Formula 2

Sprint Race

Richard Verschoor secured his fourth win in Formula 2, with a well-earned victory at the Budapest Sprint Race on Saturday, despite losing the lead early on after staring in reverse-grid pole-position.

Pole-sitter Verschoor and fellow front row starter Maini both made good starts at lights out, whilst Andrea Kimi Antonelli stormed off the start to go around the outside of the Invicta car at Turn 2 and take second place.

Antonelli didn’t seem to waste any time and took the lead after diving down the inside at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 4. He capitalised on his advantage over Verschoor and by the end of Lap 5 he was well over two seconds clear at the front of the field, whilst the Dutchman was beginning to come under threat from Maini and Martins just behind.

Lap 11 came around and what had been a lead of over two seconds for PREMA Racing’s Antonelli had now decreased to only 1.6s, as the Hard compound tyres had begun to come to temperature. Further behind, Maini had also created a gap of over two seconds to ART’s Martins, who was beginning to come under pressure from Hauger in the battle for P4.

A lock-up going into Turn 1 for race-leader Antonelli after previously running wide at the final corner, allowed both Verschoor and Maini through at the start of Lap 16. Antonelli continued to fall further down the order, with the previous lock up proving costly as lost positions to Martins, Fittipaldi, Hauger and Hadjar, before PREMA made the call for him to pit for a set of Hards.

The Soft tyres seemed to be the worst tyre decision for the drivers on track as the likes of Bortoleto and Fittipaldi were also struggling, and after losing positions to Hauger and Colapinto, the Van Amersfoort Racing driver was forced to pit after suffering a puncture on the front left tyre.

By the final lap of the race, Verschoor had managed to build a two-second gap out at the front of the field, and with a controlled recovery drive after a disappointing opening section of the race, he crossed the line to take his fourth Formula 2 victory ahead of Invicta Racing’s Maini, with ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins taking the final spot on the rostrum.

Hadjar ended up taking fourth place ahead of Hauger and Colapinto, with Paul Aron making his way up to P7 and Taylor Barnard rounded out the points-paying position in P8.

Post-Race:

Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race in Budapest, Trident’s Richard Verschoor has been disqualified from the results.

Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini inherits P1, marking the first time the Indian driver has won in Formula 2, whilst Victor Martins is promoted to P2.

Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar is also promoted to the final podium position and earns the point for fastest lap, while Juan Manuel Correa of DAMS Lucas Oil now takes the final point in eighth place.

Feature Race:

Andrea Kimi Antonelli put in an impressive performance and a late charge from the Italian saw him take the chequered flag in first place, taking his maiden F2 Feature Race victory in Budapest. He utilised a late Safety Car to pit for the Soft compound and fly from fifth position to take the victory, with ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins taking second and Trident’s Verschoor in P3.

Pole-sitter Paul Aron had a slow start from the front of the grid, which was made worse as a result of a lock up that forced him to go deep at Turn 1, dropping him down to seventh place. Martins had the best getaway from the line, after starting the race in fifth before moving into first place on the approach to the opening corner.

Martins was already under-pressure though from front row starter Enzo Fittipaldi and Gabriel Bortoleto, with Zane Maloney and Antonelli in fourth and fifth respectively. PREMA soon came over the radio telling Antonelli to get a move on and pass Maloney as soon as possible, with the former diving down the inside at Turn 9 and completing the move.

The racing was neutralised soon after, as a Safety Car was required when Aron, who attempted a move down the inside of Hauger, carried far too much speed going into Turn 2 and as result ended up in the back of Maloney, collecting both in a spin eventually stopping on track.

This incident allowed several of the drivers, who started the race on the Soft tyres to pit for the Hard compound and complete their mandatory stop. These included: Martins, Bortoleto, Fittipaldi, Hauger, O’Sullivan, Bearmand and Isack Hadjar.

Racing resumed at the start of Lap 8, with Antonelli leading the pack ahead of Saturday’s Sprint Race winner Verschoor and Kush Maini, with the trio yet to pit for their own mandatory stop. By Lap 13 the gap from the leader to P2 was already over three seconds, with Martins now on the better tyre in P4 and putting pressure on Maini.

The ART car seemed to be the car to beat on track with Marins up to third by Lap 15 after going down the inside of the Invicta at Turn 1, and by Lap 18 he was within DRS range of the Trident of Verschoor, making quick work by diving down the inside at Turn 1 to move up to P2 by the next lap.

With the gap between P1 and P2 around six and a half seconds and Martins looking at closing the distance, the Safety Car was once again deployed for the second time as a consequence of Cordeel having crashed into the barrier at Turn 4. The Hitech driver reported to the team via radio that he was okay, however, this gave Antonelli the chance to pit for the Soft compound tyres and come back out into the pack in fifth behind Hauger.

Racing resumed for the second time on Lap 27 with Martins leading from Bortoleto, however the pair were quickly under pressure from Antonelli, who had passed both Hauger and Fittipaldi before reaching Turn 3.

As a result of the two Safety Cars, the race eventually became one against the clock and with under nine minutes to go until the conclusion of the race, Antonelli utilised the DRS he had to his advantage and passed Martins on the main straight to take the lead of the race.

The final lap of the race came as the seconds trickled down, with Antonelli building a lead of over 12 seconds before crossing the line to take his first Feature Race victory of the season, with Martins following in second place.

