Beckmann tops first Free Practice of 2020

David Beckmann

David Beckmann topped a manic first session of the FIA Formula 3 season in Spielberg, finishing first in Free Practice on his return to Trident. P1 continually changed hands throughout the morning as the drivers began to find their feet back in a single-seater, but the German took the bragging rights, stealing first from PREMA’s Oscar Piastri at the death, with a time of 1:20.434.

With heavy rain falling on Thursday, and into the early hours of today, the cars headed out on wet tires for the first session of 2020. With this in mind, as well as the lack of racing action since the end of the 2019 season, the cars took their time to feel their way around the Red Bull Ring.

Enaam Ahmed set the first time at 1m 34s, before Liam Lawson and Matteo Nannini took turns in P1, all above the 1m 30s marker.

Having not turned a wheel in `anger for more than three months, the field were making the most of their time out on track, as Logan Sargeant and Jake Hughes had a go at the top of the times.

Beckmann was a late entry on the grid for 2020, replacing Devlin DeFrancesco just days ago at Trident, but it was the German who finally took the times beneath 1m 30s to stake his claim for first.

With the track beginning to dry, the field fed their way back into the pits to switch to the medium Pirelli’s, and would remain there momentarily, as they waited for the track to dry off a tad more.

When they did return to the track, the times plummeted thanks to the dry Pirelli’s. David Schumacher sliced the times down to beneath 1m 28s, before Piastri took us under 1m 27s.

The times continued to drop as nearly half the field took a go at the top of the table, with the likes of Sebastian Fernandez, Clement Novalak and Alex Peroni all going fastest for a period. It was Piastri’s name who kept appearing back in first, and the PREMA man topped the times with just a minute on the clock.

He had already taken the laptimes down to 1:20.516, but posted two purple sectors on his final tour as he looked to cement P1. However, his final sector was slower, and this allowed Beckmann to steal first at the death. The German powering round just eight hundredths faster, with a time of 1.20.434.

The Trident man led Piastri, Roman Stanek, Schumacher and Richard Verschoor in the top five. Frederik Vesti, Hughes, Igor Fraga, Fernandez and Lawson completed the top ten. Action will resume at 2.05pm local time, when they hit the track for Qualifying.

Results

NO DRIVER NAT TEAM TIME LAPS GAP INT KM/H TIME OF DAY

1 11 David BECKMANN Trident 1:20.434 20 193.261 10:20:25

2 1 Oscar PIASTRI PREMA Racing 1:20.513 19 0.079 0.079 193.071 10:20:14

3 23 Roman STANEK Charouz Racing System 1:20.963 27 0.529 0.450 191.998 10:20:32

4 25 David SCHUMACHER Charouz Racing System 1:21.053 24 0.619 0.090 191.785 10:20:06

5 17 Richard VERSCHOOR MP Motorsport 1:21.129 20 0.695 0.076 191.605 10:20:08

6 2 Frederik VESTI PREMA Racing 1:21.207 20 0.773 0.078 191.421 10:19:19

7 15 Jake HUGHES HWA RACELAB 1:21.211 18 0.777 0.004 191.412 10:20:41

8 24 Igor FRAGA Charouz Racing System 1:21.218 18 0.784 0.007 191.395 10:20:20

9 9 Sebastian FERNANDEZ ART Grand Prix 1:21.235 20 0.801 0.017 191.355 10:19:25

10 5 Liam LAWSON Hitech Grand Prix 1:21.281 21 0.847 0.046 191.247 10:19:41

11 8 Alexander SMOLYAR ART Grand Prix 1:21.442 21 1.008 0.161 190.869 10:20:56

12 3 Logan SARGEANT PREMA Racing 1:21.451 17 1.017 0.009 190.848 10:20:44

13 7 Theo POURCHAIRE ART Grand Prix 1:21.582 20 1.148 0.131 190.542 10:19:23

14 26 Clement NOVALAK Carlin Buzz Racing 1:21.638 19 1.204 0.056 190.411 10:18:23

15 10 Lirim ZENDELI Trident 1:21.698 19 1.264 0.060 190.271 10:20:04

16 20 Calan WILLIAMS Jenzer Motorsport 1:21.743 24 1.309 0.045 190.166 10:20:55

17 29 Alexander PERONI Campos Racing 1:21.748 19 1.314 0.005 190.155 10:18:15

18 31 Sophia FLOERSCH Campos Racing 1:21.812 18 1.378 0.064 190.006 10:20:47

19 22 Matteo NANNINI Jenzer Motorsport 1:21.909 23 1.475 0.097 189.781 10:20:32

20 28 Cameron DAS Carlin Buzz Racing 1:22.054 22 1.620 0.145 189.445 10:20:57

21 19 Lukas DUNNER MP Motorsport 1:22.058 21 1.624 0.004 189.436 10:20:11

22 4 Max FEWTRELL Hitech Grand Prix 1:22.235 20 1.801 0.177 189.029 10:20:51

23 16 Jack DOOHAN HWA RACELAB 1:22.242 17 1.808 0.007 189.012 10:20:49

24 6 Dennis HAUGER Hitech Grand Prix 1:22.504 22 2.070 0.262 188.412 10:20:24

25 27 Enaam AHMED Carlin Buzz Racing 1:22.577 21 2.143 0.073 188.246 10:18:21

26 18 Bent VISCAAL MP Motorsport 1:22.826 19 2.392 0.249 187.680 10:20:07

27 12 Olli CALDWELL Trident 1:23.034 20 2.600 0.208 187.210 10:18:11

28 21 Federico MALVESTITI Jenzer Motorsport 1:23.338 22 2.904 0.304 186.527 10:18:08

29 14 Enzo FITTIPALDI HWA RACELAB 1:23.360 19 2.926 0.022 186.477 10:19:18

30 30 Alessio DELEDDA Campos Racing 1:23.494 21 3.060 0.134 186.178 10:18:15