F1 Australian Grand Prix: Racing star STRANDED on Melbourne circuit

A racing driver was left stranded on track at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix during the first qualifying session of the season in Melbourne.

It was feeder series Formula 3 that took to the track first for qualifying on Friday, where all 30 drivers battled it out for pole position at Albert Park.

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Rafael Camara claimed the top spot on the grid and led his Trident team to a 1-2 alongside his team-mate Noah Stromsted, with Theophile Nael finishing the top three.

Unlike F1, qualifying in F3 is a limited affair with the field only receiving 45 minutes of free practice before they are thrown into a 30 minute qualifying session, meaning the young drivers have to get up to speed with a new track quickly.

Christian Ho breaks down at Australian Grand Prix

F3’s first qualifying session of the year was cut short however, when a red flag was deployed with three minutes left of on the clock.

It materialised that DAMS driver Christian Ho had broken down on the track at turn three, which immediately paused the session, but there was no hurry to retrieve his car.

Ho sat plonked right in the middle of the track, yet more than five minutes had passed without any of the marshals coming out on the track to retrieve his car, where the rookie was forced to wait patiently for assistance sat inside the cockpit.

The 2025 season marks Ho’s first stint in F3 after finishing runner up in the 2023 Spanish F4 season, and will start his maiden race of the campaign 23rd on the grid.

Elsewhere in Australia, the DAMS team have endured a nightmare start to their season in F2, where, alongside Rodin Motorsport and Trident, they have been slammed with a 10-place grid penalty for the first two races of the season due to a pre-season testing infraction.

READ MORE: Australian Grand Prix session red flagged by BIZARRE issue

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