PREMA Racing’s Arthur Leclerc leads the session opener, setting the fastest time to 1:20.171 to be just a tenth down quicker than MP Motorsport’s Alexander Smolyar in a slippery Spielberg session.
The Monegasque became the first driver to switch over slicks to explore where the grip was after an overnight shower around the Red Bull Ring that resulted in a wet session.
After a handful of drivers were taking turns of the lead from the session, Leclerc stormed off to the top of the leaderboard in the final minutes of Free Practice, as the Monegasque became the first driver to switch over slicks.
Smolyar had to settle for second only 0.133s shy of Leclerc’s time, as Trident’s Jonny Edgar put on a remarkable performance for third after his return in Silverstone ahead of fellow Red Bull Juniors Isack Hadjar in fourth.
ART Grand Prix’s Gregoire Saucy made it to the fifth-fastest in his best Formula 3 Free Practice result so far, ahead of Roman Stanek in the second Trident car.
Oliver Bearman completed the session in seventh for PREMA, beating the Championship leader Victor Martins in eighth fastest for ART Grand Prix. Franco Colapinto placed his Van Amersfoort Racing in ninth, as Hitech’s Kaylen Frederick rounded out the top 10.
The 30-strong grid will return to action at 15:00 local times to determine Sunday’s Feature Race starting grid in qualifying. Last time out, the series’ reigning champion Dennis Hauger took the pole position in Spielberg but failed to convert his position to victory as Frederik Vesti stormed into the lead from second.
Free Practice results:
| 1 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA Racing | 1:20.171 |
| 2 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | 1:20.284 |
| 3 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | 1:20.322 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:20.370 |
| 5 | Gregoire Saucy | ART Grand Prix | 1:20.389 |
| 6 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 1:20.395 |
| 7 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA Racing | 1:20.420 |
| 8 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 1:20.521 |
| 9 | Franco Colapinto | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:20.586 |
| 10 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:20.595 |
| 11 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | 1:20.615 |
| 12 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | 1:20.651 |
| 13 | Zane Maloney | Trident | 1:20.771 |
| 14 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:20.818 |
| 15 | Juan Maria Marti | Campos Racing | 1:20.835 |
| 16 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz Racing System | 1:20.912 |
| 17 | Jak Crawford | PREMA Racing | 1:20.918 |
| 18 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART Grand Prix | 1:20.941 |
| 19 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | 1:20.942 |
| 20 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | 1:20.957 |
| 21 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:21.051 |
| 22 | William Alatalo | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:21.162 |
| 23 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | 1:21.276 |
| 24 | Hunter Yeany | Campos Racing | 1:21.408 |
| 25 | Zdenek Chovanec | Charouz Racing System | 1:21.441 |
| 26 | David Vidales | Campos Racing | 1:21.464 |
| 27 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:21.768 |
| 28 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz Racing System | 1:21.976 |
| 29 | Nazim Azman | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:22.019 |
| 30 | Reece Ushijima | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:29.589 |
