Home Featured Alexander Smolyar tops delayed FIA F3 qualifying at wet Hungaroring

Alexander Smolyar tops delayed FIA F3 qualifying at wet Hungaroring

by Bethonie Waring

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

SMP Racing protege Alexander Smolyar claimed pole position in the delayed FIA Formula 3 Championship qualifying session at the Hungaroring.

The session was originally due to take place after Formula 2’s free practice session, but got red flagged after just five minutes due to the wet conditions.

Though drier, conditions were still wet when cars took to the track again for the much later slot. The damp track appeared to catch out a few drivers and there were a number of spins, but running was only interrupted by brief yellow flags.

Smolyar swapped fastest times with early championship front runners Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant, and Liam Lawson through most of the session, though Piastri and Sargeant both fell foul to track limits in the closing stages of the race.

Sargeant recovered to top the times again, just 0.012s quicker than Smolyar’s then-fastest time.

Smolyar – who took two of his three Formula Renault Eurocup wins in 2019 in wet weather – answered with a 1m51.348s lap, 0.258s faster than Sargeant.

Sargeant couldn’t respond, settling for second ahead of Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti.

A rapid lap from Calan Williams briefly put him second before others found improvements. The Jenzer Motorsport driver was on for another quick lap when a small mistake sent him wide on his final lap and he ended the session fifth. He will start the opening race alongside fellow Australian Piastri.

Despite the early pace, Hitech GP pair Liam Lawson and Max Fewtrell both missed out on a place in the top 10. They line up 11th and 13th respectively.

Sebastian Fernandez, Richard Verschoor, Bent Viscaal, and Dennis Hauger completed the top 10.

 

Qualifying results
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Alexander Smolyar ART Grand Prix 1m51.348s 14
2 Logan Sargeant Prema 1m51.606s +0.258s 14
3 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1m51.714s +0.366s 14
4 Frederik Vesti Prema 1m52.228s +0.880s 14
5 Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport 1m52.252s +0.904s 14
6 Oscar Piastri Prema 1m52.278s +0.930s 12
7 Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix 1m52.288s +0.940s 14
8 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 1m52.352s +1.004s 12
9 Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport 1m52.460s +1.112s 14
10 Dennis Hauger Hitech GP 1m52.471s +1.123s 14
11 Liam Lawson Hitech GP 1m52.638s +1.290s 14
12 Olli Caldwell Trident 1m52.919s +1.571s 14
13 Max Fewtrell Hitech GP 1m53.001s +1.653s 15
14 David Beckmann Trident 1m53.101s +1.753s 14
15 Alex Peroni Campos Racing 1m53.231s +1.883s 12
16 David Schumacher Charouz Racing System 1m53.283s +1.935s 13
17 Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport 1m53.296s +1.948s 13
18 Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System 1m53.333s +1.985s 13
19 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA Racelab 1m53.432s +2.084s 14
20 Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport 1m53.479s +2.131s 13
21 Jake Hughes HWA Racelab 1m53.501s +2.153s 13
22 Jack Doohan HWA Racelab 1m53.648s +2.300s 14
23 Enaam Ahmed Carlin 1m53.751s +2.403s 13
24 Sophia Floersch Campos Racing 1m53.855s +2.507s 14
25 Lirim Zendeli Trident 1m53.937s +2.589s 13
26 Clement Novalak Carlin 1m53.991s +2.643s 11
27 Cameron Das Carlin 1m54.000s +2.652s 12
28 Roman Stanek Charouz Racing System 1m54.243s +2.895s 12
29 Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport 1m54.780s +3.432s 13
30 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing 1m57.455s +6.107s 13