Race report
FIA F3 Hungary
F3 Hungary: Tsolov wins as title contenders flounder
Tsolov scores maiden Formula 3 feature race win as ART dominates in Hungary
Sam Hall
Edited: Jul 21, 2024, 12:00 PM
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Nikola Tsolov, ART Grand Prix
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Nikola Tsolov took his third Formula 3 victory of the season, his first in a feature race, as a late safety car denied team-mate Laurens van Hoepen the opportunity to effect a pass after sitting patiently in second throughout.
The ART pair had lined up alongside each other on the front row of the grid and went wheel to wheel into Turn 1, veering towards the pitwall as Tsolov overcame his polesitting team-mate.
This move also saw the pair close the door on championship-chasing Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident), with fourth-place starter Noel Leon seizing the opportunity to move his Van Amersfoort Racing car into the final podium position.
Despite van Hoepen’s radio messages requesting that ART swap its drivers’ positions so he could better preserve his tyres, the team elected against using team orders. Just as a lunge looked imminent, the safety car was deployed in the final two laps, denying a thrilling finale.
The situation later became more frustrating for Dutchman van Hoepen when his car failed scrutineering due to not meeting the minimum weight requirement. As a result, he was disqualified.
Sprint race:
As is typical at the Hungaroring, overtaking was at a premium, with Christian Mansell the most notable mover as he climbed from eighth on the grid to fourth at the chequered flag – his most notable move coming with a well-rehearsed lunge at Turn 1 on Santiago Ramos (Trident) for fifth on lap three.
Silverstone double-winner Arvid Lindblad (Prema) saw his forgettable weekend come to a premature close when he tangled with Matías Zagazeta on the run to Turn 4 on lap 21, with the championship contender appearing to take a wider-than-normal line on the straight, leaving the Jenzer driver with nowhere to go.
As a result, Zagazeta retired into an escape road while Lindblad was left beached on a kerb. However, the stewards decided that Zagazeta was the driver at fault and awarded a five-place grid penalty for the next race in which he competes.
Despite the lack of action, the Hungarian feature race has had a huge effect on the drivers’ championship standings with Fornaroli and Mansell closing ground on the top three - Gabriele Mini (Prema), Luke Browning (Hitech) and Arvid Lindblad (Prema) – who all failed to scored after starting down the order and struggled to make ground in the Callum Voisin-led (Rodin) DRS train.
Fornaroli’s fourth place means the top four in the championship are now covered by 10 points, with Mansell now only 22 points off the top spot. Dino Beganovic (Prema) and Oliver Goethe (Campos) are the last of those with a realistic chance now, after finishing 10th and ninth respectively. Goethe is the lower placed driver in the standings and sits 32 points back on the lead with only two weekends remaining.
Hungaroring - Feature race
Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info
1
-
4
Main Information Additional Data
1
-
2
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Bonus 1
N. Tsolov ART Grand Prix
25 23
38'54.231
155.341 25 2
L. Van ART Grand Prix
24 23
+0.605
38'54.836
0.605 155.301 18 2 3
N. León Van Amersfoort Racing
20 23
+1.114
38'55.345
0.509 155.267 15 4
L. Fornaroli Trident
4 23
+1.439
38'55.670
0.325 155.245 12 5
C. Mansell ART Grand Prix
23 23
+1.781
38'56.012
0.342 155.223 10 1 6
S. Ramos Trident
6 23
+2.091
38'56.322
0.310 155.202 8 7
C. Voisin Rodin Motorsport
29 23
+2.497
38'56.728
0.406 155.175 6 8
N. Bedrin PHM AIX Racing
27 23
+2.751
38'56.982
0.254 155.158 4 9
O. Goethe Campos Racing
10 23
+3.304
38'57.535
0.553 155.121 2 10
D. Beganovic Prema Powerteam
1 23
+4.008
38'58.239
0.704 155.075 1 11
M. Boya Campos Racing
12 23
+4.443
38'58.674
0.435 155.046 12
G. Minì Prema Powerteam
2 23
+5.040
38'59.271
0.597 155.006 13
L. Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight
14 23
+5.139
38'59.370
0.099 155.000 14
M. Stenshorne Hitech Pulse-Eight
15 23
+5.786
39'00.017
0.647 154.957 15
T. Inthraphuvasak PHM AIX Racing
26 23
+6.785
39'01.016
0.999 154.891 16
M. Esterson Jenzer Motorsport
18 23
+7.190
39'01.421
0.405 154.864 17
A. Dunne MP Motorsport
9 23
+7.748
39'01.979
0.558 154.827 18
C. Shields Hitech Pulse-Eight
16 23
+8.206
39'02.437
0.458 154.797 19
K. Sztuka MP Motorsport
8 23
+9.211
39'03.442
1.005 154.730 20 S. Montoya Campos Racing 11 23
+9.453
39'03.684
0.242 154.714 21
T. Tramnitz MP Motorsport
7 23
+9.850
39'04.081
0.397 154.688 22
P. Wiśnicki Rodin Motorsport
30 23
+10.377
39'04.608
0.527 154.653 23
J. Dufek PHM AIX Racing
28 23
+11.456
39'05.687
1.079 154.582 24 S. Flörsch Van Amersfoort Racing 21 23
+11.792
39'06.023
0.336 154.560 25
T. Smith Van Amersfoort Racing
22 23
+16.104
39'10.335
4.312 154.277 26
S. Meguetounif Trident
5 23
+38.783
39'33.014
22.679 152.802 1 27
J. Loake Rodin Motorsport
31 22
+1 Lap
39'06.567
1 Lap 147.803 1 dnf
M. Zagazeta Jenzer Motorsport
19 20
+3 Laps
32'41.138
2 Laps 160.767 Accident dnf
A. Lindblad Prema Powerteam
3 20
+3 Laps
32'41.437
0.299 160.743 Accident dnf
C. Wurz Jenzer Motorsport
17 1
+22 Laps
2'08.413
19 Laps 1 Retirement View full results
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