Verschoor made a last lap overtake on Bortoleto to take P3 with Fittipaldi following across the line for fifth, ahead of Hauger in P6. Maini was another driver who seemed to be making a comeback through the field on the Softs, ending in seventh ahead of Miyata and AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez rounding out the points-paying positions in P10.

Formula 3

Sprint Race

Nikita Bedrin took his maiden race victory in FIA Formula 3 for AIX Racing, with teammate Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak finishing in second place in Budapest to also take his first podium in the Championship.

A good getaway from the line for pole-sitter Beganovic saw him keep ahold of the lead of the race from Bedrin going into Turn 1, however the AIX driver eventually rounded the Swedish driver at Turn 2 to take the lead. Inthraphuvasak followed in third place ahead of Callum Voisin and Christian Mansell.

The Virtual Safety Car was deployed to neutralise the racing conditions in order for marshals to recover the stricken car of Matias Zagazeta, after contact on the opening lap left the Jenzer Motorsport car unable to continue.

Racing conditions resumed and the top four were all within a second of each other, with Tramnitz and Mansell joining the DRS train of cars by the coming of Lap 6.

Onto Lap 10 and Beganovic gambled with a late move on Bedrin going into Turn 2, however the PREMA driver caught the grass on the inside of the corner and as a result the car went sideways off the track. He managed to catch the slide but his moment dropped him down to third place behind Inthraphuvasak.

Going into the chicane at Turn 6 and 7, Tramnitz tried to squeeze his way alongside Voisin, who skipped across the chicane in an attempt to keep hold of fourth place. The Rodin Motorsport driver was eventually told to concede the place to Tramnitz by his team, in an attempt to stop any potential review by the Race Stewards.

At the front of the race, Bedrin seemed to be in full control of the pack and after resisting the pressure of Beganovic, he crossed the line at the chequered flag to earn his first FIA F3 victory, leading from Inthraphuvasak, giving AIX Racing a 1-2 finish that means that all teams have stood on the podium in the 2024 season.

Beganovic eventually crossed the line in third place ahead of Tramnitz in P4 and Mansell in fifth. Voisin was able to keep ahold of sixth place ahead of Championship contenders Leonardo Fornaroli and Luke Browning who finished in seventh and eighth place respectively.

ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen finished ninth and Sami Meguetounif rounded out the points in P10 for Trident Motorsport.

Feature Race:

Nikola Tsolov took his maiden Feature Race victory in Formula 3, winning on Sunday ahead of ART Grand Prix teammate Laurens van Hoepen in Budapest. The driver from Bulgaria took the lead right from the start and resisted pressure from the Dutch driver for the entirety of the race, whilst Noel Leon rounded out the podium in third place for Van Amersfoort Racing.

Pole-sitter van Hoepen didn’t have the clear start he would have wished for at the start of the race, experiencing a wheel-spin off the line, meaning he had to defend hard against his teammate Tsolov going into the first corner. His bad luck continued as ran deep at Turn 1, allowing the Bulgarian to pass as well as Leon. He didn’t give up however, fighting his way back past the Mexican to re-take second place.

With DRS now enabled, van Hoepen began to recover from the poor start and close in on Tsolov, entering Lap 3 a mere half a second behind, whilst Leon dropped back to over a second from the ART duo.

Christian Mansell meanwhile had managed to move the third ART car up to fifth position, with a late dive going down the inside of Santiago Ramos at the opening corner of Lap 4.

As the opening laps of the race passed by, van Hoepen was quick to relay on the radio that his tyres were beginning to overheat as he chased down his teammate Tsolov. Whilst he wasn’t close enough to attempt an overtake for the lead of the race, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Leon was able to catch-up to within DRS range of the Dutchman heading into Lap 10.

The mid-way stage of the Sprint race came, and the top six drivers were all within four seconds of each other, with Santiago Ramos a good 9.6s clear of Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin who was running in P7.

In the fight for the final points-paying positions of the race, Oliver Goethe managed a late dive into Turn 1 to pass Dino Beganovic to move up into ninth position on Lap 14, whilst further behind, Gabriel Mini passed Inthraphuvasak to move up into P11. Mari Boya also passed the AIX Racing driver at Turn 12 on Lap 16, quickly followed by Championship contender Luke Browning on the next lap at Turn 2.

Going into the final three laps of the race and after a phase of tyre management, van Hoepen was beginning to apply pressure on teammate Tsolov once again whilst fighting for the lead of the race.

A late Safety Car was deployed to neutralise the race as a result of contact between Arvid Lindblad and Matias Zagazeta on Lap 21, with the PREMA Racing driver having to stop at Turn 4. With so little time remaining on the clock to allow for the removal of the stricken cars from the track, it was decided by Race Control that there was no possibility to resume the racing in time for a final lap shootout.

This resulted in Tsolov taking his third race win of 2024 and his maiden F3 Feature Race victory ahead of long-battling teammate van Hoepen, giving ART Grand Prix a 1-2 podium finish to round off an exciting weekend of racing. Leon joined the podium in third place for Van Amersfoort Racing, in what is a third rostrum visit of the season for the Mexican driver.

Fornaroli finished fourth, managing to close the gap between himself and Championship contender Mini significantly, whilst Mansell ensured that ART had all three of their cars in the top five of the race, finishing in fifth. The final points-paying positions were taken by Ramos, Voisin, Bedrin, Goethe and Beganovic respectively.