Smolyar leads Hauger in F3 Practice in Hungary

Alex Smolyar was top of the times in Free Practice for ART Grand Prix as the FIA Formula 3 Championship visited the Hungaroring.

The Russian driver edged out Championship leader Dennis Hauger (PREMA Racing) by over a tenth ahead of Qualifying on Friday afternoon.

Logan Sargeant and Reshad de Gerus (both Charouz Racing System) were the first to set times, with Hitech GP‘s Jonny Edgar and Carlin Buzz Racing stand-in and FIA F3 stalwart Jake Hughes just behind.

Hughes replaces 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 champion Kaylen Frederick as the American recovers from a thumb injury sustained in his collision with Juan Manuel Correa (ART) in Spielberg.

The British driver went fastest early on, before Red Bull Junior Programme and Hitech man Ayumu Iwasa bested his time with a 1:36.418 around one of the shortest laps of the season.

Spielberg race-winners David Schumacher (Trident) and Frederik Vesti (ART) were first and second with 35 minutes remaining, separated by 12 thousandths of a second.

Vesti put his ART on pole for Race 3 at Paul Ricard, and returned to top spot again by three hundredths, with Lorenzo Colombo (Campos Racing) and Alex Smolyar (ART) behind Edgar in fourth and fifth respectively.

Trident pair Clement Novalak and Paul Ricard winner Jack Doohan showed their hand just before the halfway point of the session, before Schumacher and Caio Collet (MP Motorsport) showed their hands and Schumacher dragged the benchmark into the low 1:35s, with others improving.

Calan Williams went second for Jenzer Motorsport, before Championship leader Hauger assumed his regular position at the sharp end of the standings with a 1:35.270.

Hauger’s PREMA team-mate Olli Caldwell set his first representative lap time of the session with 20 minutes remaining, setting a 1:34.958, with Caio Collet lingering second, just two thousandths outside the 1:34s.

Caldwell was joined under the threshold by Norway’s Hauger and Danish driver Vesti, before Doohan improved to go half a tenth behind.

Doohan improved again in all sectors, going purple in Sector 2 to set a 1:34.512 with 11 minutes remaining, with Caio Collet’s final sector the only improvement in the top half of the standings.

Meanwhile, Tijmen van der Helm (MP Motorsport) improved to 25th after positive second and third sectors, with Victor Martins and Collet both improving as the Dutch outfit moved up the table across the board.

Vesti demolished the fastest time to date as the drivers left the pits for their final push laps of the session, setting a 1:33.615, but everyone else improved vastly too, with fastest sectors shared by Alex Smolyar and Hauger with three minutes remaining.

Smolyar re-entered the session by going five tenths clear of Vesti, who slipped to fourth in the latter stages as the top half struggled to improve on their sector times.

Jenzer driver Johnathan Hoggard has just been announced for the remainder of the season; he improved to ninth late on before falling back down the order as others moved into the 1:33s.

Smolyar finished the session on top with a 1:33.112, ahead of Hauger, Schumacher, Novalak and Olli Caldwell.

Qualifying at the Hungaroring will be at 12:50PM UK time, 1:50PM local time, with Smolyar having qualified on pole there last season.

2021 Hungaroring Free Practice Results: