Prema Steal The Show At Spielberg

Jake Dennis received his fifth win of the season in Race 1 of the weekend, holding off his teammate Felix Rosenqvist and championship leader Antonio Giovinazzi for victory in a race where driving standards were of a whole different class to that of a month ago.

A lunge up the inside of turn 1 saw Dennis seize the lead from poleman Rosenqvsit, keeping himself ahead despite the Swede’s best efforts to regain his position. Lance Stroll also had a peek up the inside into the first corner, but thought better of it as Giovinazzi snuck past into the podium places. Markus Pommer, who had been doing so well up until now, had a dreadful start, dropping back to the final places in the field.

Problems for the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin of Ryan Tveter continue, as he was forced to pit and retire at the end of the first lap. Also suffering dramas was Callum Ilott, whose front wing took damage and forced the young Brit to pit and leave the scrap just out of the top 10 that he had been situated in. Also in that battle was Nabil Jeffri, who pulled off a lovely pass on Dorian Boccolacci, and Sam Macleod – the Brit dicing with Max Günther for pride and position rather than points.

Within the top 10 the closest fight was between Albon and Leclerc, the pair getting increasingly closer for the first half of the race until Leclerc saw his opportunity, passing the Anglo-Thai driver to increase his points haul and reduce the ground lost to Giovinazzi. The experienced Italian still held third, biding his time to launch an attack on his old rival Rosenqvist.

True to expectations, Rosenqvist had waited until the last lap to attempt to pull a move on Dennis, as had Giovianzzi on the Swede. The three drivers had only a second covering them all. A look on the inside onto the start/finish straight and then on the outside of turn 1 was as close as Rosenqvist could get, having to capitulate and concede defeat. His failed passes dropped him into the clutches of Giovinazzi, who got so close to moving up to the second step on the podium, but couldn’t make a move.

Jake Dennis took his 5^th win of the year, with Felix Rosenqvist fortifying his championship challenge with a second place compared to Giovinazzi’s third and Leclerc’s 6^th. Lance Stroll finished top rookie in 4^th place, ahead of George Russell in 5^th and Leclerc. Rounding out the top 10 were Albon, Menezes, Sette Camara and Jensen.

Full results: http://www.fiaf3europe.com/en/results/2015/red-bull-ring/race-1-422.html  Race 2 starts at 14:45 local time.