Roundup of the eighth round of 2024 F3 season, which saw the title fight deliver more twists in Hungary.
PREMA’s Gabriele Mini arrived in Budapest as the championship leader from teammate, Arvid Lindblad, but a mixture of traffic, red flags and misfortune blew the title fight open with two rounds left.
Practice
A quiet start to Practice saw the majority of the field head out just for an installation lap due to the hot track temperatures, only to retreat to the pits until the 16th minute.
MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne set the initial benchmark time of 1m 34.986 in the 22nd minute, only for his lap time to be quickly beaten as Van Amersfoort Racing’s (VAR) Noel Leon went quickest with 1m 34.641.
Campos’ Mari Boya set the quickest overall time of 1m 34.236 to top the session in the 34th minute, ahead of Hitech GP’s Martinius Stenshorne and Luke Browning who went second and third just two minutes later.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Mari Boya | Campos | 1m 34.236 |
| 2 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 0.176 |
| 3 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 0.288 |
| 4 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.405 |
| 5 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.491 |
| 6 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 0.522 |
| 7 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 0.590 |
| 8 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 0.672 |
| 9 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | + 0.719 |
| 10 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 0.750 |
| 11 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 0.773 |
| 12 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 0.826 |
| 13 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 0.842 |
| 14 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.930 |
| 15 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 0.958 |
| 16 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 0.970 |
| 17 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 0.982 |
| 18 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 1.033 |
| 19 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 1.046 |
| 20 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | + 1.053 |
| 21 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 1.054 |
| 22 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 1.056 |
| 23 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 1.092 |
| 24 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 1.134 |
| 25 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 1.194 |
| 26 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 1.2.85 |
| 27 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 1.371 |
| 28 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.878 |
| 29 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 2.078 |
| 30 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 2.111 |
Qualifying
Mansell, Van Hoepen and Tsolov headed the entire pack out onto the circuit at the start of Qualifying, but chaos soon reigned as drivers scrapped over track position with some drivers describing the fiasco as “a mess” over team radio.
Floersch meanwhile went spinning at Turn 11 whilst Van Hoepen set 1m 35.434 as the initial benchmark time, which was soon bettered by several drivers.
Once the opening runs were completed, AIX Racing headed the order with a surprise 1-2-3 as Dufek posted 1m 34.414 to go onto provisional pole from Bedrin and Inthraphuvasak, whilst Boya looked set for reverse pole in the sprint.
Teams however opted to conduct an unconventional three runs and sent drivers back out mid-session, which saw Fornaroli go top with 1m 34.173 in the 19th minute ahead of Leon and Ramos.
Van Hoepen snatched pole in the final minute with 1m 33.935 ahead of Tsolov, whilst Browning spun out at Turn 11 to cause a session-ending red flag and the loss of his fastest lap time to drop from seventh to 15th on the grid.
Post-session, Dufek was disqualified from his sixth-placed finish due to failing to meet the minimum weight rule, whilst Wisnicki and Sztuka got three-place grid penalties for impeding Beganovic and Montoya respectively.
The pair however started 25th and 27th respectively due to Dunne having inherited a ten-place grid drop at Silverstone, whilst Montoya didn’t meet the 107% rule so he joined Dufek on the back row behind Dunne in 28th position.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 1m 33.935 |
| 2 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.233 |
| 3 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.238 |
| 4 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.239 |
| 5 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 0.247 |
| 6 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 0.589 |
| 7 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.596 |
| 8 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 0.647 |
| 9 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 0.672 |
| 10 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | + 0.750 |
| 11 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 0.762 |
| 12 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 0.870 |
| 13 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | + 0.937 |
| 14 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 1.003 |
| 15 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 1.016 |
| 16 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 1.107 |
| 17 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 1.126 |
| 18 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 1.152 |
| 19 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 1.170 |
| 20 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 1.175 |
| 21 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 1.290 |
| 22 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 1.451 |
| 23 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 1.453 |
| 24 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 1.582 |
| 25 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 1.723 |
| 26 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 1.815 |
| 27 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 1.916 |
| 28 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 2.558 |
| 29 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 14.532 |
| DSQ | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | Weight |
Sprint Race
LAP 10 / 18
Dino goes for the race lead but is too late on the brakes as he and Nikita Bedrin both run wide!
Dino drops to 3rd behind Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak as Bedrin hangs on to the race lead #F3 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/hwKX0GoTjq
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) July 20, 2024
The initial start was aborted due to Loake going to the wrong grid slot which earned the Brit a 10s stop-go penalty mid-race.
Once the lights went green, Beganovic led from Bedrin but the AIX driver managed to use his traction from Turn 1 to pass the Swede on the inside of Turn 3 for the lead.
Further back, Browning had recovered to 12th whilst Jenzer’s Zagazeta saw his race ended in a collision with Wurz and Boya in the second sector, which caused the VSC to be deployed.
