The Dane held Campos Racing's Ugo Ugochukwu and TRIDENT teammate Freddie Slater at bay in a gripping Feature Race around the Red Bull Ring.
AS IT HAPPENED
Hiyu Yamakoshi covered off Ugochukwu on the run to Turn 1 to retain the lead. But the Campos driver got a great exit and was side-by-side with the polesitter, and claimed the lead at Turn 3.
Into third place was Stromsted, who made a place on Tuukka Taponen, he was followed through by teammate Slater ahead of Turn 6 to cap off a good start for TRIDENT.
The Safety Car was then deployed with Maciej Gladysz and Yevan David off the road and out of the race.
Racing got back underway entering Lap 4, and Ugochukwu opted to get going ahead of Turn 9 to establish a half-second buffer across the line.
Slater was on the move, and he past teammate Stromsted around the outside of Turn 3, and he was immediately into the slipstream of Yamakoshi. With another dive to the outside, the Briton claimed second place at Turn 4, with his attentions turning to title rival Ugochukwu.
The Virtual Safety Car was deployed on Lap 5 after Woohyun Shin was left in the gravel at Turn 5 following a battle with Fernando Barrichello.
Virtual Safety Car withdrawn on Lap 7, Taponen was the driver most alert and he was able to catch Stromsted out to re-take fourth position on the run to Turn 4. The Dane was back down the inside of the Finn on the following lap at Turn 3 to restore himself back up a position.
Lap 9 and Slater pounced on the race lead, diving down the inside at Turn 3 to take the lead from Ugochukwu. The Campos driver was then forced to defend from Yamakoshi at Turn 4 to retain second place.
Their fighting allowed Stromsted to join the lead battle, with the top four drivers covered by just 1.5s with 10 laps ticked off.
Yamakoshi lined up a move on Ugochukwu at Turn 3, braked late and cleared the American driver for second place on Lap 11.
Onto Lap 15 and Ugochukwu had stablised his pace and attacked Yamakoshi for P2. The Japanese driver held firm, closing the door on the exit of Turn 4 to hold onto the place.
Taito Kato was on the move after a wide moment at the penultimate corner left Alessandro Giusti without momentum, allowing the ART Grand Prix driver to profit up to P5. The Frenchman fell down to P9, with Jin Nakamura and Pedro Clerot also gaining positions.
Ugochukwu was back on the attack on Lap 18 at Turn 4. But once again Yamakoshi was able to defend from the American driver to retain P2.
One lap later though and it was third time's the charm for the Campos driver, as he dived to the inside at Turn 4 to relieve Yamakoshi of second place.
Slater was wide at the final corners on Lap 20, putting him under threat from Ugochukwu up the hill to Turn 3. The TRIDENT driver defended the inside line but on exit, he had Yamakoshi to deal with too.
Somehow the Briton dealt with both and retained the lead at Turn 4, while Stromsted took advantage of the battling up ahead to sneak his way through for third, passing Yamakoshi at Turn 7.
Lap 22 and Ugochukwu set up a pass at Turn 4 with superior traction out of T3, taking the lead back from Slater with five laps to go.
Onto Lap 23 and it was roles reversed as Slater put a firm move on his rival at Turn 4 to re-take the lead. Teammate Stromsted took advantage once more from the battling ahead to move himself up to second at Turn 6.
Three laps remaining and Slater was back on defence, covering the inside of Turn 3, but he was powerless to stop Stromsted from passing him on the run to Turn 4.
Kato was on the hunt for a late-race pass of his own and made a bold dive at Turn 1 to briefly take fourth from Yamakoshi. The Van Amersfoort driver re-claimed the place with a better exit, but the ART rookie dived down the inside of Turn 3 to take the spot back.
It turned into a six-car fight as Kato went wide out of Turn 4, and Nakamura and Clerot put moves on the Japanese driver in the middle sector. Clerot's bravery won him fourth as he rounded both to take P4 at Turn 6.
Onto the last lap Ugochukwu and Slater were side-by-side once again at Turn 4, and despite minor contact between the two, the American somehow found the room to take second place from his rival.
Stromsted however was untroubled in front, and he became the eighth winner of the 2026 season. Ugochukwu and Slater completed the podium after their last-lap battle, with Clerot and Nakamura rounding out the top five.
Kato was sixth ahead of Taponen, Yamakoshi, Nicola Lacorte and Kanato Le.
KEY QUOTE – Noah Stromsted, TRIDENT
"A very good job by the team the whole weekend, the car has been amazing. Very nice to finally get my season underway with some good points. We've been struggling with bad luck and bad results at the start of the season, so nice to come away with the win from here."
THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Ugo Ugochukwu extends his advantage at the top of the Drivers' Championship, going onto 78 points. Freddie Slater is up to second, now on 62 points, with Théophile Nael third on 52. Bruno del Pino is fourth on 49 points, while Brando Badoer is fifth, level on 51 points with Noah Stromsted who climbs up to sixth.
Campos Racing remains at the top of the Teams' Standings with 156 points. Van Amersfoort Racing are second with 109, while TRIDENT climb onto 103 in third. Rodin Motorsport and ART Grand Prix complete the top five with 79 and 47 points respectively.
UP NEXT
FIA Formula 3 is back in action right away as we head to Silverstone for Round 5 of the 2026 campaign, from July 3-5.
