Joel got the FIA F3 European Championship weekend in Hungary off to the perfect start as he headed the times in Friday free practice at the Hungaroring.
After refraining from any new-tyre runs in the first part of the split practice sessions, Joel came to the fore on his first attempt on new Hankook rubber in the second half of running, lapping the Budapest venue in 1m34.987s to produce the only sub-1m35s lap of the session.
Second and third were Prema Powerteam’s Callum Ilott and Guan Yu Zhou, respectively 0.235s and 0.347s adrift of Joel.
Carlin duo Jehan Daruvala and Lando Norris – who shares the championship lead with Joel going into this weekend – took fourth and fifth, Norris just a thousandth down on his team-mate and 0.398 seconds slower than Joel.
All 18 cars were covered by just 1.228 seconds.
A promising start to action in Hungary, where the first qualifying session of the weekend takes place this evening.
Next session: Qualifying 1, 18.00 local time (GMT+02:00).
Comment, Joel:
“It’s always nice to see your name at the top of the times, even if it’s just in practice. It’s a good start to the weekend, the car feels alright, and we’ve got the platform we need. It’s promising.”
RESULTS – Free Practice
