Jak Crawford took his first-ever FIA Formula 3 race victory in a hectic Sprint Race around the Red Bull Ring circuit. The PREMA Racing driver was clinical in taking the lead of the race from the reverse polesitter Caio Collet, who had to settle for second.
As the sun slowly peaked through the clouds, Collet retained the lead into the first corner, as Franco Colapinto and Jak Crawford were dueling for third, just before the first safety car was out to neutralize the race.
Later in the race, Crawford dived down the inside of Colapinto for second. Eventually, he swooped outside Collet to take the lead with just five laps to go, as the situation became hectic for the drivers behind him.
Collet scored his best result of the year in second for MP Motorsport, as Colapinto brought the third-place podium home for Van Amersfoort Racing for the second time of the season.
Arthur Leclerc repeated his teammate’s effort to take fourth from Jonny Edgar, as Oliver Bearman almost made it to the top three, but then he had to concede in the battle with Victor Martins in fighting for eighth.
Roman Stanek completed the race in fifth when his Trident teammate Jonny Edgar opened the door for Hitech Grand Prix’s Kaylen Frederick to claim sixth. Edgar only finished seventh, as Championship leader Victor Martins was eighth for ART Grand Prix.
Further down, Alexander Smolyar finished ninth in the second MP Motorsport car as last Sprint Race’s winner Isack Hadjar rounded out the top 10 for Hitech.
The 30-strong grid will be back in action on Sunday for the Feature Race that will take place at 08.35 local times, with Hadjar starting from pole position alongside his main title rival Victor Martins on the front row.
Sprint Race results:
| 1 | Jak Crawford | PREMA Racing |
| 2 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport |
| 3 | Franco Colapinto | Van Amersfoort Racing |
| 4 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA Racing |
| 5 | Roman Stanek | Trident |
| 6 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech Grand Prix |
| 7 | Jonny Edgar | Trident |
| 8 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix |
| 9 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech Grand Prix |
| 11 | Gregoire Saucy | ART Grand Prix |
| 12 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin |
| 13 | Juan Maria Marti | Campos Racing |
| 14 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer Motorsport |
| 15 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz Racing System |
| 16 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA Racing |
| 17 | Reece Ushijima | Van Amersfoort Racing |
| 18 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport |
| 19 | Brad Benavides | Carlin |
| 20 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer Motorsport |
| 21 | Hunter Yeany | Campos Racing |
| 22 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz Racing System |
| 23 | Nazim Azman | Hitech Grand Prix |
| 24 | David Vidales | Campos Racing |
| 25 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin |
| 26 | Zdenek Chovanec | Charouz Racing System |
