Hiyu Yamakoshi became the second Formula 3 pole position holder in 2026 at Austria’s iconic Red Bull Ring.
The Japanese driver showed his pace to beat three-time pole position sitter Theophile Nael for the important award. Closely behind him were Ugo Ugochukwu and Tuukka Taponen, who rounded out the top three for Sunday’s Feature Race grid.
Further back in the field, James Wharton and Ernesto Riveria finished the session eleventh and twelfth, placing them on the reverse grid front row.
As the track went green for qualifying, all 30 drivers made their way onto the circuit for their early warm-up laps. Since the series’s early Free Practice session, the track temperature has increased significantly to around 51 degrees. Thus, tyre management early will be crucial as qualifying unfolds.
As drivers began to set their flying laps, it was MP Motorsport who led the field with a 1-2. Taponen and teammate Alessandro Giusti led the pack early. However, they were quickly replaced by Free Practice leader Noah Stromsted. The TRIDENT driver set the pace with a 1:21.859.
Meanwhile, drivers throughout the field were seeing their lap times deleted due to track limits violations.
An intensifying battle for pole
Nael, who is the only F3 pole position holder this season, was setting an insanely strong lap, set to challenge the front of the field. However, a snap of oversteer on the exit of the final turn delayed his entire lap. The Campos driver made a trip through the gravel before rejoining the circuit. After the first run, Nael found himself in 28th place.
At the front of the field, Taponen led the pack by eight hundredths of a second. With Stromsted and Giusti rounding out the top three at the end of the first qualifying runs.
Many of the championship contenders found themselves out of place in the order. Setting up for an intense final dash to the line.
Van Amersfoort Racing appeared to be the only team that opted for a three-run strategy. Ultimately, giving their drivers clean air to set important flying laps. But Hiyu Yamakoshi capitalised the most, setting the fastest time of qualifying thus far, leading the field by four tenths.
With less than ten minutes remaining in the session, drivers began to make their way back to the circuit. Immediately jockeying for track position to set the best lap they possibly can.
Ugo Ugochukwu and Freddie Slatter were going tit for tat on their final lap. But it was the championship leader Ugochukwu who came out on top of that battle, moving his Campos car into second.
As the final lap times began to be recorded, it was clear that no one was able to match the pace of VAR’s Yamakoshi. His fellow countryman, Taito Kato, came close to matching the pace out front, but disaster struck on his final lap. The Japanese driver spun into the final turn on his flying lap, which was now invalid.
Behind Yamakoshi were Ugochukwu and Taponen. All of which were separated by a few hundredths of a second.
It was a rough qualifying session for championship hopefuls Brando Badoer and Nael, who will start 29th and 24th. respectively.
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