Alexander Smolyar avoids chaos to take pole position in Hungary for MP Motorsport, followed by Zane Maloney in P2 and Oliver Bearman in P3. Two years on from his last pole position, the chaotic end to the qualifying session wasn’t enough to take P1 from Smolyar as he was able to hold on to his fastest time with a gap of 0.126s to Maloney in second place.
“I saw the Red Flag and I knew some people were still pushing while I was warming up the tyres so I thought that maybe it would be good for me. Then still I had to do the lap and I didn’t give up. I still put everything on the table on my last lap and managed to improve and secure the pole.”
Alexander Smolyar in the post-qualifying press conference
With just over 8 minutes of the session remaining, the drivers were preparing to set their final push laps when a red flag was shown due to a stranded Zak O’Sullivan. The red flag thwarted many attempts to climb up the board, none more so than PREMA’s Arthur Leclerc and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Reece Ushijima who were both setting their best sector times and just a few corners away from a likely provisional pole position.
Once the session resumed, 3 minutes remained on the clock meaning not all of the 30 strong field would not get chance to set another representative time. After being unable to finish his previous lap, Ushijima looked set to take front row with a second-fastest time of 1:32.803s, however track limits saw a lap time deletion dropping him to P19.
An injured Hunter Yeaney was unable to compete this weekend, being replaced by Oliver Goethe who makes his Formula 3 debut. The 17-year-old has hit the ground running, after finishing his first qualifying in P12 he takes reverse-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race, his first race in the series.
Zane Maloney and Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 3, the two separated by a mere 0.006s. Both drivers spoke about the impact having the red flag at such a late stage in the session had, with Bearman – who was unable to set a final representative time – believing there was more potential in the car than his final position of P3.
“It was very nerve-wracking when the Red Flag came out, not knowing if we were going to get another lap, but of course, we did, and I was able to get P2.”
Zane Maloney in the post-qualifying press conference
“I think a lot of people improved after the Red Flag, also I think I was driving better. Of course, near the end of the session, there’s also less fuel in the car. Maybe there was a better lap left on the table, but we’ll never get to see now.”
Oliver Bearman in the post-qualifying press conference