Zak O’Sullivan dominated the Formula 3 feature race in Hungary from start to finish to claim his fourth victory of the season.
The Williams junior crossed the line 2.8 seconds ahead of Dino Beganovic in a Prema one-two with Franco Colapinto joining them on the podium.While O’Sullivan has now won more races than any F3 driver this season, he remains 43 points behind championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto, who laboured in the midfield for seventh place in today’s race.
O’Sullivan had taken pole position in emphatic fashion, he and Beganovic locking out the front row for Prema. The race was shortened from 24 laps to 19, the same as yesterday’s sprint race, due to concerns over tyre performance after drivers encountered heavy degradation on Saturday.
The 30-car F3 field maintained good order at the start as O’Sullivan maintained the lead with a quick reaction off the line. The drivers behind him largely kept position, and despite much wheel-to-wheel action, by lap two the highest overtake was Pepe Marti on Nikola Tsolov for 10th.
The top five drivers then broke away from the pack so that by lap six Paul Aron trailed fifth-placed Oliver Goethe by over two seconds. On the same lap Bortoleto overtook Jonny Edgar for seventh behind them.
O’Sullivan gradually extended his advantage and by lap seven he held a 2.6s lead over his team mate. A new name reached the podium places on lap nine as Colapinto performed a late-braking move at turn one and overtook Leonardo Fornaroli on the inside for third. The Trident driver soon dropped back again, Goethe overtaking Fornaroli for fourth at turn two on lap 10.
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Meanwhile O’Sullivan continued to steadily draw clear, the Williams junior’s lead over Beganovic reaching 4.1s by lap 13. Colapinto’s hopes of further progress were slim as he lay a further 7.5s behind the second Prema.
The main wheel-to-wheel action came in the lower point positions where by lap 16, Marti had stormed up to sixth after starting 13th with a series of excellent passes.
Despite fears over the tyre performance, no drivers encountered any notable problems towards the end of the race, as the asphalt rose from 27C to 34C by the time the chequered flag dropped.
But the action up front remained very quiet. O’Sullivan maintained a relatively comfortable advantage in the closing stages to cross the line for another victory. “Nice one guys, the pace was really good,” he said afterwards paying tribute to a great team performance.
Beganovic and Colapinto joined him on the podium, with Goethe finishing fourth. Aron, Marti, Bortoleto, Fornaroli, Edgar and Mari Boya completing the points-paying positions.
With four races remaining, Bortoleto remains in charge of the championship picture on 144 points. O’Sullivan has moved up five positions to second and is 43 points behind the Trident driver. Marti is now third, just one point behind the Williams junior.
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Formula 3 Hungary race two results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Zak O’Sullivan | Prema |
| 2 | 2 | Dino Beganovic | Prema |
| 3 | 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP |
| 4 | 6 | Oliver Goethe | Trident |
| 5 | 1 | Paul Aron | Prema |
| 6 | 23 | Pepe Martí | Campos |
| 7 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident |
| 8 | 12 | Jonny Edgar | MP |
| 9 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident |
| 10 | 11 | Mari Boya | MP |
| 11 | 24 | Christian Mansell | Campos |
| 12 | 16 | Luke Browning | Hitech |
| 13 | 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos |
| 14 | 27 | Maxwell Esterson | Jenzer |
| 15 | 8 | Gregoire Saucy | ART |
| 16 | 15 | Caio Collet | MP |
| 17 | 18 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| 18 | 29 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 19 | 17 | Caio Collet | Van Amersfoort |
| 20 | 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 21 | 21 | Max Esterson | Rodin Carlin |
| 22 | 22 | Ido Cohen | Rodin Carlin |
| 23 | 26 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer |
| 24 | 14 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech |
| 25 | 9 | Nikola Tsolov | ART |
| 26 | 28 | Alejandro García | Jenzer |
| 27 | 20 | Oliver Gray | Rodin Carlin |
| 28 | 31 | Woohyun Shin | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 29 | 19 | Tom Smith | Van Amersfoort |
| DNF | 7 | Kaylen Frederick | ART |
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