Roundup of the fifth round of 2022 F3 season as the grid headed to Austria as the season hit the halfway point.
Championship leader, Victor Martins came into this round looking to continue his title bid as he headed a five-car battle for the title as 17 points separated the quintet entering this round.
Rain and drama however played a part in proceedings across the weekend as the title fight widened and a new title challenger to Martins emerged.
Now, here is a full roundup of the latest F3 action at Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria.
Practice
Following overnight rain, drivers were greeted with a damp track as Arthur Leclerc led the field out for Practice, with everyone opting for wet tyres in the early stages as Stanek set the initial pace of 1m 30.767 but found 0.145 seconds on his next flier to go faster.
Stanek proceeded to then lower his benchmark time to 1m 30.183 as several drivers including Ollie Bearman saw times deleted for exceeding track limits at Turns 9 and 10.
Stanek eventually was displaced at the top of the timesheet in the 16th minute by Caio Collet who saw his time deleted, whereas his MP Motorsport teammate – Alexander Smolyar posted 1m 29.853 to go top only for Victor Martins and Bearman to soon displace him.
Bearman however had his time deleted again for exceeding track limits as Smolyar hit back to go top from Martins by 0.007s, with the pair improving on their next laps but were split by Campos’ Pepe Marti at the halfway mark of the session.
A dry line however had begun to form as drivers switched to slick tyres with Zak O’Sullivan first to post a representative legal time on slick tyres of 1m 26.897 which he lowered by 2.549s to go faster on his next lap despite briefly being displaced by William Alatalo.
O’Sullivan then found 1.909s to go even faster but was soon displaced by Bearman as the latter found himself battling Martins and Leclerc for the fastest overall time in Practice.
Once the checkered flag fell, it was Leclerc who finished quickest with 1m 20.171 ahead of Smolyar, Jonny Edgar, Isack Hadjar, Gregoire Saucy, Stanek, Bearman, Martins, Franco Colapinto and Kaylen Frederick.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 1m 20.171 |
| 2 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | + 0.113 |
| 3 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | + 0.151 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | + 0.199 |
| 5 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | + 0.218 |
| 6 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 0.224 |
| 7 | Ollie Bearman | PREMA | + 0.249 |
| 8 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.350 |
| 9 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | + 0.415 |
| 10 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | + 0.424 |
| 11 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | + 0.444 |
| 12 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | + 0.480 |
| 13 | Zane Maloney | Trident | + 0.600 |
| 14 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 0.647 |
| 15 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 0.664 |
| 16 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | + 0.741 |
| 17 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | + 0.747 |
| 18 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | + 0.770 |
| 19 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | + 0.771 |
| 20 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | + 0.786 |
| 21 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | + 0.880 |
| 22 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | + 0.991 |
| 23 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | + 1.105 |
| 24 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | + 1.237 |
| 25 | Zdenek Chovanec | Charouz | + 1.270 |
| 26 | David Vidales | Campos | + 1.293 |
| 27 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer | + 1.597 |
| 28 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | + 1.805 |
| 29 | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | + 1.848 |
| 30 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | + 9.418 |
Qualifying
Unlike a wet-to-dry Practice session, Qualifying was ran in totally dry conditions as Edgar led the field out onto the circuit as drivers fought for position in various traffic jams round the track.
Martins emerged quickest in the opening runs as he posted 1m 19.980 in the eighth minute to head Bearman by 0.078s with Leclerc sat third, whilst Charouz’s Zdenek Chovanec briefly stalled out of Turn 9 next to the pit entry but eventually found gear to continue around the circuit.
Traffic however proved a huge issue for drivers attempting a second flying lap in their opening run as several drivers, including Frederick were forced to back out and return to the pits although the issue didn’t fade as drivers headed out for their final runs.
In fact, the traffic and scraps for on-track positions prevented many from posting their final flying laps as the session was curtailed two minutes early after Chovanec stopped at Turn 1 following a front-right lock-up on entry.
Hadjar however had found enough position to register two flying laps as he went top initially by 0.014s before posting 1m 19.759 to secure pole position for the Feature Race ahead of Martins, Bearman, Leclerc, Frederick, Stanek, Edgar, Maloney, Colapinto and Crawford.
Juan Manuel Correa and Caio Collet qualified 11th and 12th fastest which put the latter on reverse-pole for the Sprint Race, with Manuel Correa alongside him on the front row.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | 1m 19.759 |
| 2 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.221 |
| 3 | Ollie Bearman | PREMA | + 0.299 |
| 4 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | + 0.310 |
| 5 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | + 0.375 |
| 6 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 0.419 |
| 7 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | + 0.440 |
| 8 | Zane Maloney | Trident | + 0.531 |
| 9 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | + 0.538 |
| 10 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | + 0.592 |
| 11 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | + 0.621 |
| 12 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | + 0.662 |
| 13 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | + 0.672 |
| 14 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | + 0.674 |
| 15 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | + 0.751 |
| 16 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | + 0.757 |
| 17 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | + 0.809 |
| 18 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | + 0.832 |
| 19 | David Vidales | Campos | + 0.848 |
| 20 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 0.909 |
| 21 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | + 0.988 |
| 22 | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | + 1.023 |
| 23 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | + 1.100 |
| 24 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | + 1.109 |
| 25 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.168 |
| 26 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | + 1.339 |
| 27 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | + 1.545 |
| 28 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer | + 1.611 |
| 29 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | + 2.807 |
| 30 | Zdenek Chovanec | Charouz | + 8.136 |
Sprint Race
At the start, Collet got a clean getaway to lead Manuel Correa and Crawford but Manuel Correa got the better drive out of Turn 3, which enabled him to sweep round the outside of Turn 4 to take the lead from Collet.
The Safety Car however was deployed at the end of the opening lap due to an incident at Turn 3 which eliminated Rafael Villagomez.
Once the race resumed on Lap 4, Manuel Correa comfortably led Collet and Colapinto who had passed Crawford later on the opening lap, until he encountered a race-ending gearbox failure as he exited the final corner of Lap 5, although he was able to recover to the pits without causing a Safety Car.
Collet consequently assumed the lead whilst Colapinto fought off Crawford until the latter made an inside move into Turn 3 on Lap 10 for second.
Just behind the frontrunners, Maloney had fended his teammates then Bearman off for fifth until Leclerc launched a desperate inside lunge into Turn 3, which saw him shunt Bearman on the exit into Maloney who went airborne briefly before spinning across the track and out of the race.
Stewards consequently deployed the Safety Car until the end of Lap 13 which enabled Collet to lead the field back racing on Lap 14, although the Brazilian lost the lead on that lap as Crawford launched an outside move through Turns 5 and 6 before making the overtake stick at Turn 7.
Leclerc meanwhile cleared Edgar for fourth but wasn’t able to make further progress as Crawford clung on for victory from Collet by 0.626s with Colapinto finishing third.
Stanek finished fifth ahead of Bearman who recovered to sixth but a 5s time penalty for exceeding track limits dropped the Brit to 16th in the final classification, as Frederick, Edgar, Martins, Smolyar and Hadjar rounded out the top ten.
Campos’ Hunter Yeany meanwhile withdrew from the round following this race, having suffered a wrist injury during a collision at Turn 3.
In the driver standings, Martins’ lead over Leclerc was reduced to down to a single point with the Frenchman now sat on 80 points compared to Leclerc’s 79 points.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | 21 | 32m 50.011 |
| 2 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 0.626 |
| 3 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | 21 | + 1.020 |
| 4 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 21 | + 1.265 |
| 5 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 21 | + 2.351 |
| 6 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | 21 | + 6.178 |
| 7 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | 21 | + 7.207 |
| 8 | Victor Martins | ART GP | 21 | + 7.582 |
| 9 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 8.111 |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | 21 | + 8.568 |
| 11 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | 21 | + 8.959 |
| 12 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | 21 | + 9.362 |
| 13 | Pepe Marti | Campos | 21 | + 9.752 |
| 14 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | 21 | + 10.311 |
| 15 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | 21 | + 10.585 |
| 16 | Ollie Bearman | PREMA | 21 | + 10.606 |
| 17 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | 21 | + 11.280 |
| 18 | David Vidales | Campos | 21 | + 11.637 |
| 19 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 12.495 |
| 20 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | 21 | + 16.133 |
| 21 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer | 21 | + 17.119 |
| 22 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | 21 | + 19.716 |
| 23 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | 21 | + 19.964 |
| 24 | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | 21 | + 21.141 |
| 25 | Enzo Trulli | Charouz | 21 | + 50.504 |
| 26 | Zdenek Chovanec | Charouz | 21 | + 54.445 |
| RET | Zane Maloney | Trident | 21 | Collision |
| RET | Willian Alatalo | Jenzer | 21 | Engine |
| RET | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | 21 | Gearbox |
| RET | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 21 | Collision |
Sprint Race
Following overnight rain which had continued into early morning, the Feature Race began with two formation laps behind the Safety Car, before Hadjar led the field racing despite initially struggling for grip in the opening laps.
He however was soon able to settle his Hitech GP car and comfortably fought off Martins as Crawford passed Colapinto for ninth, whilst Collet overtook both Manuel Correa then Colapinto to go tenth on the opening lap.
Crawford then passed Maloney for eighth as the top ten order soon settled whilst drama reigned further down the order, as Charouz’s Francesco Pizzi spun teammate – Chovanec out of the final corner on Lap 12 whilst Jenzer’s Federico Malvestiti spun and stalled just behind the pair.
Malvestiti luckily was able to slowly find his gears and continue without causing a Safety Car whilst Pizzi was handed a 10s time penalty for spinning Chovanec.
Lap 17 saw further drama as Pepe Marti clipped the rear-end of Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan which caused the Brit to spin, whilst the Spaniard clipped his compatriot and Campos teammate – David Vidales as he begun to get back on track in a straight line.
Marti consequently retired with damage whilst Vidales and O’Sullivan finished 12th and 17th respectively.
The Safety Car however was deployed on Lap 20 after Chovanec was spun again by Pizzi a lap earlier this time at Turn 4, only he this time ended up beached in the gravel trap.
Once the race resumed on Lap 23, Collet rammed Edgar into Turn 1 which ruined both of their races as well as that of Crawford and Kush Maini.
Stanek on the penultimate lap collided with Frederick as the pair fought their way through Turn 3 for fifth, with Stanek losing position to Maloney whilst Frederick finished last with a rear tyre puncture.
Up front, Hadjar cruised to victory ahead of Martins, Bearman and Leclerc whilst Maloney, Stanek, Colapinto, Alexander Smolyar, Alatalo and Ido Cohen rounded out the top ten.
Post-race, Stanek was hit with a 5s time penalty for his penultimate lap collision with Frederick which dropped the Trident driver out of the points, as he slid down to 11th as a consequence with Juan Manuel Correa picking up the final point in 10th.
Pepe Marti meanwhile was hit with a three-place grid drop for spinning O’Sullivan, which will be applied in Hungary in three weeks time.
In the driver standings, Martins remains top by a single point as Hadjar leapfrogged Leclerc into second.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | 25 | 40m 34.535 |
| 2 | Victor Martins | ART GP | 25 | + 3.251 |
| 3 | Ollie Bearman | PREMA | 25 | + 4.881 |
| 4 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 25 | + 5.383 |
| 5 | Zane Maloney | Trident | 25 | + 6.457 |
| 6 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | 25 | + 9.113 |
| 7 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | 25 | + 9.882 |
| 8 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | 25 | + 10.852 |
| 9 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | 25 | + 12.286 |
| 10 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | 25 | + 12.706 |
| 11 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 25 | + 13.067 |
| 12 | David Vidales | Campos | 25 | + 13.901 |
| 13 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | 25 | + 14.095 |
| 14 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | 25 | + 14.738 |
| 15 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 25 | + 15.442 |
| 16 | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | 25 | + 15.722 |
| 17 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | 25 | + 16.765 |
| 18 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | 25 | + 19.446 |
| 19 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | 25 | + 21.368 |
| 20 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | 25 | + 24.273 |
| 21 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | 25 | + 50.679 |
| 22 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | 25 | + 60.379 |
| 23 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | 25 | + 73.566 |
| 24 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | 24 | + 1 Lap |
| 25 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | 23 | Collision |
| 26 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer | 23 | Damage |
| 27 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | 22 | Collision |
| RET | Zdenek Chovanec | Charouz | 26 | Collision |
| RET | Pepe Marti | Campos | 17 | Damage |
| WD | Hunter Yeany | Campos | 0 | Wrist |
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