Smolyar in pole position after a hotly contested session in Hungary

Alexander Smolyar definitely loves the Hungaroring. On the track where he took his first pole position in F3 two years ago with ART Grand Prix, the Russian, who now races under the colors of MP Motorsport, did it again by standing out as the fastest man of the day.

Neutralized 3 minutes from time after Zak O'Sullivan (Carlin) stopped on track, the session resumed with many drivers on track. Not everyone had time to start their time before the checkerboard was agitated like Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) or Arthur Leclerc (Prema), too short for a last attempt. Alexander Smolyar did not have this problem, on the contrary!

Improving after the 2nd sector, the Russian managed to beat his previous mark of 1'32"838 with a time of 1'32"740, almost a tenth faster. On the line, Alexander Smolyar thought he was ahead of Reece Ushijima (VAR) by 63 thousandths but it was Zane Maloney (Prema) who he beat. The first city in fact had its time withdrawn for non-compliance with the track limits at turn 4, thus falling to 19th place. Oliver Bearman (Prema) completed the Top 3 followed by his teammate Arthur Leclerc and Grégoire Saucy (ART Grand Prix).

The French in slight decline

The main leaders of this 2022 season, Victor Martins and Isack Hadjar (Hitech GP) were unable to complete their efforts. Coming out narrowly after the resumption of the session, the Tricolores did not have enough time to begin their last flying lap before the checkerboard was presented.

As a result, Victor Martins will start 8th this Sunday in the Main Race while Isack Hadjar will be 10th after finishing 3 tenths behind Alexander Smolyar. Concerning the pole position of the Sprint Race (reverse grid), it is Oliver Goethe (Campos), who replaces Hunter Yeany this weekend, who will lead the peloton.

The complete ranking