David builds Momentum in Austria

Sri Lankan racing driver Yevan David continued his encouraging development in the FIA Formula 3 Championship at the Red Bull Ring, delivering another strong recovery drive in the Sprint Race before an unavoidable first-lap incident ended his Feature Race hopes.

Competing in his fourth FIA Formula 3 weekend with AIX Racing, David built on the lessons learned in Barcelona to produce one of his most complete race weekends to date. Having improved his approach to tyre warm-up and qualifying execution, the 18-year-old once again demonstrated impressive racecraft by climbing from 28th on the grid to finish 19th in Saturday's Sprint Race, gaining nine positions.

"Overall, it was a really enjoyable weekend and one where we learned a lot," said David.

"One of the biggest positives was being able to apply what we learned in Barcelona. We experienced the hot conditions again and I felt much more comfortable with tyre warm-up and the overall execution throughout the weekend."

David believes both driver and team made tangible progress during practice and qualifying, even if there remains further performance to unlock.

"Qualifying actually went quite well from an execution point of view," he explained.

"I had a clear track, the tyre warm-up was good and we managed to operate in the right window. We now need to keep finding more performance as a package and, personally, I need to continue building confidence in the balance of the car because that will allow me to extract more from my driving."

Saturday's Sprint Race once again underlined David's growing confidence in wheel-to-wheel competition at this level. Managing his tyres carefully throughout the race, he steadily worked his way through the field with a series of overtaking moves before taking the chequered flag in 19th.

"The Sprint Race was really satisfying," he said.

"I gained another nine positions and the race unfolded exactly how we'd hoped. We managed the tyres strategically, the pace was strong and I was able to make overtakes throughout the race rather than forcing everything at the beginning.

"The consistency was really encouraging and both the team and I were happy with how we managed the race."

Hopes were high heading into Sunday's Feature Race before David's afternoon was cut short by contact on the opening lap.

"Unfortunately, I was caught up in an incident on the first lap," he said.

"I took to the escape road but another car was heading in the same direction after hitting the wall and there was nowhere for me to go. Maybe I could have reacted a little sooner and gone the other way to avoid the scenario, but it’s something I'll definitely learn from.”

Despite the disappointing end to the weekend, David left Austria encouraged by the continued progress shown across four FIA Formula 3 weekends.

"Every race weekend I'm understanding the car better and becoming more confident in what I need from it," he said.

"We're making progress with every event and that's the important thing. I know there is still more performance to find, but we're moving in the right direction."

Attention now turns to Silverstone, where David will compete on the support bill to the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at one of the sport's most iconic venues.

"I'm really looking forward to Silverstone," he said.

"It's a driver's circuit with so many fast, flowing corners, and racing there during a Formula 1 weekend is going to be very special. Knowing it's where the first Formula 1 World Championship race was held makes it even more exciting.

"The main focus is continuing to build confidence with the car, especially through the high-speed corners. If we can keep improving in those areas, we'll keep moving forward."

The FIA Formula 3 Championship continues this weekend at Silverstone as David looks to carry his growing confidence into one of the highlights of the 2026 season with practice and qualifying on Friday, the Sprint Race on Saturday then the Feature Race on Sunday.

Yevan David’s racing is supported by Lion Beer 0.0%, Maliban, Dimo Group, Chingiz, Nations Trust Bank, and the Ceylon Motor Sports Club (CMSC).