Four weeks after the prestigious GP de Pau in Southern France, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship teams and drivers now travel to Hungary. At the 4.381 kilometre long Hungaroring which has been a constant on the Formula One calendar since 1986, the three-way battle for the championship lead will be continued. The current leader Joel Eriksson (Motopark) and Lando Norris (Carlin) are tied for points and just two points behind, Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam) follows in third position. 

To date, diversity has been one of the main features of the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship season, with drivers from three different teams having already made it to the top step. And in this group, Joel Eriksson stands out with currently three race wins, while his rivals Lando Norris, Maximilian Günther and Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam) have won two races each. And in addition to Eriksson, Norris and Ilott, Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) also secured a pole position. Meanwhile, no driver succeeded in clinching all three poles of a race meeting, in the 2017 season to date. Something achieved last year by Maximilian Günther and the venue of this feat was – the Hungaroring.

In addition to the German who finished the 2016 season as runner-up, Team Hitech Grand Prix also has fond memories of the Hungaroring. Last year, the British squad won one of the three races in Hungary courtesy of their driver Ben Barnicoat. This year, the team is represented by Ralf Aron, Tadasuke Makino, Jake Hughes and Nikita Mazepin and one of these four drivers also already made it to the top step of the Hungaroring podium: in 2016, Estonian Ralf Aron won the first round of the weekend. And in the second race, Aron – then a rookie – secured another podium by coming second.

Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix): “I like the Hungaroring. It’s one of the old-fashioned circuits where every mistake will cost you time. Furthermore, I like the great atmosphere at the circuit – and the city of Budapest which is located not far from the circuit appeals to me, too. With just a two-hour flight from my home country, Budapest also is a kind of home race for me – although it doesn’t exactly feel like one, because of the long distance. We had a difficult start into the season as team and that was a situation we honestly hadn’t expected. But in the past weeks we worked hard on closing in on the leaders. My third place in Pau was a confirmation of this successful work and demonstrated that you just must never give up. Now we keep on working in this direction and hope that we will be able to make the next step at Budapest.”