Once the VSC ended on Lap 3, Tsolov clipped Ramos’ right-rear tyre to ruin their races, which elevated Browning up to 11th but the Brit cleared Goethe a lap later for tenth position.
Browning thereafter drove a mature race as he cleared Meguetounif for ninth on Lap 8.
Up front, Beganovic kept Bedrin within DRS range but a lunge up the inside of Turn 2 saw him run deep and concede position to Inthraphuvasak, with the top three drivers subsequently holding position to the checkered flag.
Tramnitz cleared Voisin for fourth on Lap 11 with Mansell following through a lap later to take fifth, as the Brit settled for sixth at the checkered flag ahead of Fornaroli and Browning – who claimed eighth from Van Hoepen on Lap 11.
Meguetounif rounded out the top ten finishers, whilst Browning cut his title deficit to four points to Mini – as the Italian finished 14th and jumped Lindblad who dropped to third in the title race due to his 15th-placed finish.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 18 | 29m 41.355 |
| 2 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | 18 | + 1.560 |
| 3 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 18 | + 2.189 |
| 4 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 18 | + 2.629 |
| 5 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 18 | + 3.483 |
| 6 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 18 | + 3.980 |
| 7 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 18 | + 4.398 |
| 8 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 18 | + 4.909 |
| 9 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 18 | + 5.488 |
| 10 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 18 | + 5.814 |
| 11 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 18 | + 6.511 |
| 12 | Noel Leon | VAR | 18 | + 7.183 |
| 13 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 18 | + 8.174 |
| 14 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 18 | + 8.905 |
| 15 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 18 | + 9.367 |
| 16 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 18 | + 11.259 |
| 17 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 18 | + 11.890 |
| 18 | Mari Boya | Campos | 18 | + 12.434 |
| 19 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 18 | + 12.888 |
| 20 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 18 | + 13.440 |
| 21 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 18 | + 13.885 |
| 22 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 18 | + 17.716 |
| 23 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 18 | + 18.100 |
| 24 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 18 | + 19.032 |
| 25 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 18 | + 19.562 |
| 26 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 18 | + 32.830 |
| 27 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 18 | + 59.688 |
| 28 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 18 | + 60.617 |
| 29 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 18 | + 70.224 |
| RET | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 0 | Collision |
Feature Race
The initial start was aborted due to an issue for Tramnitz which caused the German to take the start from the pit-lane, rather than his seventh-placed grid slot.
At lights out, Tsolov got a faster reaction off the line to take the lead from Van Hoepen who kept second from Leon, who passed Fornaroli for third into Turn 1 whilst Mansell improved from eighth to sixth.
Meguetounif and Loake meanwhile suffered punctures on the opening lap as drivers soon settled into an early tyre-management phase.
Mansell though was able to clear Ramos with a lunge into Turn 1 on Lap 4 to take fifth, whilst his teammates, Tsolov and Van Hoepen battled hard up front despite the latter wanting to pass for the lead to no avail.
Tsolov eventually fought off Van Hoepen for his first Feature Race victory after the race finished under the safety car, following a collision between Zagazeta and Lindblad at Turn 4 on Lap 21.
Zagazeta subsequently received a five-place grid penalty for causing the race-ending incident, which he will serve in the Belgian Sprint.
Van Hoepen meanwhile was disqualified after his car was found to be below the minimum weight, which meant that everyone else was promoted a position in the final classification.
In the drivers’ standings, Mini retained his four-point championship lead over Browning with Lindblad just two points behind the pair, whilst Fornaroli stayed fourth but now just seven points off the title lead.
F3 now head to Spa Francorchamps, Belgium next weekend for the penultimate round of the season from 26-28 July.
Laurens van Hoepen
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 23 | 38m 54.231 |
| 2 | Noel Leon | VAR | 23 | + 1.114 |
| 3 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 23 | + 1.439 |
| 4 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 23 | + 1.781 |
| 5 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 23 | + 2.091 |
| 6 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 23 | + 2.497 |
| 7 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 23 | + 2.751 |
| 8 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 23 | + 3.304 |
| 9 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 23 | + 4.008 |
| 10 | Mari Boya | Campos | 23 | + 4.443 |
| 11 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 23 | + 5.040 |
| 12 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 23 | + 5.139 |
| 13 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 23 | + 5.786 |
| 14 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | 23 | + 6.785 |
| 15 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 23 | + 7.190 |
| 16 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 7.748 |
| 17 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 23 | + 8.206 |
| 18 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 9.211 |
| 19 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 23 | + 9.453 |
| 20 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 9.850 |
| 21 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 23 | + 10.377 |
| 22 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 23 | + 11.456 |
| 23 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 23 | + 11.792 |
| 24 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 23 | + 16.104 |
| 25 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 23 | + 38.783 |
| 26 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 22 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 20 | Collision |
| RET | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 20 | Collision |
| RET | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 1 | Collision |
| DSQ | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 23 | Weight |
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