Theophile Nael produced a dominant display on Saturday morning in the Formula 3 Sprint Race to claim the victory at the Hungaroring.
Kanato Le started on reverse grid pole while his teammate Maciej Gladysz joined him on the front row. After a good launch off the line from the drivers further back, the lead changed into the first corner as the first lap brought chaos.
Green lights and Safety Cars
The lights went out for the 19-lap race and it was Gerrard Xie who leapt ahead of the front row to take the lead from fourth place on the grid.
His lead was short-lived as a late-braking mistake allowed Le to take back the lead. Nael found space between the cars ahead, rocketing from seventh to second.
Contact between Jin Nakamura and Gladysz brought out an early Safety Car. The two drivers went three-wide with Xie into Turn 2. Then Nakamura went into the side of Gladysz from behind, taking them both out of the race.
Ugo Ugochukwu picked up front wing damage as he tried to barge ahead of Nicola Lacorte while the DAMS driver continued to defend his position, before Ugochukwu took sixth place from him.
A change of lead
Further back, James Wharton and Yevan David went side by side, with Wharton managing to battle his way into the top ten. Meanwhile, Ugochukwu continued to fight his way through the pack as he leapt into fifth place. A bold move down the inside of Le granted Nael the opportunity to leap ahead of him to take the lead.
On Lap 11, Ugochukwu’s tyres appeared to deteriorate, dropping him a bit behind Mattia Colnaghi in front of him. Meanwhile, as margins continued to narrow with eight laps to go, the Sprint win was up for grabs for several contenders.
The day worsened for Ugochukwu as he got hit with a five-second penalty for a move on Tuukka Taponen in Turn 3 on the first lap. The Campos driver ran wide and received the penalty for pushing a driver off the track and gaining an advantage.
While the Championship leader looked to continue his strive to remain on top during the Sprint, the penalty opened up the door for Freddie Slater to become the new man at the top of the standings.
Down the field, Fernando Barrichello attacked Wharton as he attempted to push himself into the top 10 positions. In the front, the top three remained unchanged as Nael, Le, and Ernesto Rivera held tight onto their podium positions.
The last moments to the chequered flag
What started as a great day for Ugochukwu only grew sourer. On Lap 16, Lacorte attempted to push through Brando Badoer; however, the lunge sent him into Ugochukwu, and the drivers made contact once again. Every point of contact helped Slater move further up the field.
The penultimate lap brought a fight for podium contention. Rivera attempted to lunge past Le, however, the ART driver defended well to deny him second place. The driver looked for a way through, but kept getting denied the move.
After a dominant drive, Nael stormed to the chequered flag and took his second F3 victory of the season. On the podium with him were Le, making it his first F3 podium, and Rivera, who took back-to-back podiums.
READ MORE: Tuukka Taponen claims F3 pole position for Hungarian Grand Prix
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