Race Report
Formula 1 Rolex Magyar Nagydij Grand Prix 2019
FIA F3 CHAMPIONSHIP
Circuit: Hungaroring (HU), Length 4,381 km, 2nd - 4th August 2019, Rounds 9 & 10
www.hungaroring.hu
JENZER MOTORSPORT 2019:
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN), Andreas Estner (D) and Federico Malvestiti (I)
Tsunoda shines at Budapest
The 2019 FIA F3 met up for their fifth race event on the fluid and demanding Hungaroring Circuit near Budapest, racing as one of the support races for the Formula 1 Rolex Magyar Nagydij 2019. Overtaking is normally not easy on this circuit, and the drivers faced major challenges in terms of tyre management and track limit observance.
Race One Qualifying
Saturday, 03/08/19, 09.00 – 09.30, Weather: Cloudy, 21°C
Giorgio Carrara got a second run at Budapest after the RedBull ring a month ago to help him gain experience in a higher category. Yuki, Andreas and Giorgio did well in free practice on Friday morning. Yuki was 5th on his first set of tyres, but on his fastest lap with the new tyres he went off track in one corner, which resulted in 20th place for him at the end. Giorgio, who was surprised at how big the difference was between his usual F4 car and the F3 on this track, ended up 24th. Andreas was doing well, but his best sector times were spread over three different laps and so he was 29th.
The qualifying session started on Saturday morning at 09.00. It had rained during the night and the track wasn’t as grippy as it had been. Yuki achieved a great 9th place despite running wide on both his fastest laps, and losing time as a result. With all 30 cars on track in the final minutes of the session, although they were both improving steadily, Giorgio and Andreas did not manage to put together an idea lap and in the end Giorgio was 28th and Andreas 29th.
| Race One Grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Christian Lundgaard (DK) | ART | 1:31.761 |
| 2nd | Juri Vips (EST) | Hitech | 1:31.889 |
| 3rd | Max Fewtrell (GB) | ART | 1:31.897 |
| 9th | Yuki Tsunoda (JAP) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:32.197 |
| 28th | Giorgio Carrara (ARG) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:33.372 |
| 29th | Andreas Estner (D) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:33.469 |
FIA F3 Championship
Race One (40 Minutes)
Saturday, 03/08/19, 16.45, Weather: Cloudy, 24°C
A black cloud was approaching the track, but fortunately the rain didn’t arrive and an eventful race began. Yuki was 11th after lap one, and promptly began a recovery drive, battling with Beckmann through a series of position changes. Finally Yuki got ahead. Then Hyman fell back, but Armstrong made a bold pass on the inside, Yuki tried to counter attack, but Armstrong defended well. Daruvala was next to launch an attack, but Yuki defended himself successfully and Daruvala had no chance. Throughout the whole field there were some brave moves going on, and positions changed frequently. This was due to a number of drivers having to deal with serious tyre degradation. Yuki crossed the line after a tough race in an excellent 9th place. Andreas improved immediately after the start and moved up to 22nd place during the race. Giorgio, on the other hand, was late on the brakes, ran wide and lost a few places. At the end of an eventful race, he crossed the finish line in 25th place.
The grid for the second race of the weekend was set by reversing the order of the first eight finishers in the first race, with the rest of the places set according to finishing order in the first race.
| Results Race One | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Christian Lundgaard (SWE) | ART | 35:48.828 | |
| 2nd | Max Fewtrell (GB) | ART | Gap | 3.712 |
| 3rd | Jake Hughes (GB) | HWA | Gap | 13.912 |
| 9th | Yuki Tsunoda (JAP) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 22nd | Andreas Estner (D) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 26th | Giorgio Carrara (ARG) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Christan Lundgaard (DK) in 1:36.055 | ||||
| Race Two Grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Marcus Armstrong (NZL) | Prema | |
| 2nd | Leonardo Pulcini (I) | Hitech | |
| 3rd | Felipe Drugovich (BRA) | Carlin | |
| 4th | Robert Shwartzman (RUS) | Prema | |
| 5th | Juri Vips (EST) | Hitech | |
| 6th | Jake Hughes (GB) | HWA | |
| 9th | Yuki Tsunoda (JAP) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 22nd | Andreas Estner (D) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 25th | Giorgio Carrara (ARG) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
FIA F3 Championship
Race Two (40 Minutes)
Sunday, 04/08/19, 10.00, Weather: Sunny, 23°C
When the huge field started the second race on Sunday morning, the sun was shining. Yuki lost a position immediately but made up for it straight away. After the first lap he was in 9th place. It was a tough race but compared to Saturday everyone seemed to be keen to preserve their tyres rather better. Yuki then managed to improve his position and to keep those behind him in check. In the closing laps of the race things changed again in the pack. After a great drive, Yuki was up to 6th place and had caught up with Lundgaard. He had run out of time to plan a counter attack and had to settle for an excellent 6th place and more points. Andreas had done well in the early laps, but then he started another overtaking manoeuvre, ran wide and lost several places. After that it was difficult to attack again because he had very dirty tyres. Nevertheless, he took another place and finished a tough race in a good 15th place. Giorgio had his first experience of the pronounced tyre degradation on Saturday. Now he had a better idea of how to drive to better preserve the tyres. He fought well and finished the race after this hard lesson in a respectable 21st place.
We look forward to the next race which will be held at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on the weekend of 29th August 2019.
| Results Race Two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Marcus Armstrong (NZL) | Prema | 35:26.061 | |
| 2nd | Leonardo Pulcini (I) | Hitech | Gap | 12.670 |
| 3rd | Jake Hughes (GB) | HWA | Gap | 6.314 |
| 6th | Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 15th | Andreas Estner (D) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 21st | Giorgio Carrara (ARG) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Marcus Armstrong (NZ) in 1:35.307 | ||||
Championship standings after 10 out of 18 races:
1st Robert Shwartzman (RUS), 124 points; 2nd Juri Vips (EST), 112 points; 3rd Jehan Daruvala (IND), 104 points; 4th Marcus Armstrong (NZ), 98 points; 5th Christian Lundgaard (DK), 73 points; 6th Jake Hughes (GB), 56 points; 12th Yuki Tsunoda (JPN), 17 points
Yuki Tsunoda (JAP)
Andreas Estner (D)
Giorgio Carrara (ARG)
© Photo Pellegrini
2019 FIA F3 Championship
| 10/11/12 May | 2019 Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana | Catalunya (E) |
| 21/22/23 June | 2019 Formula 1 French Grand Prix | Le Castellet (F) |
| 28/29/30 June | 2019 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix | RedBull Ring (A) |
| 12/13/14 July | 2019 Formula 1 British Grand Prix | Silverstone (GB) |
| 2/3/4 August | 2019 Formula 1 Ing Magyar Nagydij | Hungaroring (HU) |
| 30/31 Aug, 1 September | 2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps (B) |
| 6/7/8 September | 2019 Formula 1 Gran Premio d’Italia | Monza (I) |
| 27/28/29 September | 2019 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix | Sochi (RUS) |
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