Tom Blomqvist took a commanding win in the first Formula 3 European Championship race of the weekend at Hungaroring.
The Carlin driver took over the lead from pole-sitter Estaban Ocon on the run down to the first corner, and while Ocon was able to shadow Blomqvist for the first half a dozen laps, the Briton put in a series of quick laps mid-way through the race to stretch the gap out to more than five seconds.
That proved to be sufficient to produce a comfortable win, the final margin back to second-placed Ocon being 4.8 seconds at the finish.
Felix Rosenqvist finished third after a quiet race, having inherited the final spot on the podium from Max Verstappen six laps into proceedings when the Dutchman was sidelined with a mechanical problem.
Rosenqvist’s team-mate Lucas Auer did make a late play for third, closing to within a second several laps from the end, but Rosenqvist was able to manage the gap and keep the Austrian off the podium.
Jordan King finished fifth for Carlin, ahead of Jules Szymkowiak, who recorded his best finish in European F3 by some margin.
However, Szymkowiak did have some help in the latter stages when Antonio Fuoco and Gustavo Menezes, who had been running sixth and seventh respectively, were handed drive-through penalties for exceeding track limits.
Fuoco, who made a poor getaway from fourth on the grid, wound up having to take two trips down the pitlane, picking up a second penalty for crossing the white line when re-joining the track after serving the first and finished 19th.
Felix Serralles and Dennis van de Laar also benefited from Fuoco and Menezes being penalised, finishing seventh and eighth, while Mitchell Gilbert and Sean Gelael rounded out the points-paying positions.
Jake Dennis, meanwhile, finished 11th, just one position short of scoring a point after starting at the back of the grid thanks to a driveshaft failure in Friday’s qualifying session.
Follow the second Hungaroring Euro F3 race as it happens on AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from appoximately 3:15pm UK time on Saturday
Results - 21 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Tom Blomqvist Carlin Dallara-VW
2. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Mercedes +4.897s
3. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +13.180s
4. Lucas Auer Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +14.517s
5. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW +17.592s
6. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW +34.332s
7. Felix Serralles West-Tec Dallara Mercedes +36.090s
8. Dennis van de Laar Prema Dallara-Mercedes +39.033s
9. Mitch Gilbert Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +42.057s
10. Sean Gelael Carlin Dallara-VW +42.765s
11. Jake Dennis Carlin Dallara-VW +43.241s
12. Alexander Toril T-Sport Dallara-NBE +44.817s
13. Felipe Guimares Double R Dallara-Mercedes +46.140s
14. John Bryant-Meisner 0Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +49.346s
15. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +49.986s
16. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-NBE +51.521s
17. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW +55.888s
18. Hector Hurst West-Tec Dallara Mercedes +1m05.790s
19. Antonio Fuoco Prema Dallara-Mercedes +1m06.397s
20. Tatiana Calderon Zeller Dallara-Mercedes +1m19.632s
21. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Mercedes +1m24.898s
22. Nicholas Latifi Prema Dallara-Mercedes +1m35.591s
23. Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin Dallara-VW +2 laps
Retirements:
Max Verstappen Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW 6 laps
Michele Beretta EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes 0 laps
