Esteban Ocon wins from Antonio Fuoco and Lucas Auer

Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam) concluded his race weekend at the 4.381 kilometres long Hungaroring with yet another victory. The 17-year-old Lotus F1 junior driver won the twelfth season round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship from Antonio Fuoco (Prema Powerteam), who is backed by the Ferrari Driver Academy, and Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport).

With his fifth win of the season, Esteban Ocon extended his lead in the drivers’ standings of the strongest junior single-seater race series and now has 82 points more than his nearest rival, Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin). The Briton finished sixth in the race near the Hungarian capital of Budapest that was stopped early due to rain.

Esteban Ocon took the lead at the start. Lucas Auer only briefly kept Antonio Fuoco and his team-mate Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) at bay, then he dropped back to fourth. Some drops of rain didn’t cause any changes to this order. Out in front, Ocon was able to extend his lead more and more until Rosenqvist had to turn into the pits for a drive-through penalty at the end of lap eight, after which Fuoco inherited second place. Earlier, the Swede had exceeded the track limits several times. Eventually, he took the chequered flag in 17th place.

The following laps didn’t bring many position changes either. Tom Blomqvist overtook Félix Serrallés (Team West-Tec F3) for sixth on lap 14 and two laps later, Jake Dennis (Carlin) overtook his rival Nicholas Latifi (Prema Powerteam). The race director sent the safety car out on the track as rain set in again. The race was stopped at the end of lap 18. Esteban Ocon celebrated his fifth race win of the season while Antonio Fuoco and Lucas Auer joined him on the podium. Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing), Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin), Tom Blomqvist, Félix Serrallés, Gustavo Menezes (Van Amersfoort Racing), Jake Dennis and Nicholas Latifi also made it into the top ten.

Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam): “It has been a good weekend for me. I was among the front runners in every session and I consistently scored valuable points. Nevertheless, there still are things I need to improve, for instance the start. In this race, my start was okay, but I had to watch out for Felix Rosenqvist, especially in the opening stages. Life then became easier for me after he got a drive-through penalty.”

Antonio Fuoco (Prema Powerteam): “My start was poor, but I already managed to overtake Lucas soon after that. After Felix got his drive-through penalty, I was suddenly second. I am very happy with this result. I have to do better at the start, too, and I hope that I can already do a better job at the start of the next race at Spa.”

Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport): “My start was really good and I was already second in the second corner. Then, however, I made a mistake and Antonio was able to overtake me. Soon after that, I braked a little bit too early, but Felix also surprised me with his attack on the outside in this situation. After that, I was only fourth, but I got back third place after Felix’s penalty. I am heading home quite happily after this result.”

FIA F3