Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport
Megan White

F3 Hungary: Smolyar takes lights-to-flag win in feature race

The MP Motorsport driver took the team’s second win of the weekend after Caio Collet secured sprint race victory on Saturday.

Starting on pole on a damp track, Smolyar was already four seconds clear by lap four and remained untroubled by Maloney (Trident) for the rest of the running.

Maloney and third-placed Ollie Bearman tussled throughout, but the Barbadian kept the Prema driver behind, with a photo finish as the two crossed the line almost at the same time.

A surprise fourth-place finish came for O’Sullivan, whose Carlin team made the risky move of pitting for slick tyres on lap 17, allowing the Briton to charge through the field having started 22nd.

Correa, who also gambled on slicks despite F3 not being set up to make pitstops, had a similarly successful charge, finishing sixth having come out the pits in 18th.

Jak Crawford got the best launch off the line, moving from sixth to fourth by Turn 1, with Kush Maini passing Gregoire Saucy for fourth.

Championship contender Isack Hadjar dropped back through the pack, with a poor start hampering his progress from 10th before having to take evasive action at Turn 2 after contact between Jonny Edgar and Oliver Goethe.

A brief yellow flag came on lap two as Goethe spun, with Correa managing to avoid his Campos car, but the Euroformula championship leader got going again to rejoin the pack.

Saucy took seventh from Collet at Turn 2 on lap six, with Arthur Leclerc and David Vidales tussling for 10th after the Prema driver received a five-place grid drop for making contact with Crawford in Saturday’s sprint race.

Oliver Bearman, Prema Racing (Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd)

Correa and O’Sullivan both opted to pit to slicks at the end of lap 16, the Carlin driver following the next lap in a risky move while both ran outside the points.

Leclerc moved up the inside of Martins at Turn 12 to take sixth, with Crawford on the back of Bearman up ahead in the fight for third.

Once their slicks had warmed up, O’Sullivan and Correa began their progress through the pack, the former up to 14th by lap 22.

Martins, Saucy and Collet tussled over seventh the following lap, with Martins maintaining the front of the group while Saucy and Collet almost made contact at Turn 2.

But they were no match for the slick runners, with O’Sullivan and Correa clearing the pack in the final laps to finish fourth and sixth respectively.

Despite a last-ditch charge at Maloney, Bearman settled for third, his fourth podium of the season.

In between the slick tyre runners, Crawford took fifth, with Maini in seventh and Leclerc in eighth. Collet and Martins rounded off the top 10.

F3 Hungary - Feature Race Results

Cla Driver Team Laps Time Gap Interval
1 Russian Federation Alexander Smolyar Netherlands MP Motorsport 24      
2 Barbados Zane Maloney Italy Trident 24 5.5    
3 Oliver Bearman Italy Prema Powerteam 24 5.5    
4 United Kingdom Zak O'Sullivan Carlin 24 7.3    
5 Jak Crawford Italy Prema Powerteam 24 8.7    
6 United States Juan Manuel Correa France ART Grand Prix 24 10.0    
7 India Kush Maini Netherlands MP Motorsport 24 10.5    
8 Monaco Arthur Leclerc Italy Prema Powerteam 24 10.9    
9 Brazil Caio Collet Netherlands MP Motorsport 24 19.4    
10 France Victor Martins France ART Grand Prix 24 19.6    
11 Switzerland Gregoire Saucy France ART Grand Prix 24 22.5    
12 Czech Republic Roman Staněk Italy Trident 24 23.0    
13 Spain David Vidales Spain Campos Racing 24 32.4    
14 Reece Ushijima Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 24 35.4    
15 Argentina Franco Colapinto Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 24 38.0    
16 Finland William Alatalo Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 24 39.5    
17 Israel Ido Cohen Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 24 40.1    
18 Isack Hadjar United Kingdom HitechGP 24 40.6    
19 Italy Enzo Trulli Carlin 24 40.9    
20 United States Kaylen Frederick United Kingdom HitechGP 24 41.1    
21 Mexico Rafael Villagomez Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 24 41.6    
22 Brad Benavides Carlin 24 47.3    
23 Christian Mansell Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 24 57.6    
24 United Kingdom Jonny Edgar Italy Trident 24 1'09.3    
25 Italy Federico Malvestiti Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 24 1'10.6    
26 Malaysia Nazim Azman United Kingdom HitechGP 24 1'14.4    
27 Italy Francesco Pizzi Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 24 1'16.8    
28 Oliver Goethe Spain Campos Racing 24 1'27.0    
29 Pepe Martí Spain Campos Racing 23 1 lap    
  Hungary László Tóth Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 2 22 laps    
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.