Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney made a strong start to his Budapest weekend by going fastest of all in Free Practice thanks to his time of 1:32.668.
Maloney was in fine form throughout the session and ended up over a tenth faster than DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford in second with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi in third.
It was Maloney who led the way after the first set of laps, as his time of 1:33.566 put him on top, with Trident’s Richard Verschoor crossing the line to go to second, 0.390s behind.
The Bajan driver continued to set the pace and improved on his fastest time on his next flying effort by 0.045s, putting him three and a half tenths clear of MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger in P2.
PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli then went up to second, only for Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto to jump ahead of him moments later, the Brazilian just 0.188s off Maloney.
The Virtual Safety Car was briefly deployed after Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí spun and made slight contact with the barrier at Turn 11, forcing the marshals to wheel away his car.
Once the action resumed, Maloney improved to a 1:33.247, creating another gap of over three-tenths to his nearest rivals, and this time it was ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins.
Martins though was showing good pace and on his next flying effort beat Maloney’s time by just 0.002s, sending him to the top. But he would not hold that position for much longer with Hauger going fastest on a 1:33.100.
With less than four minutes to go, the drivers started to push on their tyres once more and Maloney went back to the top of the leaderboard with a lap of 1:32.668.
On his final flying effort Crawford jumped to second, 0.133s off Maloney, with Fittipaldi in third. Paul Aron ended up in fourth for Hitech Pulse-Eight ahead of Hauger and the second Rodin of Ritomo Miyata.
Martins ended up in seventh ahead of Franco Colapinto, with Bortoleto in ninth as Campos’ Championship leader Isack Hadjar rounded out the top 10.
The drivers will now look over the data ahead of the Budapest Qualifying later today at 16:00 local time.
Formula 2 Media
