MP Motorsport’s Tuukka Taponen lined up on pole position for the final F3 feature race before the summer break around the short yet tricky Hungary track for the first race of Grand Prix Sunday. A great qualifying for the Ferrari junior as he took his and Finland’s maiden pole position in the championship. Joint championship leader Freddie Slater once again started on the front row in P2 as Mattia Colnaghi made it a 1-3 for the Dutch outfit for his best qualifying of the season so far.
Lap one chaos
It was all calm off the line as the lights went out as the grid got away from the line. The front row would stay as they are as Campos teammates Ugo Ugochukwu and Theophile Nael battled behind, going wheel to wheel through multiple corners with the joint championship leader coming out on top and slotting into p4. A hairy moment for Slater who lost his front win endplate as he went for a slight gap on leader Taponen, leaving the race leader with a puncture.
Further back in the pack, an incident between Nakamura, Xie and Gladysz for the second day in the row would see Xie and Gladysz out of the race, their cars colliding into the barrier as Nakamura dropped down to the back of the pack before retiring in the pitlane as the safety car was called. Race leader Taponen would drop to P6 after pitting due to his puncture as Slater took over the lead, an investigation over his head for the contact with the MP driver.
Safety Car interruptions
A brief restart would be short lived as the Virtual Safety Car was thrown for Salim Hanna who stopped on the entry to the penultimate corner on the restart. It would be a quick clean up as the track went green once more as Slater pulled a slight gap on Colnaghi behind, the Argentine keeping himself in DRS. A relief for Trident as the Slater/Taponen incident was deemed No Further Action.
As the DRS came into action, Ugochukwu took his opportunity after an attempted move from Brando Badoer on Colnaghi saw him side by side with the Rodin driver down into turn two and with the momentum to carry himself past Colnaghi, shooting himself into P2 in a potential move of the season. A championship leader battle for the lead began as the race hit the halfway mark as Slater went on the defence as Ugochukwu closed in on the Audi junior.
Kanato Le would come to a stop on lap 13 with a technical issue as the Virtual Safety Car was called for the second time this race. Ugochukwu would be tucked right up behind Slater as the race got back underway with multiple drivers running wide in the middle of the pack. Contact between Fernando Barrichello and Enzo Deligny after a late dive from Yevan David would have the full safety car make its return to the track with 9 laps remaining.
Racing would be back underway as the pack headed onto lap 18 as Slater put his foot to the floor heading into the final corner. Pole sitter Taponen would find himself wide and off the track after going side by side with Nael into turn one, The Finnish driver voicing his frustrations on the radio. A good lap for Slater would see him break DRS, crossing the line with a 1.1 second gap, pushing himself away from his title rival.
Closing stages
Ugochukwu would close right back up to the Trident with 4 laps to go as Nael and Taponen went wheel to wheel once more for fifth on the road. The lead battle heated up once more as the chasing pack kept themselves in touching distance. Defensive driving was on full show from the race leader Slater as it seemed the Campos was the car with the late race pace.
Heading onto the final lap as the tyres were reaching and passing their end, Ugochukwu would see his potential last chance to take the lead of the race disappear with a slight lock up as Slater pulled away. The gap would continue to grow as the lap went on as the battle still raged behind for the final places in the top five as Nael and Taponen went side by side once more, the MP driver ending up off the track once more after contact with Nael.
New championship leader
Slater would cross the line 1.4 seconds ahead of Ugochukwu, taking his first F3 win and the outright championship lead. Ugochukwu would take a well deserved P2 from sixth on the grid whilst a second podium in two weeks for Badoer would see him round out the podium. The points would be completed by Colnaghi, Nael, Taponen, Ernesto Rivera, Nicola Lacorte, James Wharton and Louis Sharp.
F3 heads into the summer break with a real championship fight on the cards and will return for Monza in September for the penultimate round before the double header at the new Madrid circuit to finish off what has been an extremely exciting F3 season so far.
Featured Image Credits: Formula 3 on X