Frederik Vesti claimed his first win of 2021 after fending off championship leader, Dennis Hauger in a thrilling 2021 Austrian Race Three.
Vesti made a clean start from second to slot in behind Hauger before sweeping past the Norwegian at Turn Four on lap five to take the lead, which he held for remainder of race except for a brief moment on lap 11 when Aleksandr Smolyar snatched the lead from Turn Three to Turn Four.
The Safety Car was deployed on lap 14 for four laps after a scary crash involving Arthur Leclerc as he lost control of his PREMA and wiped out Clement Novalak, whilst Victor Martins got caught up in the incident but was able to continue as he finished 25th on the road.
Vesti eventually clung on for victory ahead of Hauger who had to fend off PREMA teammate – Olli Caldwell on the final lap, with Smolyar settling for fourth ahead of Matteo Nannini and Ayumu Iwasa.
Caio Collet meanwhile recovered from slow getaway at the start to finish seventh ahead of Logan Sargeant, Calan Williams and Jonny Edgar who rounded out the top ten.
In the driver standings, Hauger now holds a 41 point lead over Vesti who has leapt up to second after Doohan and Martins failed to finish, with Martins ultimately dropping to fifth in the order after Caldwell moved up to fourth.
At lights out, Hauger led from Vesti and Smolyar as Novalak made up two positions to climb to fourth ahead of Jak Crawford, with the top five holding position in the opening laps as Vesti kept Hauger within sight until he made his move into Turn Four on lap five to take the lead.
Hauger lost second to Smolyar two laps later as the Russian swept around the outside of Turn Four before catching and passing Vesti into Turn Three on lap 11, only to make an error on the exit which enabled Vesti and Hauger to reclaim the top two positions.
Further back, Caldwell and Leclerc were slowly making up positions with Caldwell finding himself up to fourth on lap nine, whilst Leclerc found himself in scraps with Jack Doohan and Martins.
Leclerc’s race however was ended on lap 14 as he got wide through Turn One, which enabled Martins to catch and pass him into Turn Three before Leclerc got wide onto the grass on the run to Turn Four, relinquishing all control of his car as he tagged Martins and wiped out a helpless Novalak.
The safety car was immediately deployed and once racing resumed on lap 18, Vesti held on to cruise to victory despite a late Virtual Safety Car after Doohan suffered a puncture following a tangle with Crawford on lap 22 to drop both drivers down the order.
Upon the final restart, Hauger was caught napping by Caldwell who tried to make a move on his teammate but the Norwegian ultimately fended his British rival off to take second at the flag.
Elsewhere, Oliver Rasmussen recorded his highest F3 finish in his rookie season of 11th to move up to 22nd in the standings, plus is now the highest placed driver who is yet to score any points.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | 24 | 36m 17.937 |
| 2 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 24 | + 1.124 |
| 3 | Olli Caldwell | PREMA | 24 | + 1.741 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Smolyar | ART GP | 24 | + 2.258 |
| 5 | Matteo Nannini | HWA Racelab | 24 | + 4.147 |
| 6 | Ayumu Iwasa | Hitech GP | 24 | + 5.163 |
| 7 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | 24 | + 6.785 |
| 8 | Logan Sargeant | Charouz | 24 | + 7.561 |
| 9 | Calan Williams | Jenzer | 24 | + 8.320 |
| 10 | Jonny Edgar | Carlin | 24 | + 9.049 |
| 11 | Oliver Rasmussen | HWA Racelab | 24 | + 9.288 |
| 12 | David Schumacher | Trident | 24 | + 9.605 |
| 13 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | 24 | + 10.328 |
| 14 | Roman Stanek | Hitech GP | 24 | + 10.782 |
| 15 | Lorenzo Colombo | Campos | 24 | + 11.319 |
| 16 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | 24 | + 11.645 |
| 17 | Tijmen Van Der Helm | MP Motorsport | 24 | + 13.049 |
| 18 | Johnathan Hoggard | Jenzer | 24 | + 14.677 |
| 19 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | 24 | + 15.583 |
| 20 | Reshad De Gerus | Charouz | 24 | + 16.202 |
| 21 | Amaury Cordeel | Campos | 24 | + 16.358 |
| 22 | Filip Ugran | Jenzer | 24 | + 17.200 |
| 23 | Rafael Villagomez | HWA Racelab | 24 | + 17.850 |
| 24 | Laszlo Toth | Campos | 24 | + 19.104 |
| 25 | Victor Martins | MP Motorsport | 24 | + 43.050 |
| 26 | Jak Crawford | Hitech GP | 24 | + 1m 15.956 |
| 27 | Jack Doohan | Trident | 24 | + 1 Lap |
| 28 | Clement Novalak | Trident | 13 | Collision |
| 29 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 13 | Collision |
| DNS | Kaylen Frederick | Carlin | 0 | Thumb |
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