F3 Austrian GP: Isack Hadjar secures maiden pole position
8th July 2022Hitech’s Isack Hadjar secured his first-ever pole position, for the Austrian feature race, after the session was brought to an abrupt end as Charouz’s Zdenek Chovanec was seen parked beside the tyre barrier late on.
How qualifying unfolded…
As the pit exit light went green, it was the usual carnage down the pit lane as the field of junior drivers bolted out onto the track for the 30-minute session.
However, after an exploratory lap, the likes of Trident’s Johnny Edgar, Roman Stanek and Zane Maloney returned to the pit lane while the rest remained out on track. Despite the visit to the pits, all three of Trident’s drivers immediately returned to the Austrian circuit.
After the first set of laps, Hitech’s Hadjar topped the timing board with a 1:32.454 but he was soon toppled from P1 by Campos’ David Vidales.
However, more competitive lap times were soon secured and as the session crept towards its 10-minute mark.
The championship leader, ART’s Victor Martins soon topped the timing board with a quick lap of 1:19.980. Martins was almost toppled by Prema’s Oliver Bearman who went second fastest, seven-hundredths of a second off the pace of Martins.
A yellow flag was brought out, with 19 minutes left to go, as Charouz’s Chovanec was seen stationary at the pit entry line. A red flag stoppage was fortunately avoided as the Portuguese driver continued on his way around the track.
Chavonec was soon placed under investigation by race control for alleged erratic driving.
After 14 minutes of on-track action, half of the field had returned to the pit lane for its routine stop – halfway into the session.
In the final 10 minutes, the field quickly returned to the Austrian track as they looked to topple Martins from provisional pole position. This chaos was quickly showcased as Bearman was released into the path of Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan.
The Prema driver soon made heavy contact with the front nose of the Carlin. Fortunately, both drivers were still able to head out onto the track. After the incident, the situation was soon noted then it upgraded to an investigation – after the session – by race control.
With just over five minutes left on the clock, a huddle of traffic had formed into, and out of, turn three. Some of the drivers were four-cars wide across along the back straight.
Hadjar soon topped the timing board, to put himself on provisional pole position, one-hundredth of a second quicker than Martins.
A red flag was brought out, with just two minutes left on the clock, the session was brought to an abrupt end as Chovanec was seen parked at the tyre barrier.
This meant Hadjar had secured pole position for the feature race, on Sunday, ahead of Martins.
Top three:
- Isack Hadjar, Hitech
- Victor Martins, ART
- Oliver Bearman, Prema (subject to investigation)
That’s it for the article: F3 Austrian GP: Isack Hadjar secures maiden pole position! Who do you think will win the Sprint and Feature race? Let us know in the comments!
Read more F3 here
- F3 British GP: Arthur Leclerc commands feature race win
- F3 British Sprint Race: Isack Hadjar wins after penultimate lap move
- F3 British GP: Zak O’Sullivan takes maiden pole position
- 2022 Spanish Grand Prix: Victor Martins commands feature race win
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
