Mini wins FIA F3 sprint race at Hungaroring, Bortoleto grows points lead

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Gabriele Mini claimed the victory as high tyre degradation impacted FIA Formula 3’s sprint race at the Hungaroring.

The Hitech GP driver, who started from reversed-grid pole, dropped behind Jenzer Motorsport’s Nikita Bedrin early on but soon reclaimed the lead.

Bedrin would finish third in the end as Trident’s points leader Gabriel Bortoleto got past him at the last corner of the race after a really hard-fought battle.

Mini got away well at the start and led into turn one. However, Bedrin broke late and moved ahead around the outside of the corner.

The pair soon broke away from Campos Racing’s Christian Mansell and Bortoleto, who swapped places on lap five after losing three seconds to the top two.

Paul Aron tried to take advantage of Mansell’s struggles and attempted a move the following lap. However, the Prema driver went wide at turn two and couldn’t take fourth place.

Meanwhile, Mini put pressure on Bedrin and eventually reclaimed the lead on lap eight of 19 with DRS assistance down the main straight. Notwithstanding, Bedrin was still able to stay within one-and-a-half seconds of Mini, and both were over five seconds ahead of Bortoleto in third.

Behind, Campos’s Pepe Marti made up places after starting 13th. He was 10th halfway through the race, and gained another place as Prema’s Zak O’Sullivan had to pit to replace his front wing after touching the rear of ART Grand Prix’s Nikola Tsolov in an overtake attempt for eighth position at turn one.

The virtual safety car was deployed on lap 13 as Sebastian Montoya’s car was recovered. He came to a halt between turns 12 and 13. A full safety car period then followed as Montoya’s car could not easily be cleared.

The was lots of action when racing resumed at the end of lap 16. Aron passed Mansell going into turn two despite being forced off-track at turn one.

Behind them, Marti spun as he was hit at turn one by fellow Fernando Alonso protegee Tsolov right after having overtaken him. Marti rejoined to finish in 21st, whereas Tsolov retired, which brought out a brief virtual safety car period. The Alpine junior was investigated by the stewards post-race over the incident.

At the front, Mini drove unchallenged to the chequered flag. Bedrin fought hard in an attempt to keep second place, but Bortoleto found a way past at the very last corner to grow his points lead.

Race result (19 laps)