The 2026 Budapest F3 Round began with a 45-minute Free Practice session at the Hungaroring.
However, the field initially showed little urgency to leave the pit lane. Twenty-nine of the 30 drivers remained in their garages during the opening minutes, leaving Hitech TGR’s Woohyun Shin alone on the circuit.
Shin took advantage of the clear track and completed several exploratory laps as he established the early benchmark. Nevertheless, the competitive order changed quickly once the rest of the field began their opening runs.
A lengthy red flag then interrupted the session after AIX Racing’s Salim Hanna crashed at Turn 5. Once marshals completed the recovery operation and repaired the barriers, the drivers returned for a final sequence of Qualifying simulations. The session ultimately ended under a second red flag with TRIDENT’s Freddie Slater at the top of the timesheet.
Shin takes advantage of an empty Hungaroring
Shin immediately began gathering data while his rivals continued preparing in the pit lane. The Hitech driver established the first benchmark with a 1:46.027 before improving to a 1:36.472. However, officials deleted his quicker lap after he ran wide at Turn 9.
Consequently, his original 1:46.027 remained at the top of the timesheets as the session passed the 10-minute mark.
Shin continued circulating and completed significantly more mileage than the rest of the field during the opening phase. With approximately 33 minutes remaining, he kept his fifth lap within the track limits and lowered the benchmark to 1:36.135.
By then, more drivers had joined the action and started building towards representative lap times.
Ugochukwu leads Slater and Taponen as practice intensifies at the 2026 Budapest F3 Round
The early order changed with just under 29 minutes remaining as the field increased its pace. Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu moved to the top with a 1:34.798. The championship leader edged TRIDENT’s Freddie Slater by 0.052 seconds after the British driver completed a 1:34.850.
Meanwhile, MP Motorsport’s Tuukka Taponen placed third with a 1:34.924. Therefore, fewer than two tenths separated the leading three drivers during the opening representative runs.
The improving track conditions suggested that the benchmark would continue to fall as the drivers gained confidence and prepared for their later runs.
De Palo damages front wing during difficult opening run
While the leading drivers moved up the order, Matteo De Palo endured a more challenging start. The TRIDENT driver struck one of the braking marker boards and damaged his front wing. The impact also affected the Hard-compound tyres that he had carried over from the previous round.
As a result, De Palo lost valuable running time while his rivals continued learning the Hungaroring and refining their set-ups.
Hanna crash brings out the red flag
Hanna brought the session to a halt with approximately 26 minutes remaining. The AIX Racing driver lost control at Turn 5 and struck the barriers. Hanna climbed out of the car without assistance and appeared unharmed.
However, marshals displayed the red flag so they could recover his damaged car and repair the barriers.
Elsewhere, Brando Badoer narrowly avoided his own collision with the barriers. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver ran into the dusty area beside the circuit but regained control before reaching the wall.
Dust and low grip had already created difficult conditions around several parts of the Hungaroring. Therefore, the interruption gave the teams an opportunity to assess their early data before the session resumed.
At the time of Hanna’s accident, Ugochukwu led Slater and Taponen as the F3 field prepared for the remainder of its only practice session before Qualifying.
Qualifying simulations dominate after practice resumes at the 2026 budapest F3 Round
The session resumed with 12 minutes remaining, prompting the 28 drivers still able to participate to hurry back onto the circuit.
Rodin Motorsport’s Pedro Clerot delivered the first major improvement and climbed to third with a 1:34.901. However, the rapidly improving track soon pushed him back down the order.
With approximately six minutes remaining, Hitech’s Jin Nakamura set a 1:34.369 and moved to the top of the timesheets. Ugochukwu improved to a 1:34.522 but remained 0.153s behind Nakamura. ART Grand Prix’s Maciej Gładysz followed in third with a 1:34.658.
However, the order changed again during the following lap. Slater became the first driver to break into the 1m33s range and moved to the top with a 1:33.947. Badoer followed in second with a 1:34.082, while Clerot returned to the top three with a 1:34.347.
The field appeared ready to produce further improvements during the closing minutes. However, Noah Strømsted brought the session to another premature halt when his TRIDENT car stopped on the circuit before the penultimate corner.
Officials displayed the second red flag, leaving Slater at the top ahead of Badoer and Clerot as the session came to an early end.
