Already having won the first FIA Formula 3 European Championship race at the 4.318 kilometres long Red Bull Ring this morning, Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing) was equally unbeatable in second qualifying. The 19-year-old German finished ahead of Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Theodore Racing), Robert Shvartzman (PREMA Theodore Racing) and Jüri Vips (Motopark), who were classified second to fourth in that order. In the ranking of the second-fastest laps to determine the starting grid positions for the third race of every meeting, the order in the first four positions was Schumacher from Shvartzman, Jonathan Aberdein (Motopark) and Vips.

Starting grid race two

At an almost dry track, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers took on second qualifying of the Austrian round. Mick Schumacher (1m23.170s) was one of the first drivers to move up into first place, but lost the lead as he headed into the pit box after a few minutes. Around the halfway point of the session, Marcus Armstrong (1m23.257s) was in first place from Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin, 1m23.749s) and Sacha Fenestraz (Carlin, 1m23.592s), but neither of the two Carlin drivers managed to maintain their top position.

In the final minutes of the entertaining qualifying, the lead changed several times before Schumacher finally secured himself first place in the classification. Behind the FIA Formula 3 European Championship points’ leader, four rookies followed with Armstrong, Shvartzman (1m23.377s), Vips (1m23.437s) and Aberdein (1m23.463s), with Jehan Daruvala (Carlin, 1m23.544s) as the next stalwart in fifth place. Fenestraz, Daniel Ticktum (Motopark, 1m23.625s), Ralf Aron (PREMA Theodore Racing, 1m23.629s) and Nikita Troitckii (Carlin, 1m23.646s) rounded out the top ten.

Starting grid race three

The order in the classification of the second-fastest laps was Schumacher (1m23.225s) from Shvartzman (1m23.451s), Aberdein (1m23.488s), Vips (1m23.504s), Armstrong (1m23.530s), Aron (1m23.643s), Ticktum (1m23.698s), Daruvala (1m23.748s), Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin, 1m23.760s) and Guanyu Zhou (PREMA Theodore Racing, 1m23.777s). Thus, Schumacher will also be starting the third race at Spielberg from the best grid position.

Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing): “In any case, I am very happy after this qualifying. At the moment, things are going really well. My car is like on rails, especially in the fast corners. Driving here is extremely enjoyable. Whether I can achieve a hattrick again, so three wins on one weekend, like at the Nürburgring, has to be seen. First of all, we have to wait and see what the weather conditions will be like. I need a good start and consistent lap times to have a chance of a similar success like in the Eifel. I will be concentrated as usual for the two races.”