Frederik Vesti takes maiden FIA Formula 3 win in rain-hit Race 1 at Red Bull Ring
Frederik Vesti claimed his first win of the season today for PREMA Racing at Red Bull Ring, in a rain-shortened race 1 for the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
The Danish racer took off from pole and never really looked back as the rain, which was already falling at the start, intensified progressively, reducing the grip and visibility to the point that the conditions were not safe enough to continue. Eventually the red flag came out with just 12 laps completed out of 24. With no sign of improvement coming, the stewards decided to call it for the day.
As a result, Vesti grabbed his maiden win in the series, matching the result of his fellow rookie teammate Oscar Piastri in the 2020 opener. Today, the 19-year-old Australian posted a highly-valuable fourth place with a safe and consistent run. American racer Logan Sargeant ended up in the points too after experiencing issues off the line which cost him positions. He eventually finished P6, navigating the increasingly extreme weather.
Half points were awarded, so the number of points lost for Sargeant and Piastri was reduced considerably, and with the reversed top-10, they are looking forward to a bold comeback tomorrow in race 2.
#1 OSCAR PIASTRI
“We expected rain and it definitely came. It was not really much of a race, to be honest, we were just trying to stay on the track. The last three laps I was struggling to stay on a straight line. P4 was not too bad and we didn’t lose much ground in terms of the standings with today being half points. I think we can leave the track in sort of a good mood and look forward to tomorrow’s race 2.”
Qualifying: P4
Race 1: P4
Fastest lap: 1:20.590
Fastest lap: 1:34.087
#2 FREDERIK VESTI
“I’m very proud of the progress we made after last weekend. We knew we had the potential and we managed to put it all together, winning race 1 in very wet conditions after taking pole position in the dry. Today we had to reset completely to adapt to the wet conditions, and Prema did a really good job in adapting the car as well. In the end, we won the race scoring very good points even though it’s half points because the race was red-flagged. Tomorrow I will start from P10 due to the reverse grid and I’m pretty excited to see how it will go.”
Qualifying: P1
Race 1: P1
Fastest lap: 1:20.378
Fastest lap: 1:33.358
#3 LOGAN SARGEANT
“It wasn’t a great race for us. I had a faulty start, nothing I could really do about that, and we will look into that later. In the end, I was just trying to keep it on the track, struggling with the balance as I didn’t have much confidence at all in the car. Then, the conditions just got too bad, and I couldn’t see anything, I was struggling even driving in a straight line. We should still be starting okay for tomorrow, and we can try to bounce back.”
Qualifying: P3
Race 1: P6
Fastest lap: 1:20.570
Fastest lap: 1:35.168
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing