Roundup of the sixth round of the 2025 F3 season as the grid touched down in Austria to kick off the second half of the season.
Trident’s Rafael Camara came into the second half of the season as the championship leader but the Brazilian endured an uncharacteristically tough weekend, whereas his title rival – Nikola Tsolov took advantage to blow the title fight wide open in a huge weekend for the championship contenders.
Practice
Campos’ trio of Tsolov, Mari Boya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak were first on track as many drivers opted for installation laps, whilst Nikita Johnson – standing in for DAMS’ suspended Nicola Lacorte – proceeded to set 1m 46.319 as the initial benchmark.
Johnson soon lowered that benchmark time twice to 1m 25.165 before Trident’s Noah Stromsted displaced him with 1m 24.311.
Stromsted then lowered his own benchmark time to 1m 23.663 in the 19th minute, but the red flags were out a minute later after PREMA’s Brando Badoer spun into the gravel through turns seven and eight.
During the seven-minute stoppage, Badoer’s teammate, Noel Leon suffered an engine fire in the pits but he was eventually able to get back out and set the 17th-fastest lap time overall.
Red flags were back out in the 31st minute after Hitech GP’s Gerrard Xie spun out at turn 3 and the session resumed five minutes later, only for another stoppage in the 39th minute after Brad Benavides spun his AIX car at turn 4.
The session recommenced with three minutes left which led to a frantic flurry of flying laps that culminated in Tsolov finishing quickest with 1m 22.015, and 0.158 seconds clear of title rival, Camara in second place.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 1m 22.015 |
| 2 | Rafael Camara | Trident | + 0.158 |
| 3 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | + 0.483 |
| 4 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | + 0.510 |
| 5 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 0.566 |
| 6 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA | + 0.656 |
| 7 | James Wharton | ART GP | + 0.736 |
| 8 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos | + 0.772 |
| 9 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.922 |
| 10 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | + 0.939 |
| 11 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 1.016 |
| 12 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | + 1.176 |
| 13 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin | + 1.178 |
| 14 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | + 1.455 |
| 15 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | + 1.517 |
| 16 | Theophile Nael | VAR | + 1.804 |
| 17 | Noel Leon | PREMA | + 1.986 |
| 18 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | + 1.990 |
| 19 | Nikita Johnson | DAMS | + 2.702 |
| 20 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 2.770 |
| 21 | Christian Ho | DAMS | + 4.638 |
| 22 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | + 14.108 |
| 23 | Bruno Del Pino | MP Motorsport | + 15.419 |
| 24 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 16.706 |
| 25 | Jesse Carrasquedo | Hitech GP | + 17.982 |
| 26 | Ivan Domingues | VAR | + 18.631 |
| 27 | Santiago Ramos | VAR | + 20.136 |
| 28 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | + 20.229 |
| 29 | Brando Badoer | PREMA | + 20.655 |
| 30 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | No Time |
Qualifying
Just like in Practice, the Campos trio were first on track and once representative lap times began to come in, Tsolov immediately found himself quickest in the seventh minute on 1m 21.598 before he found 0.316s on his next flier to head Tramnitz and Giusti at the halfway mark.
In the final runs, Camara briefly went quickest with 1m 21.011 in the 26th minute but a minute later, Tsolov posted 1m 20.927 to go top, but the Bulgarian eventually posted 1m 20.743 to make sure of his second pole position of the season.
Benavides achieved AIX Racing’s best-ever F3 Qualifying result of second ahead of Stromsted, Del Pino, Inthraphuvasak, Voisin, Camara, Ugochukwu, Badoer, Wurz, Giusti and Wharton who inherited reverse-pole for the sprint.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 1m 20.743 |
| 2 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | + 0.176 |
| 3 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | + 0.178 |
| 4 | Bruno Del Pino | MP Motorsport | + 0.194 |
| 5 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos | + 0.222 |
| 6 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 0.258 |
| 7 | Rafael Camara | Trident | + 0.268 |
| 8 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA | + 0.272 |
| 9 | Brando Badoer | PREMA | + 0.276 |
| 10 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | + 0.297 |
| 11 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | + 0.300 |
| 12 | James Wharton | ART GP | + 0.363 |
| 13 | Noel Leon | PREMA | + 0.364 |
| 14 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 0.396 |
| 15 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 0.400 |
| 16 | Santiago Ramos | VAR | + 0.462 |
| 17 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.487 |
| 18 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin | + 0.501 |
| 19 | Theophile Nael | VAR | + 0.513 |
| 20 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | + 0.576 |
| 21 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | + 0.615 |
| 22 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.654 |
| 23 | Christian Ho | DAMS | + 0.694 |
| 24 | Jesse Carrasquedo | Hitech GP | + 0.816 |
| 25 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | + 0.836 |
| 26 | Ivan Domingues | VAR | + 0.998 |
| 27 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | + 1.038 |
| 28 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | + 1.080 |
| 29 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | + 1.493 |
| 30 | Nikita Johnson | DAMS | + 1.797 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Wharton headed Giusti and Wurz whilst Badoer passed Ugochukwu for fourth as Camara cleared Voisin for sixth.
Ho however brought out the safety car on lap 2 after he tried an inside move on Sharp which sent the Rodin into Taponen at turn 3, which eliminated the trio and handed Ho a five-place grid drop in lieu of a 10s time penalty which he couldn’t serve due to having not finished the race.
Racing resumed on lap 5 and Tsolov quickly cleared Voisin for seventh whilst Badoer one lap later lost position to Ugochukwu and Camara but quickly repassed the Brazilian for fifth.
Just behind the top six, Benavides and Del Pino collided on lap 7 trying to pass Voisin into turn 3 which promoted Inthraphuvasak to eighth ahead of Stenshorne, as the pair fell down the order with Benavides forced to retire due to extensive damage.
Tsolov quietly proceeded to go on a charge as he cleared Camara on lap nine for sixth before he made up two positions on lap 13, after Badoer spun Wurz out of third place which ended the Austrian’s race and forced the McLaren junior to pit for a new front wing.
Racing resumed on lap 18 but Tsolov was briefly passed by Inthraphuvasak before he regained fourth on that same lap, which he held to the checkered flag behind Ugochukwu in third, as Wharton claimed his first F3 win by 0.612s from Giusti.
Ugochukwu however was handed a ten-second time penalty after he left the track and gained an advantage in his battle with Tsolov, who inherited third from Inthraphuvasak and Boya in a strong result for Campos.
Tramnitz recovered from 17th on the grid to finish sixth ahead of Stenshorne, Voisin, Camara and Leon.
In the drivers’ standings, Camara’s title lead over Tsolov was trimmed to 18 points, whilst Tramnitz found himself a further 14 points adrift of the second-placed Bulgarian.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | James Wharton | ART GP | 21 | 33m 49.853 |
| 2 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 0.612 |
| 3 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 21 | + 1.564 |
| 4 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos | 21 | + 3.325 |
| 5 | Mari Boya | Campos | 21 | + 7.726 |
| 6 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 7.895 |
| 7 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 21 | + 9.034 |
| 8 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 21 | + 9.284 |
| 9 | Rafael Camara | Trident | 21 | + 9.652 |
| 10 | Noel Leon | PREMA | 21 | + 9.801 |
| 11 | Theophile Nael | VAR | 21 | + 10.321 |
| 12 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 21 | + 10.460 |
| 13 | Santiago Ramos | VAR | 21 | + 10.629 |
| 14 | Jesse Carrasquedo | Hitech GP | 21 | + 10.958 |
| 15 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin | 21 | + 11.070 |
| 16 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA | 21 | + 11.162 |
| 17 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | 21 | + 11.339 |
| 18 | Nikita Johnson | DAMS | 21 | + 11.658 |
| 19 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | 21 | + 11.970 |
| 20 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | 21 | + 12.670 |
| 21 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | 21 | + 12.893 |
| 22 | Bruno Del Pino | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 23.215 |
| 23 | Brando Badoer | PREMA | 21 | + 23.537 |
| 24 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | 12 | Collision |
| 25 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | 8 | Collision |
| 26 | Ivan Domingues | VAR | 7 | Mechanical |
| 27 | Christian Ho | DAMS | 2 | Collision |
| 28 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | 1 | Collision |
| 29 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | 1 | Collision |
| DSQ | James Hedley | AIX Racing | 21 | Steering |
Feature Race
Tsolov led from lights out from Benavides and Stromsted as Ugochukwu leapt up to fourth from eighth on the grid.
Benavides however found himself uncharacteristically at the front of the field and his inexperience showed as Stromsted and Ugochukwu passed him on inside and outside of turn 3 on lap 3 simultaneously to demote the American to fourth.
Ugochukwu one lap later passed Stromsted for second as Benavides steadily slipped to 12th whilst Camara caught and passed Stromsted on lap six for third, which became second a lap later as Stromsted soon followed him through to demote Ugochukwu to fourth.
Stenshorne meanwhile quietly navigated his way up the order in the opening laps and took sixth from Badoer on lap 9 before a mistake from Voisin promoted the Norwegian to fifth.
Stenshorne further improved to third on lap 14 as he cleared Ugochukwu into turn 3 then got past Stromsted into turn 4 to move up into the podium places, which became second on lap 19 as Camara allowed him through at turn 3.
Tramnitz was another driver quietly on the move into the top ten as he made a double overtake on Boya and Badoer at turn 3 on lap 10, as the latter pair’s collision caused race-ending damage to Badoer’s front-left suspension.
The MP Motorsport driver eventually carved his way up to fourth as he cleared Ugochukwu and Stromsted, with Ugochukwu having followed him through on lap 19 as he passed the Trident driver.
Up front, Tsolov cruised to a third victory of the season from Stenshorne whilst Tramnitz and Boya demoted Camara to fifth on lap 24, as the German rounded out the podium from the Spaniard.
Camara eventually finished sixth after Ugochukwu passed him on the penultimate lap, although the Brazilian was the highest-placed Trident driver ahead of teammates, Wurz and Stromsted.
Van Hoepen and Voisin rounded out the top ten.
Tsolov’s victory meant that he cut his title deficit down to a single point to Camara on 114 and 115 points respectively, whilst Tramnitz is only 17 points behind in third.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 26 | 36m 40.308 |
| 2 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 26 | + 6.646 |
| 3 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 26 | + 8.721 |
| 4 | Mari Boya | Campos | 26 | + 9.104 |
| 5 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA | 26 | + 10.737 |
| 6 | Rafael Camara | Trident | 26 | + 12.539 |
| 7 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | 26 | + 13.875 |
| 8 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | 26 | + 16.521 |
| 9 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 26 | + 16.747 |
| 10 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 26 | + 17.326 |
| 11 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | 26 | + 18.034 |
| 12 | Theophile Nael | VAR | 26 | + 18.472 |
| 13 | Noel Leon | PREMA | 26 | + 19.295 |
| 14 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 26 | + 19.961 |
| 15 | Jesse Carrasquedo | Hitech GP | 26 | + 20.423 |
| 16 | James Wharton | ART GP | 26 | + 21.453 |
| 17 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos | 26 | + 21.827 |
| 18 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | 26 | + 22.242 |
| 19 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | 26 | + 22.966 |
| 20 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | 26 | + 23.488 |
| 21 | Bruno Del Pino | MP Motorsport | 26 | + 23.762 |
| 22 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | 26 | + 24.420 |
| 23 | Ivan Domingues | VAR | 26 | + 24.488 |
| 24 | Nikita Johnson | DAMS | 26 | + 24.927 |
| 25 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin | 26 | + 26.008 |
| 26 | Christian Ho | DAMS | 26 | + 26.571 |
| 27 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | 26 | + 44.023 |
| 28 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | 26 | + 44.418 |
| 29 | Santiago Ramos | VAR | 26 | + 66.419 |
| 30 | Brando Badoer | PREMAS | 11 | Suspension |
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