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Williams Academy driver Zak O’Sullivan eased to victory in the Hungarian Feature Race, leading from lights to flag ahead of his PREMA teammate. The performance showed O’Sullivan’s determination to recover from a rocky start to the season as he moves into P2 in the championship with his 3rd win of the season so far.
The PREMA team secured a 1-2 with O’Sullivan leading teammate Dino Beganovic. The pair remained calm and cool at the head of the field, unchallenged by those behind and sailing to a comfortable finish having passed the halfway point of the season.
Fellow Williams Academy driver Franco Colapinto took 3rd to round out the podium places.
Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto retained his points streak, coming home in P7 to take his 13th consecutive points finish of the season.
As It Happened
O’Sullivan lined up on pole, successfully covering off his teammate Beganovic at lights out and then easing his way into a comfortable place out front.
Paul Aron got his elbows out when fighting Johnny Edgar into turn 3 as the two fought over P6. Aron would succeed the MP Motorsport driver and set off after Oliver Goethe up ahead.
Edgar would lose 7th place to a fast charging Bortoleto soon after, as a DRS train quickly formed in the thick of the pack.
With the lead PREMA pair looking comfortable out front, P3 was fought over by Colapinto and Fornaroli. The Argentinian eased past Fornaroli on lap 9 to occupy the last podium place and set his sights on the leading pair.
Those further down the field were constantly trading places, some drivers looking to make up for a poor qualifying whilst others were trying to defend from faster cars behind. The limited overtaking opportunities brought by the Hungaroring present a unique challenge for the 30 car field.
Championship rivals Bortoleto and Martí found themselves fighting over P7, the two drivers tripping over one another as they desperately try to get past.
However, frustration for the better of the the #23 Campos of Pepe Martí. He suffered a heavy lockup into turn 1 when going for the overtake on Bortoleto. Martí was sent straight on at the first turn and forced to fight his way back to close the gap.
He would go on to take the place from his rival before snatching 6th from the other Trident in quick succession. The Spaniard dispatched of both Tridents Bortoleto and Fornaroli in as many laps.
Another driver feeling the pressure was Aussie Christian Mansell in the other Campos, as he had Johnny Edgar in his mirrors at the tail end of the points.
Mansell suffered a similar fate to his Campos teammate, locking up into turn 1 and allowing Edgar to slide through. The other MP driver of Mari Boya also took advantage of the mistake, pushing Mansell out of the top 10 and securing himself a point.
At the front of the field, O’Sullivan took a commanding stance to cement his name in history and knock on the door of a title challenge.
He took his 3rd win of the season, equalling the all-time winning record in Formula 3 and jumping 5 places in the championship.
Bortoleto would hold onto 7th for his 13th consecutive points finish and Martí slots into 6th just ahead.
How the Championship Looks
Bortoleto remains in the lead with 144 points ahead of newly promoted Zak O’Sullivan who sits on 101 points.
Pepe Martí drops behind O’Sullivan on 100 points and then comes the other PREMA pair of Beganovic and Aron equalled on 94 points.
The race is on for the title, can rookie driver Bortoleto hold off those behind to take the F3 championship at the first time of asking?
Looking Ahead
Going into Spa next weekend, the title race is well and truly on for Zak O’Sullivan and Pepe Martí with rookie driver Gabriel Bortoleto getting his first taste of pressure from those behind chasing him for the championship.
Formula 3 returns to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 28th-30th.
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Feature image courtesy of: Formula 1