Tuukka Taponen claimed Pole Position in 2026 FIA Formula 3 (F3) Qualifying at the Hungarian GP, finishing ahead of Freddie Slater and Mattia Colnaghi.
Earlier in the day, Freddie Slater topped Free Practice ahead of Rodin Motorsport duo Brando Badoer and Pedro Clerot.
As the lights went green, the drivers headed out on their preparation laps, with the field initially bunched closely together. Badoer, Clerot and Ho were among the first drivers to set competitive times, recording a 1:34.209, 1:34.263 and 1:34.671 respectively.
As more drivers crossed the line, Slater moved to the top of the timings, although his lap was later deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 4. Théophile Naël, who already has three FIA Formula 3 Pole Positions to his name in 2026, then moved to the top of the timings with a 1:33.533.
Track limits continued to play a major role throughout the opening runs, with Salim Hanna, Matteo De Palo and Louis Sharp among those to have their lap times deleted. Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu sat ninth after the initial runs, having suffered a small lock-up into Turn 1 during his lap.
Driver’s heading out on their second runs in Qualifying
Slater led the field out of the pit lane for their second runs in Qualifying. Following the opening runs, Taponen sat in P2 for MP Motorsport, with Nakamura in third. Meanwhile, DAMS Lucas Oil also appeared to have strong pace around the Hungaroring, with Xie and Lacorte occupying fourth and fifth respectively.
Slater was able to improve on his second run, returning to the top of the timings with a 1:33.451. Badoer also found time to move into second with a 1:33.523, while Lacorte slotted between the pair with a 1:33.515.
As a result, the field remained incredibly close, with all of the top 18 drivers separated by less than half a second, highlighting just how competitive the 2026 F3 grid has been. At the end of the second runs, not many drivers improved on their first times, with the last push laps proving crucial.
Final push laps for the F3 Hungarian GP Qualifying session
Slater led the field out once again for the final push laps of the session.
Badoer suffered a slight lock-up into Turn 1 on his final run and was unable to improve on his earlier time. With most of the field also failing to find an improvement, Mattia Colnaghi was one of the drivers able to capitalise and move up to P2 with a 1:33.475.
Taponen was further back in the queue, but the MP Motorsport driver delivered when it mattered most.
The Finn soared to Pole Position with a 1:33.433, claiming his maiden FIA Formula 3 Pole Position and MP Motorsport’s first since 2022. Slater finished in P2, ahead of Colnaghi in P3.
Lacorte, Badoer, Ugochukwu, Naël, Rivera, Nakamura and Xie rounded out the top 10. As a result of the reverse-grid format, Kanato Le will start Saturday’s Sprint Race from Pole Position, with Maciej Gładysz alongside him on the front row.
