Mixed weekend at Red Bull Ring

There was a good mix of different faces on the podiums, when the third race weekend for ADAC Formula 4 was held at Austrian Red Bull Ring.

Championship leader Juri Vips defended his lead all through the weekend, but it wasn’t a walk-in-the-park for him.

Marcus Armstrong had qualified for Pole Position in both race 1 and 2. He led from start to finish in race 1, where Michael Waldherr finished second and Dane Nicklas Nielsen fought his way from eighth to third finishing position. The race was already red-flagged after lap 1, when seven cars collided, and an extended clean up had to be done. So the cars only managed 12 laps in the race.

Marcus Armstrong got some more competition in race 2, and had to accept third place, since both winner Felipe Drugovich and Juan Manuel Correa sneaked past him. Twice they had to get the Safety Car on the track, first when Andreas Estner and Louis Gachot collided, and later when David Malukas’ retirement needed another one. Championship contender Nicklas Nielsen went the exact opposite way of his eighth to third in race 1, and went third to eighth in race two.

Race 3 is normally the most action packed race, since you flip top 10 from race one, so it isn’t the fastest guys who are at the front. That meant Juri Vips from seventh had to work hard to claim victory ahead of Nicklas Nielsen, who started eighth, and Marcus Armstrong, who started tenth. Poleman David Malukas didn’t get much out of that starting position and finished only 13th. We also had to get not only one but two visits from the Safety Car driver again, when first Tom Beckhäuser went off track and had to be removed, before Cedric Piro retired towards the end of the race. We saw an impressive drive from Frederik Vesti, who started only in 21st after being involved in the lap 1, race 1 collision. He drove all the way up to P9 in race 3, and thus got a few points in his account this weekend.

Juri Vips still leads the Championship, with Felipe Drugovich in second and Markus Armstrong third ahead of Nicklas Nielsen in fourth.

In the Teams Championship we have Prema Powerteam leading ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing and US Racing.

The next round will be held in Oschersleben on July 7th-9th.