Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney set the pace in Formula 2 practice at the Hungaroring, going fastest by 0.133 seconds.
Maloney was in top spot for most of the 45-minute session, which was interrupted by a virtual safety car period caused by Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti spinning at turn 11.
Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto was Maloney’s closest rival after 16 minutes, when the yellow flags appeared and prevented drivers from improving their pace. Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli was in third, and MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger was fourth.
Going into the session’ second half, ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins moved up to second place but was 0.378 seconds slower than Maloney as he lowered the pace to 1m33.247s.
Hauger, Bortoleto and Martins were then all able to beat that benchmark, but with three minutes to go of practice Maloney improved to 1m32.668s to reclaim top spot.
Hitech GP’s Paul Aron also broke the 1m33s barrier to climb from 21st place to second, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi and MP’s Franco Colapinto improving in fifth and sixth.
The order changed again at the finish, but Maloney stayed at the top. DAMS’ Jak Crawford went second fastest, Fittipaldi improved to third and Rodin’s Ritomo Miyata jumped from 18th to sixth.
Campos’s points leader Isack Hadjar was only 10th fastest, 0.844s off the pace, and Prema’s struggles continued into another event as Ollie Bearman and Antonelli ended practice in 12th and 15th. Propping up the timesheet was AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard, who was over two seconds slower than Maloney.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Motorsport | 1m32.668s | 22 | |
| 2 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | 1m32.801s | +0.133s | 19 |
| 3 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m32.928s | +0.260s | 13 |
| 4 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | 1m32.984s | +0.316s | 20 |
| 5 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | 1m33.100s | +0.432s | 18 |
| 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin Motorsport | 1m33.238s | +0.570s | 22 |
| 7 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 1m33.245s | +0.577s | 19 |
| 8 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 1m33.467s | +0.799s | 20 |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta Racing | 1m33.512s | +0.844s | 18 |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar | Campos Racing | 1m33.512s | +0.844s | 20 |
| 11 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 1m33.544s | +0.876s | 18 |
| 12 | Ollie Bearman | Prema | 1m33.604s | +0.936s | 19 |
| 13 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART Grand Prix | 1m33.638s | +0.970s | 21 |
| 14 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 1m33.664s | +0.996s | 18 |
| 15 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema | 1m33.700s | +1.032s | 17 |
| 16 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m33.716s | +1.048s | 19 |
| 17 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | 1m33.820s | +1.152s | 22 |
| 18 | Kush Maini | Invicta Racing | 1m33.876s | +1.208s | 20 |
| 19 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX Racing | 1m34.219s | +1.551s | 20 |
| 20 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | 1m34.290s | +1.622s | 7 |
| 21 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | 1m34.683s | +2.015s | 19 |
| 22 | Taylor Barnard | AIX Racing | 1m34.870s | +2.202s | 19 |