Practice-
Mari Boya started his Budapest weekend on the front foot, winding up quickest for Campos Racing with a 1:34.236 in practice.
The Spaniard led Hitech Pulse-Eight teammates Martinius Stenshorne and Luke Browning, who completed the top three.
After a quiet start to the session, drivers headed out onto the circuit with 15 minutes gone. Following tyre preparation laps, Alex Dunne set the first time to beat with a 1:34.986 which was swiftly bettered by Gabriele Mini.
His PREMA Racing teammate Dino Beganovic had been on a strong lap just ahead of him but a snap of oversteer at the penultimate corner cost the Swede time, crossing the line almost a second down in fifth.
Sebastian Montoya had been inside the top five earlier in the session but lost his first effort to track limits.
The Campos Racing driver bounced back right away though to go second overall, 0.117s off Leon’s time.
Teammate Boya beat the pair of them shortly afterwards, going well clear of the rest on a 1:34.236 with just over 10 minutes left of the session.
Hitech Pulse-Eight teammates Martinius Stenshorne and Browning then moved themselves into the top positions, the former going second and the Briton fourth. On his final lap, the latter was able to find the time to lift himself up one more spot to take third at the chequered flag.
Qualifying-
ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen earned his first pole position in FIA Formula 3, with a 1:33.995 coming in the nick of time.
The Dutch driver finished the session on top and ahead of teammate Nikola Tsolov in P2, while title contender Leonardo Fornaroli took third for Trident.
There was a late red flag as another contender Luke Browning spun into the barriers on his final attempt, ending the session early.
With tyre preparation laps complete, AIX Racing’s Joshua Dufek set the initial pace with a 1:34.414 ahead of teammates Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Nikita Bedrin in a 1-2-3 for the team.
There was more vying for track position ahead of the second attempts but this time it was van Hoepen that took over at the top, setting a 1:34.316 until Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon secured P1 with a 1:34.174.
Further back and with clear track, Fornaroli was next to go quickest but it was very closely run. The Italian driver went just 0.001s quicker than Leon to secure provisional pole.
Van Hoepen returned to the top as the first into the 1:33s ahead of teammate Tsolov in P2. Fornaroli put himself in third just as the red flags came out as title rival Browning found the barriers at Turn 11, bringing the session to a conclusion and those behind unable to improve.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Van Hoepen, P2: Tsolov, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Leon, P5: Ramos, P6: Dufek, P7: Mehuetounif, P8: Browning, P9: Tramnitz and P10: Mansell.
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