We value your privacy

We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience, serve personalised ads or content, and analyse our traffic. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to our use of cookies.

Customise Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Home News Matthieu Vaxiviere tops first FR3.5 practice at Hungaroring
NewsWorld Series Formula V8 3.5

Matthieu Vaxiviere tops first FR3.5 practice at Hungaroring

by Peter Allen
written by Peter Allen
Matthieu Vaxiviere

Photo: Frederic Le Floch/DPPI

Formula Renault 3.5 title contender Matthieu Vaxiviere set the pace in the first of Friday’s sessions at the Hungaroring.

The Frenchman hit the top of the times just before the chequered flag with a time of 1m31.232s.

Tio Ellinas took second late on, 0.185s slower than Vaxiviere, with Pietro Fantin relegated from first to third in the final minutes.

Vaxiviere is set to have a new team-mate at the Lotus-branded Charouz team this weekend, with fellow F1 team junior Alex Albon drafted in to take the place of Meindert van Buuren. No official confirmation or reason for the switch has yet been made public.

Albon, who is competing in European F3 this year but set the pace on his first drive of an FR3.5 car for Lotus last November, took fourth place at the end of the session, within three tenths of Vaxiviere.

Championship leader Oliver Rowland led the way on multiple occasions in the session but ended up fifth ahead of Gustav Malja, Nyck de Vries and Nicholas Latifi. Tom Dillmann was ninth and Formula 1 racer Roberto Merhi completed the top 10.

Rowland’s Fortec team-mate Jazeman Jaafar, who sits third and eight points behind in the standings, failed to set a lap time, though did do four laps.

Session results
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1:31.232 19
2 Tio Ellinas Strakka Racing 1:31.417 0.185 22
3 Pietro Fantin International Draco Racing 1:31.438 0.206 22
4 Alexander Albon Lotus 1:31.522 0.290 19
5 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports 1:31.815 0.583 22
6 Gustav Malja Strakka Racing 1:31.858 0.626 22
7 Nyck de Vries DAMS 1:31.870 0.638 20
8 Nicholas Latifi Arden Motorsport 1:32.079 0.847 22
9 Tom Dillmann Carlin 1:32.092 0.860 18
10 Roberto Merhi Pons Racing 1:32.143 0.911 18
11 Beitske Visser AVF 1:32.163 0.931 21
12 Dean Stoneman DAMS 1:32.315 1.083 21
13 Roy Nissany Tech 1 Racing 1:32.621 1.389 19
14 Alfonso Celis AVF 1:32.802 1.570 21
15 Bruno Bonifacio International Draco Racing 1:32.853 1.621 20
16 Egor Orudzhev Arden Motorsport 1:33.205 1.973 20
17 Sean Gelael Carlin 1:33.406 2.174 21
18 Philo Paz Armand Pons Racing 1:33.572 2.340 15
19 Aurelien Panis Tech 1 Racing 1:33.674 2.442 17
20 Jazeman Jaafar Fortec Motorsports No time 4