Podium and points highlight Hitech’s strongest result of the season

The result marked a significant step forward in converting race pace into consistent front-running performance for the Japanese driver, who secured 18 points across the weekend.

The event formed the opening half of a back-to-back sequence with Silverstone, with focus now shifting quickly to carrying the learnings from Spielberg into the team’s home event, the British Grand Prix.

Sprint Race

Following a difficult qualifying session in hot conditions on Friday morning, all three drivers lined up further down the order than their underlying pace suggested, with Jin starting 4th in the Sprint due to the reverse-grid format, Fionn McLaughlin 23rd and Michael Shin 30th.

Jin ran inside the lead group throughout the Sprint Race and fought through a late battle for position, reclaiming third place on the final lap to secure his first FIA Formula 3 podium.

Behind him, Fionn ran competitively in the midfield before a Turn 4 incident over the sausage kerb caused front wing damage and an unscheduled pit stop, dropping him to the back. Michael made early progress through the field before a post-race five-second penalty for a start infringement, applied to his final classification.

Feature Race

Jin again led the team’s results in the Feature Race, running inside the top six after strong early progress from eighth on the grid.

He remained in contention throughout a tightly packed midfield phase and capitalised in the closing stages to climb to fifth at the flag, securing valuable points and an 18-point haul across the weekend.

Fionn showed strong early progress from 23rd on the grid, running inside the top 20 before a lap 11 excursion at Turn 4 dropped him back to 19th. He rejoined the midfield battle and continued to race competitively to the flag.

Michael’s race ended on lap four following contact with Fernando Barrichello, which brought out a Virtual Safety Car. Despite strong initial progress, he was unable to continue.