Report
Paul Aron sealed his second Pole Position of the season after edging out Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi to the top spot in a tightly contested Budapest Qualifying session.
The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver completed a late lap of 1:30.028 to beat Fittipaldi to first by just 0.068s, with Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar over a tenth back from Aron in third.
But it was Free Practice table-topper Zane Maloney that led the way early on, clocking a time of 1:30.515 to lead his ART Grand Prix rival Victor Martins by over a tenth.
Then came Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto, setting the fastest times in the first two sectors before going to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:30.269, beating Maloney by 0.246s.
A few drivers then tried to go for a second push lap on their first set of Soft tyres, one of those being Aron, but as he came across the line to go up to P7 from P9, the Red Flags were waved.
Campos’ Josep María Martí spun at the exit of Turn 11 and while he managed to stay out of the barrier, he stopped by the side of the road meaning the marshals had to wheel his car away.
With under 10 minutes left in the session, the drivers returned to the track after strapping on a new set of Softs, led by Fittipaldi.
This meant the Brazilian was the first to set a timed lap on his second set and went up to provisional pole.
However, hit time was quickly beaten by Aron, as the Hitech rookie went just 0.068s clear of the Brazilian with a 1:30.028.
Next up was Championship leader Hadjar, but after setting the fastest first sector he wound up in third, 0.193s off Aron’s benchmark.
Bortoleto ended up in P4, with Martins fifth ahead of MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was seventh for PREMA Racing while Maloney ended up eighth for Rodin Motorsport.
Kush Maini qualified ninth in the second Invicta just ahead of Trident’s Richard Verschoor, meaning the Dutchman is set to start from reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race, scheduled to start at 14:15 local time tomorrow afternoon.