Nikola Tsolov dominated the Formula 3 qualifying session in Austria to take his second pole position of the 2025 season with an impressive lap that put the Red Bull junior ahead of Brad Benavides and Noah Strømsted. Feeder Series spoke to Tsolov about the importance of delivering such a result on Red Bull’s namesake track.

By Tori Turner

The Campos driver hardly left the top of the timing screen throughout the 30-minute session after having topped the practice session earlier in the day.

His first flying lap of 1:21.598 put him ahead of his teammates, Mari Boya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who were second and fifth after the opening laps. Even when the other drivers got up to speed on the circuit, Tsolov remained ahead of the rest.

His second flying lap was 0.316s faster than his previous run, and from there he went faster twice more to end the session unbeaten.

“There’s always more on the table, but I’ve been quick since FP since the first push [lap],” Tsolov said in the post-qualifying press conference. “There wasn’t a lap where I didn’t feel confident with the car, so it’s good to keep going with that rhythm. I’ve been in the top two for the last three qualis, so that’s what we’re looking for in the end.”

With 15 minutes left on the clock, most of the grid had returned to the pits, but a handful stayed out and set laps off sequence. One such driver was AIX Racing’s Benavides, who gained a tow from Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Bilinski and set a 1:21.434 to go fourth overall. 

The other drivers left pit lane for their final runs with 11 minutes to go and began to battle for track position on the 4.318-kilometer circuit, the second-shortest lap on the 2025 F3 calendar. The Red Bull Ring’s low lap length and limited tyre wear meant many drivers, including Tsolov, opted to do two consecutive fast laps on their runs rather than one.

Whilst the order among the rest of the top 10 changed frequently throughout the final minutes, Tsolov only lost his command atop the timesheets when Rafael Câmara briefly eclipsed him with four and a half minutes remaining. Tsolov then improved once more to a 1:20.927, becoming the first driver to break into the 1m20s. With 2:48 to go, he bested his previous lap to secure pole position with a 1:20.743.

“I had to do well here as it’s the home track for the academy,” Tsolov told Feeder Series. “It’s good to show everyone at Red Bull that I’m improving and keeping consistent in quali. So far, the two most important races of the year have been pole for me. I’m just looking to keep doing that. Every track has to be the same approach. It doesn’t change much.”

Benavides – who joined AIX’s F3 team last month ahead of the Imola round – also improved on his final lap to finish second overall, 0.176s behind Tsolov and just 0.002s faster than Trident’s Strømsted in third. The result was by far his strongest qualifying showing in F3, with his previous best attempt being 10th place at Spa in his rookie season in 2022. Benavides’ second place was also the best qualifying result in series history for the team across their previous guises as PHM Racing and Charouz Racing System.

He took the result after having beached himself in the gravel during practice, giving him very little running.

“I’m happy to translate that adversity we had in free practice with this good result,” Benavides said. “We always have, in the back of our minds, the risk management associated with our endeavour. I never like to drive with expectations. I just focus on the job at hand and have faith. Coming from the last few rounds, it’s a good result versus what I had put on the board so far.”

Both Bruno Del Pino and Inthraphuvasak had their season-best results in qualifying, placing fourth and fifth. After struggling in the previous rounds, Voisin will start in the top 10 for both races this weekend after qualifying sixth.

Championship leader Rafael Câmara appeared to be one of the fastest drivers throughout the final runs and briefly usurped Tsolov with his final flying lap, but a moment of oversteer at Turn 10 limited how much faster he could go. The Brazilian’s 1:21.011 put him seventh at the end of the session, giving Tsolov – his closest title rival, now 24 points in arrears – a significant advantage for the feature race.

Prema’s Ugo Ugochukwu pushed himself to the limit on his final run, setting a purple middle sector, only to spin at the final corner. But the American’s previous effort still put him eighth on the grid, with Prema Racing teammate and fellow McLaren junior Brando Badoer right behind him in ninth.

Austria’s Charlie Wurz rounded out the top 10 with a 1:21.040, only 0.003s ahead of Alessandro Giusti in 11th. Despite concerns that his engine cover would come loose late in the session, James Wharton finished 12th to take pole position for the reverse-grid sprint race tomorrow, edging out the third Prema of Noel León by 0.001s.

The top 10 in the session were covered by just 0.297s, the smallest margin in F3 since the 2023 qualifying session at the same circuit.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency