The GP3 Series paddock has gathered at the Hungaroring in Budapest for a two day test mid-season session ahead of Round 2 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria next month. ART’s George Russell was the quickest man in both sessions of the opening day, with a fastest laptime of 1:32.159 set in the morning session, ahead of Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Lorandi in P2 and P3 of the overall timings.

The morning’s proceedings were delayed by one hour to wait for the full medical staff to be operational. As the pitlane went green at 10am local time, all cars fed onto the track to complete their installation laps with Tatiana Calderon the only driver to set a laptime in the opening 45 minutes. On the one hour mark Boccolacci went top, dipping under 1:34, but Russell found some extra pace to move up to P1, three tenths faster than Alessio Lorandi in P2.

Russell remained top for most of the trouble-free session, improving to break the 1m33s barrier, but with thirty minutes left on the clock Boccolacci temporarily edged him out, going fastest by four hundredths. In the closing stages Russell went P1 again, as Aitken also improved to move up to P2, four tenths slower than his teammate. At the chequered flag, and behind the top 3, Arjun Maini, Santino Ferrucci, Lorandi, Raoul Hyman, Marcos Siebert, Nirei Fukuzumi and Anthoine Hubert rounded up the top 10.

Following a two hour lunch break the action picked up again, with Leonardo Pulcini leading the way in the opening stages, but Bruno Baptista improved on the Italian’s laptime to go top. The session was briefly halted after Julien Falchero stopped at the exit of Turn 5. At the restart Niko Kari was soon sitting pretty at the top of the timesheets, before Lorandi went quickest under menacing skies.

With one hour left on the clock, Russell put his head down to lap the Hungarian track under 1m33s, two tenths faster than Lorandi. In the closing stages, a red flag was shown after Baptista stopped at Turn 12. When the track went live again Russell improved further to set a laptime of 1:32.332, while Boccolacci also found some extra pace to move up to P2, one tenth slower than the Briton.

When the flag dropped and behind the top 3, Aitken, Ferrucci, Maini, Fukuzumi, Siebert, Kevin Jörg and Hubert completed the top 10. The second and final day of testing will open tomorrow at 9am local time.

Day 1 Morning results

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

George Russell

ART Grand Prix

1:32.159

31

Jack Aitken

ART Grand Prix

1:32.654

28

Dorian Boccolacci

Trident

1:32.680

22

Arjun Maini

Jenzer Motorsport

1:32.765

30

Santino Ferrucci

DAMS

1:32.811

34

Alessio Lorandi

Jenzer Motorsport

1:32.864

32

Raoul Hyman

Campos Racing

1:32.913

31

Marcos Siebert

Campos Racing

1:33.014

33

Nirei Fukuzumi

ART Grand Prix

1:33.056

20

Anthoine Hubert

ART Grand Prix

1:33.273

30

Giuliano Alesi

Trident

1:33.303

26

Ryan Tveter

Trident

1:33.352

24

Kevin Jörg

Trident

1:33.384

32

Leonardo Pulcini

Arden International

1:33.694

24

Julien Falchero

Campos Racing

1:33.721

32

Bruno Baptista

DAMS

1:33.876

26

Tatiana Calderon

DAMS

1:34.099

32

Steijn Schothorst

Arden International

1:34.388

22

Niko Kari

Arden International

1:34.609

20

Day 1 Afternoon results

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

George Russell

ART Grand Prix

1:32.332

46

Dorian Boccolacci

Trident

1:32.436

50

Alessio Lorandi

Jenzer Motorsport

1:32.459

40

Jack Aitken

ART Grand Prix

1:32.547

46

Santino Ferrucci

DAMS

1:32.696

38

Arjun Maini

Jenzer Motorsport

1:32.724

37

Nirei Fukuzumi

ART Grand Prix

1:32.728

45

Marcos Siebert

Campos Racing

1:32.997

37

Kevin Jörg

Trident

1:33.019

38

Anthoine Hubert

ART Grand Prix

1:33025

49

Leonardo Pulcini

Arden International

1:33.075

34

Bruno Baptista

DAMS

1:33.075

31

Ryan Tveter

Trident

1:33.275

41

Steijn Schothorst

Arden International

1:33.301

37

Giuliano Alesi

Trident

1:33.320

37

Niko Kari

Arden International

1:33.321

37

Julien Falchero

Campos Racing

1:33.462

34

Tatiana Calderon

DAMS

1:33.837

33

Raoul Hyman

Campos Racing

1:35.680

23

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