After dominating the second half of the session, Marcus Armstrong will lead away the ADAC Formula 4 field at the Red Bull Ring, claiming pole position by 0.270 seconds. It will be the Prema Powerteam drivers first pole of the season.
It was a beautiful Austrian day for the series only trip abroad. It had been Felipe Drugovich who’d topped second practice and thus the timings overall, ensuring he’d be the one to watch throughout the session.
The Brazilian proved this by going quickest in the early stages, the first driver in the 1min 30 second range, with his Van Amersfoort Racing teammates joining him at the front.
A number of regulars from the Italain F4 Championship had made the trip over for the event, with the BhaiTech Racing pair and points leaders Sebastian Fernandez and Lorenzo Colombo competing alongside their nearest challengers Artem Petrov and Job van Uitert, the latter of which will pair up with Italian series regular Kush Maini in the Jenzer Motorsport car.
As the session drew on, it was Armstrong who found himself in a three-way battle with Fernandez and Drugovich as track limits proved an issue for most drivers.
With time ticking down Jonathan Aberdein joined the fight. The South African had topped opening practice and needed a strong weekend after the disaster of the Lausitzring. Even he though, had issues taking down Armstrong.
In the end it was the Kiwi who took the overall pole, with a 1min 29.954 as a surprise last-minute dash from Michael Waldherr shot him up to second overall. This demoted Aberdein and Drugovich to the second row still giving them a good chance of victory.
The Prema pairing of Juan Manuel Correa and Juri Vips would be split by Kami Laliberte in fifth and seventh, while the top eight was rounded out by Nicklas Nielsen. Colombo would be the best Italian F4 guest in ninth.
