SO CLOSE TO POINTS IN 2025 OPENER

Joshua Dufek came close to opening his championship account on the first weekend of the new FIA Formula 3 season, finishing just shy of the scoring positions on a stormy weekend in Melbourne, Australia.

The Hitech TGR driver was denied the chance to break into the top ten in the second of the weekend’s races on the Albert Park street circuit when red flags flew to cover the clean-up of another driver’s accident. As the weather which had affected the entire race worsened, the decision was taken to call an end to the action without a restart. After a strong qualifying performance — which left him just 0.024secs away from securing pole position for the season-opening sprint race on Saturday, Dufek had lined up 13th on the grid for Sunday’s feature event, and kept his head in the wet conditions as those around him lost theirs. With grip and traction at a premium, and visibility low in the spray thrown up by the closely-matched pack, there was much jockeying for position, but Dufek managed to gain two places — and was looking good to take more — before the race was halted prematurely.

After a solid preseason test allowed him to get used to the all-new Dallara chassis introduced to the FIA F3 series for 2025, Dufek made a strong start to the Melbourne weekend, trading fastest times in the lone practice session before eventually winding up seventh on the timesheet. Qualifying later the same day looked equally promising, only for two red flags towards the end of the allotted 30 minutes to thwart a number of drivers looking to improve their position, Dufek amongst them. As a result, the Austrian ended the session in 13th position, one away from involvement in the top 12 reversal that sets the grid for the sprint event.

Having to start in the middle of the pack with the entire field keen to make a strong start to the season always carried the possibility of an incident, and Dufek was unfortunate to get caught up in someone else’s moment towards the end of the opening lap. Left with damage to his front wing, the 20-year-old had no option but to return to the pits for repairs, rejoining at the back of the field before making his way to an unrepresentative 22nd by the chequered flag.

"Not the results we were hoping for this weekend,” Dufek commented. “Luck wasn’t really on our side, with two red flags at the end of qualifying preventing us from setting a representative lap, and leaving the #15 car out of position and starting P13 for both races.

“An incident in the sprint race ended my hopes early on, and heavy rain during the feature race which resulted in multiple safety cars and an early finish made it tough to climb back through the field, ultimately leaving us tantalisingly close to some points. However, I must give huge thanks to the Hitech TGR team for their hard work all weekend. The car felt great which, while making it more frustrating to leave knowing what might have been, gives me a lot of encouragement as we turn our focus to Bahrain.”

Round two of the 2025 FIA F3 Championship takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit, close to Sakhir, over the weekend of 11-13 April.