Callum Ilott took victory for now in a Red Bull Ring Formula 3 European Championship opener red-flagged due to a horrific accident to Ryan Tveter, Peter Li and Pedro Piquet.
The stewards will decide whether Ilott passed Maximilian Gunther on the opening lap before the safety-car boards came out in what is understood to be a very close call.
 NEWS UPDATE: Ilott keeps victory after stewards' hearing
From pole position, the Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Mercedes of Ilott got away in the lead, but was passed by the front-row-sitting Prema Powerteam machine of Gunther as they exited Turn 2.
Ilott managed to sweep back around the outside of Gunther, who was struggling with his brakes, as they entered the left-handed Turn 4, just as the race went under safety-car conditions.
Tveter had spun in the first-lap mix-up at Turn 2, causing Arjun Maini to brake, and then Weiron Tan was launched onto the top of Maini's car.
While Maini and Tan were out on the spot, Tveter rejoined at the back after repairs, while Ben Barnicoat and Joel Eriksson, who had been running fourth and fifth, also needed attention in the pits.
On the restart, championship leader Lance Stroll passed Prema team-mate Gunther for second when the German ran wide exiting Turn 3.
Mikkel Jensen was also able to pass Gunther on the following lap, although Gunther repassed the Mucke Motorsport car a few laps later.
Ilott was over three seconds to the good when Tveter spun at the fast left-hander at Turn 5, rotating through the gravel and coming to rest pointing in the right direction on the racing line.
While Eriksson, running immediately behind, slipped through, Li appeared to be unsighted in the gravel cloud and struck the rear of the sister Carlin car of Tveter, launching himself into a frightening barrel roll.
Piquet then smashed the front of Tveter's car, and careered into the barriers at Turn 6.
Early reports are that Li is awake and alert in the medical centre, Tveter is also in the medical centre with light injuries, and Piquet is unharmed.
NEWS UPDATE: Li airlifted to hospital for checks
Behind the top four, Hitech Grand Prix man George Russell came out on top of a frantic race-long scrap with Nick Cassidy for what became fifth after Piquet earned a drive-through penalty for a jumped start.
David Beckmann, on just his second F3 race weekend with Mucke Motorsport, claimed his first points for seventh place, holding off Harrison Newey and Ralf Aron.
The recovering Barnicoat made great progress through the field to claim the final point, although he was assisted in this when Niko Kari earned a drive-through penalty for his move on Alessio Lorandi for 10th place.
UPDATE: Russell has been moved up from fifth to fourth place in the results of after Jensen, who finished fourth, was penalised five seconds for track-limits infringements, dropping the Dane to fifth.