The Hungarian Grand Prix weekend gets underway in Budapest, with Prema Racing’s Gabriele Minì (MIN) leading the Driver’s Championship with 119 points. He sits six points clear of his Prema Racing teammate, Arvid Lindblad (LIN) who enjoyed a historic weekend at Silverstone after winning both the sprint and feature races.
As the green flag falls, the drivers head out for an out-lap but all are soon back in. As time continues to tick down, the drivers are still in the pit lane with some now out of the car. Fifteen minutes into the practice session and no driver has yet to set a time. However, the drivers have begun making their way back on track, with track conditions beginning to more closely resemble those expected during qualifying.
Prema Racing’s Dino Beganovic (BEG) sets the top time of 2:03.885. Though he improves his time on his next lap to 1:35.827, he falls to P4, with his teammate Minì setting the new top time of 1:34.955. With just about 22 minutes remaining in the session, only six drivers have set a time. Trident’s Alexander Dunne (DUN) sits second with a time of 1:34.986 and MP Motorsport’s Tim Tamnitz (TRA) is third with a time of 1:35.292. Lindblad and Beganovic round out the top five with times of 1:35.817 and 1:35.827 respectively, and MP Motorsport’s Kacper Sztuka (SZT) is sixth with a time of 2:09.183.
Cian Shields (SHI) of Hitech Pulse-Eight is the seventh driver to set a time. He goes sixth with a time of 1:50.325. More and more drivers are completing their first laps now, but Miní holds onto his position at the top of the timesheet. Dunne, Tramnitz, Lindblad and Beganovic also retain their positions.
With sixteen minutes remaining in the practice session, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel León (LEO) sets the new fastest time of the session, with a time of 1:34.641, approximately 0.3 seconds faster than the previous fastest time set by Miní.
With fifteen minutes left in the session, León remains at the top of the table. The standings for the session thus far are LEO, MIN, DUN, VOI, LIN, MON, BED, MEG, MAN, TSO, FLO, TRA, ZAG, EST, BEG, GOE, SMI, WUR, SHI, WIS, VAN, INT, FOR, LOA, SZT, BOY, RAM, DUF. Neither Martinius Stenshorne (STE) nor Luke Browning (BRO), both of Hitech Pulse-Eight, have set a time for the session.
With just about twelve minutes remaining, Campos Racing’s Sebastían Montoya (MON) goes second with a time of 1:34.701. Mari Boya goes to the top of the table with a new fastest time of 1:34.236. Hitech Pulse-Eight have kept both Browning and Stenshorne in throughout the session. However, as the 10-minute mark approaches, the drivers appear to be finally making their way out onto the track. With just under 10 minutes left in the session, Stenshorne goes P2 with a time of 1:34.412, just about 0.1 seconds behind the fastest time of Boya. Browning goes P4 with a time of 1:34.701.
With just under five minutes left in the Formula 3 practice session, the standings are BOY, STE, LEO, BRO, MON, RAM, MIN, DUN, VOI, LIN, FOR, VAN, BED, MEG, MAN, TSO, INT, FLO, TRA, GOE, ZAG, DUF, EST, BEG, WUR, LOA, SMI, SHI, WIS, SZT.
Many of the drivers who had previously returned to pits are now back on track with the majority now focusing on their race set-up. Beganovic appears to be struggling, likely with grip, as he makes his way around the track. The Prema Racing driver sits P24, 16 and 13 places behind teammates Miní and Lindblad respectively. Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe (GOE) goes up to P11. With just under a minute remaining, Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli (FOR) goes up to fifth with a time of 1:34.727.
The checkered flag falls as the remaining drivers on track complete their final lap around the circuit. More of the drivers have already returned to the pit lane but Luke Browning improves his time to get up to P3. His teammate, Shields goes up to P7.
With all drivers across the line, the standings are BOY, STE, BRO, LEO, FOR, MON, SHI, RAM, MIN, DUN, VOI, LIN, GOE, VAN, BED, MEG, MAN, TSO, INT, FLO, TRA, ZAG, DUF, EST, BEG, WUR, LOA, SMI, SZT, WIS.
The drivers will return to the track at 15:05 local time for qualifying, the results of which will determine their starting positions for Saturday’s sprint race and Sunday’s feature race. It is expected that track limits will play a significant role in qualifying with several drivers having run wide during practice.
