Qualifying 1
In first qualifying of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the 4.381 kilometres long Hungaroring, marked by numerous position changes, German Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam, 1:34.107 minutes) claimed pole position. In bright sunshine at the track near Budapest, George Russell (HitechGP, 1:34.187 minutes) secured second place from Ralf Aron (Prema Powerteam, 1:34.257 minutes). Thus, the Estonian was the best-placed rookie. He ended up ahead of his experienced team-mate Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam, 1:34.284 minutes), who was fourth.
With a little less than five minutes remaining, George Russell beat the time set by Lance Stroll, who was fastest until then, and thus moved up into first place. Later on, his rivals tried to topple the HitechGP driver from the top position, but none of them succeeded. Two minutes before the chequered flag was out, Maximilian Günther and Ralf Aron started their final attempts. They weren’t able to claim the top position from Russell, but both moved ahead of their team-mate Stroll. The latter, no longer able to react, had to make do with fourth place. However, George Russell didn’t have a lot of time to celebrate his performance either. Shortly after the end of qualifying, he had his fastest lap time disallowed for exceeding the track limits. Thus, the Brit dropped back to second behind Maximilian Günther.
Rookie driver Joel Eriksson (Motopark, 1:34.339 minutes), who already scored his maiden podium finish in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship during the season opener at Le Castellet, confirmed his good performance by ending up fifth. Formula 3 novice Niko Kari (Motopark, 1:34.423 minutes) also ranked among the six fastest drivers. Thus, the Finn was one place ahead of the current points’ leader Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam, 1:34.615 minutes), who had to make do with seventh place. Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark, 1:34.617 minutes), Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:34.676 minutes) and Alessio Lorandi (Carlin, 1:34.776 minutes) rounded out the top ten.
Qualifying 2
Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam) already having claimed first place in free practice and first qualifying of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the Hungaroring, he also ended up on top in second qualifying. As a result, he will also be starting from pole position for the second race of the weekend at the 4.381 kilometres long Formula 1 track near Budapest. His team-mate, rookie driver Ralf Aron (Prema Powerteam) secured second place from Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark) and the second-best rookie, Guanyu Zhou (Motopark). In the ranking of the second-fastest laps, used to determine the starting grid positions for the third race of the weekend, Günther also proved to be unbeatable. Sette Câmara, George Russell (HitechGP) and Zhou followed in second to fourth place.
Starting grid race two
Second qualifying during the FIA Formula 3 European Championship’s visit to Hungary again proved to be entertaining and provided many position changes. With a little less than four minutes remaining, Maximilian Günther (1:33.614 minutes) showed up on top of the timing screens for the first time, but was soon outpaced by the faster Ralf Aron (1:33.778 minutes). However, Günther countered successfully and moved back up into first place. There, the German Prema Powerteam driver remained until the end of the 20 minutes’ session.
Ralf Aron was happy with his second place as the Formula 4 graduate had never been classified higher in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship before. Sérgio Sette Câmara (1:33.814 minutes) was closely behind, followed by Guanyu Zhou (1:34.300 minutes), who temporarily even was in first place, four minutes before the end of the session. George Russell (HitechGP, 1:34.458 minutes), points’ leader Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam, 1:34.856 minutes), Alessio Lorandi (Carlin, 1:35.034 minutes), Ben Barnicoat (HitechGP, 1:35.116 minutes), Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam, 1:35.122 minutes) and Niko Kari (Motopark, 1:35.297 minutes) followed in fifth to tenth place.
Starting grid race three
In the ranking of the second-fastest laps, Maximilian Günther (1:33.910 minutes) secured his third pole position at the Hungaroring and, together with his two fastest times in second qualifying at Le Castellet, his fifth fastest qualifying time in a row. Behind Günther, Sérgio Sette Câmara (1:34.318 minutes), George Russell (1:34.589 minutes), Guanyu Zhou (1:34.768 minutes), Nick Cassidy (1:34.859 minutes), Ben Barnicoat (1:35.147 minutes), Joel Eriksson (Motopark, 1:35.509 minutes), Lance Stroll (1:35.607 minutes), Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:35.939 minutes) and Ryan Tveter (Carlin, 1:36.162 minutes) followed.
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