Prema’s Ralf Aron led the first Estonian 1-2 in the European Formula 3 championship in a stop-start wet race at Misano.
Aron picked up his fourth win of the season ahead of Motopark’s Juri Vips in a shortened 28 minute race which was puncturated by safety cars and an early red flag due to the tretcherous conditions.
The race started under stafety car conditions as the driver got a feel for the track with Macus Armstrong leading Aron and Vips. Armstrong made a strong start when the track turned green while Vips pulled alongside Aron in the battle for second.
Armstrong pulled away from the rest of the field as the pair battled, but Aron was quick to shake off the Motopark driver and chase after his team-mate. It wasn’t long before he was on the tail of the championship contender and passed Armstrong with a move up the inside of the Australian.
Behind them, the wet conditions caught out multiple drivers, with Sebastian Fernandez and Marino Sato falling off the track and into the gravel, bringing out the safety car.
Aron controlled the restart when racing resumed with five minutes remaining, while Vips flew past Armstrong before the train of cars reached the final corner. Carlin’s Ferdinand Habsburg quickly followed him through and managed to pull alongside Vips in the battle for P2.
The pair ran side by side for a number of corners, with Habsburg briefly snatching second, but Vips eventually got the better of the Austrian driver.
The battle allowed Aron to pull away at the front of the order and he finished 1.6s ahead of the rest of the field.
After his strong start to the race, Armstrong collided with team-mate Guanyu Zhou on the restart. The pair dropped from fourth and fifth to the back of the field before they retired, but the track was cleared without the aid of a safety car.
Championship leader Dan Ticktum was promoted to fourth, but he had work to do if he wanted to challenge Habsburg for the final podium position. The Red Bull junior ran out of time before he could close the gap to the Carlin, allowing Habsburg to take his first podium of the season.
Mick Schumacher took fifth, ahead of Alex Palou and Robert Schwartzman.
Fabio Scherer, Jehan Daruvala, and Enaam Ahmed rounded out the top 10.
