Practice-
Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney made a strong start to his Budapest weekend by going fastest of all in Free Practice thanks to his time of 1:32.668.
Maloney was in fine form throughout the session and ended up over a tenth faster than DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford in second with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi in third.
It was Maloney who led the way after the first set of laps, as his time of 1:33.556 put him on top, with Trident’s Richard Verschoor crossing the line to go to second, 0.390s behind.
PREMA’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli then went up to second, only for Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto to jump ahead of him moments later, the Brazilian just 0.188s off Maloney.
The Virtual Safety Car was briefly deployed after Campos Racing’s Josep Maria Marti spun and made slight contact with the barrier at Turn 11.
Martins though was showing good pace and on his next flying effort beat Maloney’s time by just 0.002s, sending him to the top. But he would not hold that position for much longer with Hauger going fastest on a 1:33.100.
With less than four minutes to go, the drivers started to push on their tyres once more and Maloney went back to the top of the leaderboard with a lap of 1:32.668.
Qualifying-
Paul Aron sealed his second pole position of the season after edging out Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi to the top spot in a tightly contested Budapest Qualifying session.
The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver completed a late lap of 1:30.028 to beat Fittipaldi to first by just 0.068s with Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar over a tenth back in third.
But it was Free Practice table-topper, Zane Maloney who led the way early on clocking a time of 1:30.515 to lead his ART Grand Prix rival Victor Martins by over a tenth.
Then came Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto setting the fastest times in the first two sectors before going to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:30.269, beating Malone by 0.246s.
A few drivers went on to try go for a second push lap on their first set of tyres, one of those being Aron, but as he came across the line he went up to P7, the Red Flags were waved.
Josep Maria Marti spun at the exit of Turn 11 and while he managed to stay out of the barrier, he stopped by the side of the road meaning the marshals had to wheel his car away.
With under 10 minutes remaining in the session, the drivers returned to the track after strapping on a new set of softs, led by Fittipaldi.
This meant that the Brazilian was the first to set a timed lap on his second set and went up to provisional pole.
However, his time was quickly beaten by Aron, as the Hitech rookie went just 0.068s clear of the Brazilian with a 1:30.028.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Aron, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Hadjar, P4: Bortoleto, P5: Martins, P6: Hauger, P7: Antonelli, P8: Maloney, P9: Maini and P10: Verschoor.
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