PREMA secures podium finish, triple top-10 at Hungaroring
PREMA Racing brought home a triple points finish and a podium today in the FIA Formula 3 Championship feature race at the Hungaroring. The race featured similar conditions to yesterday, with a wet start and conditions progressively improving.
Starting from P3, Ollie Bearman stayed away from trouble and after trying to attack the drivers in front, kept the pressure on. A last-gasp attack for P2 almost succeeded, with the British Ferrari Driver Academy driver finishing only 0.02 seconds away from the second place.
Jak Crawford stayed for most of the race in his teammate’s slipstream, the Red Bull Junior American eventually had to settle for P5 as some of the contenders ducked to the pits for slicks and made massive late gains.
Arthur Leclerc started from P9 due to a 5-spot grid penalty for his race 1 contact, and navigated his way through the pack until he also had to give away some positions in the end to the cars on slick tyres. However, by scoring points in P8, he inched closer to the Driver Championship lead and now stands in P3, only 8 points away from the top. He is followed by Crawford and Bearman while PREMA Racing consolidated its lead in the Team Championship.
#4 ARTHUR LECLERC
“I had a really good start but the first lap was difficult because I was pushed wide quite a lot and lost some positions. Then in terms of pace, we did a really good job as we were very fast. We did the whole race on wet tyres and we were able to overtake rivals that were starting in front of us. I was really happy because we were the fastest on wets. Unfortunately, the result, in the end, is not there because some people put on slicks as they had nothing to lose and got past. The result hurts a bit but the situation is really positive for the next race weekends.”
Qualifying: P4
Starting position Race 1: P9
Starting position Race 2: P9
Fastest lap: 1:32.912
Race 1: DNF
Race 2: P8
#5 JAK CRAWFORD
“It was a really tricky race. I had a great start and made up some positions but after that, I struggled at the beginning with the balance. As the race progressed the car came to me. I wasn’t able to overtake even if I was a bit quicker. In the end, I dropped off and ended up being passed by some guys on slicks. Otherwise, good points for the championship.”
Qualifying: P7
Starting position Race 1: P6
Starting position Race 2: P6
Fastest lap: 1’33″009
Race 1: P20
Race 2: P5
#6 OLIVER BEARMAN
“Another P3 in the feature race, half a tenth from P2. It’s a bit annoying but I’m happy to take good points. It was a difficult race, we started on wets and ended up basically on slicks as they were destroyed. Real slicks were much faster at the end but I managed to hold onto P3, almost got P2, now I’m looking onto the last few races.”
Qualifying: P3
Starting position Race 1: P10
Starting position Race 2: P3
Fastest lap: 1’32″872
Race 1: P5
Race 2: P3
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing