Joseph Pepe Marti held off competition to win sprint F2 race in Hungary, as Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak has his second in F3.
F2:
It was a great start from pole from Martí, while Dunne was slow away from second, allowing Lindblad to get ahead of the Rodin to make it a Campos 1-2. Further down the field, Gabriele Minì and Joshua Duerksen had been battling for P11, but the PREMA Racing driver collided with the rear of Roman Stanek, sending his rival into a spin at Turn 9.
Minì was later handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident. The Invicta Racing driver continued on at the back of the field, but up ahead his teammate Leonardo Fornaroli lost out on sixth to Luke Browning at Turn 2 on Lap 3. Out in front, Lindblad was 0.5s off his teammate, while Dunne was closely following the leading pair.
However, the top three had pulled out a 1.7s gap on Victor Martins in P4, who was coming under pressure from Crawford. Having set the fastest time of the race, Lindblad dived to the inside of Martí at Turn 1 on Lap 8. However, the Spaniard used the switchback nicely at Turn 2 to retake the position. Their battling brought Dunne and Martins further into contention with the top five cars now all within DRS range of one another.
Lap 14 of 28 and Lindblad briefly lost DRS range to Martí, bringing Dunne right on to the back of his fellow rookie. However, the Campos driver fended over his advances at Turns 1 and 2. The drivers then settled into management mode, but the top 14 drivers, from Martí to Sebastián Montoya, were all within one second of each other on Lap 16.
On to Lap 18 and PREMA brought Minì into the pit lane from P11 to serve his penalty, but also to put him on a set of Soft tyres. At the start of Lap 19, having bided his time behind Lindblad, Dunne made a bold move at Turn 1, diving to the inside of the Briton to take P2. Lindblad was struggling and came under attack from Martins in the opening two corners of the lap.
However, the ART Grand Prix driver was forced to lift at the entry of Turn 3, allowing Crawford through for P4. The American was right on the back of Lindblad on Lap 21, but he could not find a way through despite his attempts at Turns 1 and 2. But with the Red Bull Junior driver fighting hard for position, the top two were now 4.7s clear of the rest of the field.
The Safety Car was then deployed on Lap 22, with Montoya having stopped on track down the main straight. With the PREMA car cleared, racing resumed on Lap 26 of 28, and on the restart, Browning overtook Martins for P5 heading into Turn 1. Crawford was finding Lindblad tough to pass as the two went side-by-side at Turn 2, as once again the Campos driver held on to P3.
On to the final lap and with DRS activated, the DAMS driver opened his rear wing down the main straight and got ahead of Lindblad heading into Turn 1 to take third place. Up ahead, Martí made a mistake at Turn 5, putting Dunne right on to his back as the two went wheel-to-wheel through the final sector.
However, the Spaniard held off the Rodin driver across the line to take a third win of the season. Crawford took the final spot on the podium ahead of Lindblad with Browning in fifth, Martins sixth, Fornaroli in seventh, as Richard Verschoor rounded out the points in eighth.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1951630495554453966
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race in Budapest, Luke Browning and Arvid Lindblad have both received post-race penalties. Firstly, Arvid Lindblad has been handed a post-race time penalty. The Campos Racing driver was alleged to have left the track and gained an advantage on Lap 20 in an on-track battle with ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins.
Following the race, the Stewards heard from both the drivers and their team representatives along with available video evidence. The Stewards determined that Car 4 of Lindblad had gained an advantage by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 3. The Campos driver entered Turn 3 on the inside line and exited the corner exceeding track limits, forcing Martins to lift and or brake, subsequently he was passed by Jak Crawford.
By going off the track to defend and maintain position over Martins, the Stewards considered Lindblad’s actions to constitute an advantage. As a result, they applied a five-second time penalty to the Briton’s race time. With the penalty applied, Lindblad drops from 4th to 10th place in the classification.
Finally, Luke Browning has been handed a post-race time penalty. During the Sprint, the Hitech TGR driver was alleged to have left the track and gained an advantage in a separate on-track incident with ART’s Martins at Turns 6 and 7 on the final lap. The Stewards heard from both of the drivers involved along with team representatives and determined that Car 7 of Browning had left the track at Turn 7 and maintained position over Car 14 of Martins by doing so.
