Formula 3 Hot News

Beckmann fastest ahead of teammate Zendeli in Budapest Free Practice

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Beckmann
Beckmann

Trident enjoyed a Free Practice one-two for the second round in a row, in today’s session at the Hungaroring, but this time the roles were reversed. David Beckmann was the fastest man of the morning, 0.010s ahead of Lirim Zendeli and ART’s Sebastian Fernandez.

Everyone knows how crucial Qualifying is around the Hungaroring. The Budapest-based circuit is notoriously difficult to overtake on, making starting position one of the main keys for the race.

Knowing this, the field headed out onto the track with just 45 minutes to nail both their setup, and their pace around the 4.318km long-lap. Damp spots could be seen around the circuit as the field put in their installation laps, but these quickly dried up as the cars warmed up the track.

Alex Peroni was amongst the first out in Budapest and set the first competitive laptime of the morning, at 1:34.235. The Campos racer is looking to put a difficult second round behind: after a solid start to the season, with a podium in his first race, he failed to finish in the points last weekend.

One man who needs to improve on his Qualifying performances so far is Liam Lawson. The Hitech Grand Prix driver wants to fight for the title this season, and already has a Race 2 win to his name, but his difficulty to qualify higher than 10th has seen him struggle to compete for victory in Race 1.

Lawson looked competitive in today’s Free Practice, going second in the early stages behind the in-form Trident of Beckmann. The German quickly saw his time bettered by Jake Hughes. The HWA RACELAB driver is looking to get over a tough Round 2 of his own that saw him collide with

Lawson in the closing laps of Race 2 as the two men battled for the lead.

The field dived into the pits at the halfway stage and returned with a new set of medium tires. David Schumacher made the most of the fresh rubber and took P1, with a 1:33.217.

Championship leaders PREMA were struggling for pace in the early stages. Logan Sargeant could only manage P4, with Frederik Vesti two places back in sixth. Championship leader Oscar Piastri missed the first part of the session and played catch-up further back. The Aussie set an initial lap good enough for 19th, before improving to 12th. The final push laps dropped all three of them into the final 10 positions.

Practice Results

POS NO. NAT TEAM TIME LAPS GAP INT
1 11 David BECKMANN Trident 1:31.839 19 171.730 0.000
2 10 Lirim ZENDELI Trident 1:31.849 20 0.010 0.010
3 9 Sebastian FERNANDEZ ART Grand Prix 1:31.870 20 0.031 0.021
4 15 Jake HUGHES HWA RACELAB 1:31.948 20 0.109 0.078
5 5 Liam LAWSON Hitech Grand Prix 1:32.076 20 0.237 0.128
6 7 Theo POURCHAIRE ART Grand Prix 1:32.113 20 0.274 0.037
7 28 Cameron DAS Carlin Buzz Racing 1:32.237 20 0.398 0.124
8 16 Jack DOOHAN HWA RACELAB 1:32.279 21 0.440 0.042
9 17 Richard VERSCHOOR MP Motorsport 1:32.321 19 0.482 0.042
10 8 Alexander SMOLYAR ART Grand Prix 1:32.421 20 0.582 0.100
11 29 Alexander PERONI Campos Racing 1:32.426 19 0.587 0.005
12 12 Olli CALDWELL Trident 1:32.481 20 0.642 0.055
13 22 Matteo NANNINI Jenzer Motorsport 1:32.494 20 0.655 0.013
14 18 Bent VISCAAL MP Motorsport 1:32.590 18 0.751 0.096
15 4 Max FEWTRELL Hitech Grand Prix 1:32.631 19 0.792 0.041
16 20 Calan WILLIAMS Jenzer Motorsport 1:32.644 21 0.805 0.013
17 26 Clement NOVALAK Carlin Buzz Racing 1:32.770 17 0.931 0.126
18 14 Enzo FITTIPALDI HWA RACELAB 1:32.770 20 0.931 0.000
19 6 Dennis HAUGER Hitech Grand Prix 1:32.850 20 1.011 0.080
20 21 Federico MALVESTITI Jenzer Motorsport 1:32.912 22 1.073 0.062
21 27 Enaam AHMED Carlin Buzz Racing 1:32.999 18 1.160 0.087
22 19 Lukas DUNNER MP Motorsport 1:33.112 18 1.273 0.113
23 3 Logan SARGEANT PREMA Racing 1:33.141 16 1.302 0.029
24 25 David SCHUMACHER Charouz Racing 1:33.217 21 1.378 0.076
25 24 Igor FRAGA Charouz Racing 1:33.464 19 1.625 0.247
26 31 Sophia FLOERSCH Campos Racing 1:33.469 19 1.630 0.005
27 2 Frederik VESTI PREMA Racing 1:33.570 16 1.731 0.101
28 1 Oscar PIASTRI PREMA Racing 1:33.654 13 1.815 0.084
29 23 Roman STANEK Charouz Racing 1:33.689 22 1.850 0.035
30 30 Alessio DELEDDA Campos Racing 1:35.322 18 3.483 1.633