PREMA completes Spielberg sweep as O'Sullivan wins Feature Race
Zak O’Sullivan captured his third win of the season in the FIA Formula 3 Championship Feature Race at Spielberg as he cruised to the lead on lap 15 and then defended himself for the remaining duration of the race. For the Williams Driver Academy member, it was also the first feature race of the year, coming in a fast-paced run that featured a tight pack and heavy tyre management.
Starting from the front row, Dino Beganovic was able to take the lead on lap 7, but soon started experiencing high tyre degradation. The Swede dropped back a few spots and eventually finished in P5.
Coming from his maiden win in the Sprint Race yesterday, Estonian Paul Aron was also in the hunt for the win although contact and front wing damage forced him to pit. From that point on, he was set for a stint at the back of the pack, where he finished in P26.
#1 Paul Aron
"Mixed feelings after the Feature Race. We started off well and we had a really good pace. We were able to go up to P3, looking much quicker than the top two drivers. Unluckily, we broke the front wing, which was a shame. We had great potential and that cost us the race. Coming home with zero points is obviously disappointing, but we also have to look at the positives. We had an amazing pace this weekend and we made great steps towards fighting at the front of the pack all the time. We need to carry this momentum on to Silverstone and redeem the mistake we made today."
#2 Dino Beganovic
"Overall it has been a good weekend here at Spielberg, with a strong qualifying session, a positive race yesterday in the wet, and then we couldn't keep it together in the Feature Race. I pushed way too hard in the beginning to get away from the DRS and I had more degradation than the others. It's still good points to take away from the weekend, and we look forward to Silverstone."
#3 Zak O'Sullivan
“Amazing win. I didn’t really expect it, but the pace was really good throughout, and across the board, tyre degradation was quite high. I managed to get to the lead and then I was just fighting to stay in front, trying to break the DRS on every lap. This year, we have a slightly different tyre compound and it is the first time we use it on a proper track except for Monaco. A lot of the strategy was to feel which axle of the car was going, and even in dirty air, try to counteract that. Thank you to PREMA, the car was great and it has been a really positive weekend.”