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F3 - There is no stopping Maximilian Günther in Hungary

  • gb
22.04.16
F3 - 2016 Race of Hungaroring - Qualifying 2
formula 3, hungary, Maximilian Günther, qualifying 2

Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam) already having claimed first place in free practice and first qualifying of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the Hungaroring, he also ended up on top in second qualifying. As a result, he will also be starting from pole position for the second race of the weekend at the 4.381 kilometres long Formula 1 track near Budapest. His team-mate, rookie driver Ralf Aron (Prema Powerteam) secured second place from Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark) and the second-best rookie, Guanyu Zhou (Motopark). In the ranking of the second-fastest laps, used to determine the starting grid positions for the third race of the weekend, Günther also proved to be unbeatable. Sette Câmara, George Russell (HitechGP) and Zhou followed in second to fourth place.

Starting grid race two

Second qualifying during the FIA Formula 3 European Championship’s visit to Hungary again proved to be entertaining and provided many position changes. With a little less than four minutes remaining, Maximilian Günther (1:33.614 minutes) showed up on top of the timing screens for the first time, but was soon outpaced by the faster Ralf Aron (1:33.778 minutes). However, Günther countered successfully and moved back up into first place. There, the German Prema Powerteam driver remained until the end of the 20 minutes’ session.

Ralf Aron was happy with his second place as the Formula 4 graduate had never been classified higher in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship before. Sérgio Sette Câmara (1:33.814 minutes) was closely behind, followed by Guanyu Zhou (1:34.300 minutes), who temporarily even was in first place, four minutes before the end of the session. George Russell (HitechGP, 1:34.458 minutes), points’ leader Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam, 1:34.856 minutes), Alessio Lorandi (Carlin, 1:35.034 minutes), Ben Barnicoat (HitechGP, 1:35.116 minutes), Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam, 1:35.122 minutes) and Niko Kari (Motopark, 1:35.297 minutes) followed in fifth to tenth place. 

Starting grid race three

In the ranking of the second-fastest laps, Maximilian Günther (1:33.910 minutes) secured his third pole position at the Hungaroring and, together with his two fastest times in second qualifying at Le Castellet, his fifth fastest qualifying time in a row. Behind Günther, Sérgio Sette Câmara (1:34.318 minutes), George Russell (1:34.589 minutes), Guanyu Zhou (1:34.768 minutes), Nick Cassidy (1:34.859 minutes), Ben Barnicoat (1:35.147 minutes), Joel Eriksson (Motopark, 1:35.509 minutes), Lance Stroll (1:35.607 minutes), Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:35.939 minutes) and Ryan Tveter (Carlin, 1:36.162 minutes) followed.

Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam): “Securing all three pole positions this weekend is simply fantastic. At the start of qualifying, we still were having many problems with traffic, meaning that Lance and I were blocked by a rival for two full laps. Things got really tight in the end to still get two fast laps in, but fortunately, I managed. However, my car was great, too, so many thanks to my team for that.”