Luke Browning set the quickest time in qualifying for this weekend’s Formula 3 races but he is under investigation for impeding Dino Beganovic.
The Williams junior driver took provisional pole for Sunday’s feature race just ahead of Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad. However Browning appeared to get in the way of Beganovic at the apex of turn nine late in the session.
Following the Formula 1 practice session, clouds began to drift over the Red Bull Ring for the start of F3 qualifying, reducing track temperature slightly.
Alpine junior driver Gabriele Mini set the pace on the first flying laps with a 1’21.013, but that was beaten by Noel Leon by just over a tenth of a second. Mini’s second lap was an improvement, however, and he reclaimed the top sport by just five-thousandths of a second.
Nikita Bedrin was the first victim of the new strip of gravel at the exit of turn nine, running wide and kicking up some of the small stones installed for this weekend. Tommy Smith was the next to get acquainted the gravel at turn nine, ruining his push lap and leaving him just outside the top 20 positions.
As the field returned to the pits, Charlie Wurz took advantage of a clear track to run some push laps. However, he was only able to improve to 14th in his home round.
With around ten minutes remaining, the field began to emerge back out onto the circuit. Browning led the field but was reluctant to be the first driver over the line, but despite his efforts to let others overtake him, no one was willing to take the bait, forcing him to push into his final flying lap without a slipstream.
The lack of a tow did Browning no harm, however, as he improved to a 1’20.222 to take the top spot. Lindblad improved to second place just under a tenth slower, with Tim Tramnitz in third.
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But as Browning recovered to the pits, Ferrari junior Beganovic was still pushing on his final lap. Beganovic passed Browning at turn nine with Browning on the apex, leading to Beganovic reporting to his team that he was impeded. The stewards announced they would investigate the incident.
If Browning is not penalised, he will start from pole for Sunday’s feature race. with Lindblad second and Tramnitz third. Mini took fourth ahead of Beganovic, with Oliver Goethe sixth ahead of Laurens van Hoepen, Sebastian Montoya, Alex Dunne and Nikola Tsolov completing the top ten. Martinius Stenshorne is currently set to start Saturday’s…
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