As a result, the Stewards applied a five-second time penalty to Browning, considering the factor that it had been a defensive move by the Hitech driver. The Briton originally finished the Sprint Race in P5, but with the additional five seconds on his race time, he falls to 12th place.
F3:
Inthraphuvasak immediately moved to cover off James Hedley at lights out and he retained the lead into the first corner, while Brando Badoer moved ahead of Alessandro Giusti to take P4. Hedley tried a move at Turn 10 to take the lead, but that allowed James Wharton a chance at second, though the AIX Racing driver retained P2 as they entered the final sector.
Just behind them and entering the penultimate corner, Giusti had contact with Ugochukwu which damaged his suspension and left him heading into the barriers, bringing out the Safety Car. The Safety Car was in at the end of Lap 3 with Inthraphuvasak leading Hedley, Wharton, Badoer and Ugochukwu in the top five.
The American was able to find a pass on his teammate at Turn 13 to take fourth on Lap 5 and he was immediately harrying Wharton for third position. With DRS on Lap 7, the PREMA driver set up a switchback out of Turn 1 to move up to third place, and by Lap 8 he was onto the back of Hedley, as the Briton remained within half a second of the race leader.
A wide moment at Turn 4 for Hedley on Lap 11 opened the door to the McLaren Development Driver, Ugochukwu moved up to second and set about closing the one-second gap to Inthraphuvasak. Lap 14 and he had closed in on the leader and was into DRS range of the Campos driver.
In the fight for the final podium spot, Hedley had fallen five seconds away and had Wharton glued to his gearbox, but an opportunistic pass by Wurz at Turn 3 gave the TRIDENT driver P4. Moments later, Noel León and Théophile Nael ran off at Turn 4 as they fought for position and made contact as they tried to rejoin, leaving the PREMA driver out of the running and bringing out the Safety Car.
It was withdrawn with a lap to go, leaving Inthraphuvasak to fend off Ugochukwu for the victory in a one-lap shootout. Wurz was on the move behind them as he dived down the inside of Hedley to take third position at Turn 1. Inthraphuvasak held on though, earning his second Sprint Race victory of the year ahead of Ugochukwu and Wurz.
Hedley was fourth as he beat Wharton by three-tenths across the line. Badoer secured sixth for PREMA ahead of Mari Boya, Rafael Câmara, Nael and Gerrard Xie in the final points position and 10th.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1951565337519886380
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race in Budapest, several drivers have been handed post-race penalties. Firstly, Bruno del Pino has been awarded a five-second time penalty. The MP Motorsport driver was alleged to have made a false-start at the start of the Sprint Race.
Afterwards, the Stewards reviewed available data and video evidence, along with hearing from both driver and team representative, and determined that Car 18 had indeed moved before the start signal. They also noted Car 18 stopped after his slight movement and so applied the least severe penalty available to them.
As a result, they applied a five-second time penalty for such an infringement in line with the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Sporting Regulations. Having originally finished P19, he drops to 25th in the final classification. Secondly, Matias Zagazeta has been handed a 10-second time penalty. The DAMS Lucas Oil driver was alleged to have caused a collision with Car 29 of Nicola Lacorte.
After the Sprint, the Stewards examined video evidence and heard from both drivers and team representatives and determined that Car 30 had been wholly at fault for the collision due to not providing adequate room for Car 29 at Turn 2. As a result, they applied a 10-second time penalty. Having finished 25th, Zagazeta drops to 26th in the final standings.
Finally, Noel León has been given a post-race time penalty. The PREMA Racing driver was involved in a collision with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Théophile Nael at Turn 4. Following the race, the Stewards heard from both drivers along with their team representatives and examined available video evidence of the incident.
They determined that Car 20 was entitled to the corner, and that the contact between both drivers was the fault of Car 2, who they deemed wholly responsible for the collision, and applied a 10-second time penalty as a result. With León not finishing the Sprint Race, his time penalty has been converted into a five-place grid drop for the Budapest Feature Race.
[The story is as per press release]
