Championship contender Felix Rosenqvist was quickest in practice as the FIA European Formula 3 Championship arrived at the Red Bull Ring for the eighth round of the season.
The Swedish Prema Powerteam driver ended both sessions on Friday at the Austrian circuit on top, with the second segment proving to be the quickest for everyone.
Rosenqvist’s FP2 time of 1m24.541s was 0.079s quicker than Van Amersfoort Racing’s Charles Leclerc, while Racing Steps Foundation-backed Jake Dennis was the only other driver to get a time within the 1m24s bracket, again for Prema Powerteam.
Markus Pommer, who took his maiden series victory last time out at Zandvoort, was fourth quickest for Motopark, just ahead of Carlin driver George Russell, while Prema Powerteam’s Lance Stroll was sixth quickest.
Mikkel Jensen was the only Mücke Motorsport driver to set a top-ten time during the afternoon session, ending seventh fastest, with Carlin’s Red Bull-backed Callum Ilott eighth ahead of Jagonya Ayam with Carlin duo Gustavo Menezes and Antonio Giovinazzi, who heads into the weekend as the championship leader.
In the earlier session, Rosenqvist had set the best time of 1m25.326s ahead of Dennis and Stroll, with Giovinazzi fourth ahead of Alexander Albon of Signature. Prema Powerteam’s fourth driver Brandon Maisano was sixth ahead of Pommer, with Mücke Motorsport’s Maximilian Günther eighth ahead of Leclerc and Jensen.
Debutant Matheus Leist, stepping from racing in MSA Formula for this weekend in place of the injured Nicolas Pohler at Double R Racing, ended the day thirty-second fastest.
Red Bull Ring Combined Practice Times
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