Taponen grabs first F3 pole in Budapest

Tuukka Taponen took his first FIA Formula 3 pole position in Budapest, sealing the top spot for the Hungarian Grand Prix with a final-lap time of 1:33.411. The MP Motorsport driver, a Ferrari junior, beat Freddie Slater after a late improvement in the closing minutes of qualifying. Reports varied on the winning margin, with sources putting it at 0.040 or 0.042 seconds.

Slater had led much of the session and briefly went quickest with a 1:33.451 before Taponen responded. Mattia Colnaghi completed an MP Motorsport 1-3 in qualifying, finishing third in another strong result for the team. Nicola Lacorte and Brando Badoer rounded out the top five, while championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu recovered from an early lock-up at Turn 1 to qualify sixth. Theophile Nael had set the early pace before the times dropped further.

Taponen will start Sunday’s Feature Race from pole, with Slater alongside him on the front row. For Saturday’s Sprint Race, Kanato Le earned reverse-grid pole after qualifying 12th, and Maciej Gladysz will join him on the front row. The Sprint Race at the Hungaroring was scheduled to begin at 10:05 local time, as several teams waited late to send their drivers out and repeatedly changed the running order during the session.