F3 qualifying rained off in Hungary
FIA Formula 3 qualifying has been called off amid heavy rain, with organisers looking to reschedule the session for a later slot on Friday.
F3 qualifying got underway at the Hungaroring with heavy rain falling, and the session lasted just a matter of minutes before the session was red-flagged when Trident’s Lirim Zendeli and Hitech’s Liam Lawson aquaplaned off into the gravel at the same corner in the middle sector.
With the rain continuing to fall and track conditions worsening amid the temporary stoppage, a decision was taken to not re-start the 30-minute session.
With Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix second practice due to get underway at 1500 hours local time (1400 BST), F3 ran out of time to squeeze its session into the remaining gap.
The session is expected to be rescheduled for a later time slot on Friday afternoon, most likely after the conclusion of F1 FP2 and FIA Formula 2 qualifying.
If qualifying cannot take place, the results of free practice would set the grid for the first race of the Hungary round.
Trident’s David Beckmann set the pace in practice on Friday morning, lapping a 1m31.839s to pip teammate Zendeli by just 0.010s.
Sebastian Fernandez was third-quickest for ART Grand Prix, ahead of HWA Racelab’s Jake Hughes and Lawson.
ART GP’s Theo Pourchaire, who became the youngest-ever F3 winner by claiming victory in the sprint race of the second Red Bull Ring, was sixth-fastest.
Cameron Das, Jack Doohan, Richard Verschoor and Alexander Smolyar rounded out the rest of the top-10 order during a dry session.
RED FLAG
— Formula 3 (@FIAFormula3) July 17, 2020
Absolutely torrential conditions hit practice straight away
Both Zendeli and Lawson have spun off and come to a halt in the gravel#HungarianGP #F3 pic.twitter.com/ApoAuW384g
