A good level of competitiveness and six points with Noah Strømsted
The FIA Formula 3 Championship returned to the rolling hills of Styria, home this weekend to the fourth round of the third category. In a closely contested qualifying session, the Trident Motorsport drivers enjoyed a two-faced session on the Red Bull Ring circuit.
Noah Strømsted and Freddie Slater excelled, posting fourth and fifth fastest times, respectively. Qualifying was more challenging for Matteo De Palo, who finished only twenty-second after encountering traffic on his flying lap.
Due to the top twelve qualifying positions being reversed on the Sprint Race grid, Freddie Slater started from seventh place, followed by teammate Noah Strømsted.
The confusion created at the funnel of the tight first turn proved fatal for the two Trident Motorsport drivers, who collided after the Danish driver clipped the inside kerb, crashing into the Englishman's sister car.
Freddie Slater fared the worst, parking his car on the side of the track with a broken right rear suspension. Noah Strømsted, instead, lost several positions, dropping to tenth.
Ensuring his car was undamaged, the eighteen-year-old from Copenhagen returned to a steady and consistent pace that allowed him to climb the standings. Performing a series of impressive overtaking moves, Strømsted crossed the finish line in the top five.
Forced to start from the middle of the pack, Matteo De Palo, despite setting a competitive pace on the Austrian hills, was unable to put his sights on the points. Starting twenty-second, the eighteen-year-old from Rome finished the race nineteenth. Once again, the McLaren Junior Driver showed positive signs ahead of the rest of the season.
The Trident Motorsport team will now analyze today's events with the technical staff as they continue their usual preparations for the Feature Race, scheduled for tomorrow at 8:40 AM.
Giacomo Ricci: "The outcome of this Sprint Race was impacted by contact at the first corner between Noah Strømsted and Freddie Slater. The Englishman's retirement and the Dane's loss of several positions negatively impacted the team's result. Noah Strømsted's fifth-place finish came at the end of a determined comeback, which highlighted the good competitiveness of our car. Matteo De Palo showed convincing pace, managing to make up several positions in the race. Unfortunately, the outcome of qualifying impacted his final result. Now we need to focus fully on preparing for tomorrow's Feature Race, the main race of the weekend."