.

After the sixth round of the championship, Bortoleto is more of a leader than ever with 111 points. Swedish driver Dino Beganovic is in second place with 75 points, followed by Zak O’Sullivan and Josep Maria Marty, both with 75 points. The seventh round of the championship will be held next weekend at Silverstone in England.

“I’m very pleased with the weekend. Our car was fast since the free practice session, but our competitors were also very competitive, so we built our results based on the details. Yesterday’s race had an issue with the setup that prevented me from gaining more positions. However, in today’s race, on a dry track, I did my best and fought for the win until the last lap. But I couldn’t risk my position in the championship, so we leave Red Bull Ring with a 36-point lead over the second-place driver, 12 points more than when we arrived here. Therefore, I can only thank my entire team, sponsors, and we continue, more alive than ever, in the fight for this title,” concluded the 18-year-old Brazilian driver.

Pictures: James Gasperotti | KTF Sports

Press office of KTF Sports
Responsible journalist: Flávio Quick