Because of the rain, the race got underway behind the safety car. Maximilian Günther started from pole position and converted this into the race lead as the green flags were waved on lap three. On lap six, George Russell attacked him, but then, the two collided and retired. Thus, Ben Barnicoat inherited first place and drove it home safely at the rain-soaked new asphalt of the Hungaroring that was particularly slippery in various places.

After the collision involving Günther and Russell, Joel Eriksson and Guanyu Zhou were in second and third place. The Chinese, however, was unable to withstand the pressure from Lance Stroll and had to let the Canadian past on lap nine. Zhou eventually came home in fourth place behind the Prema driver. Zhou’s team-mate Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark) took the chequered flag in sixth, having lost some positions following an error in the opening stages of the race.

Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Pedro Piquet (Van Amersfoort Racing) staged a thrilling battle over many laps, in which the Brit eventually came out on top and demoting the son of the three times’ Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet to seventh place. For the Brazilian, this result still brought him his first FIA Formula 3 European Championship points. Niko Kari (Motopark), Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam), who spun on lap three, and Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing) rounded out the top ten.

Ben Barnicoat (HitechGP): “It was a fantastic race and I am really delighted with my maiden FIA Formula 3 European Championship race win. Once racing got underway, I was able to benefit from a mistake by Nick Cassidy and I overtook him. Then, I also went past Guanyu Zhou and I was third until Maximilian Günther and George Russell suddenly collided in front of me. Conditions were extremely difficult, it was slippery and at times it was almost impossible to see anything due to the spray from drivers in front.”

Joel Eriksson (Motopark): “The race was quite good. My start was okay. I was able to benefit from collisions by drivers in front of me and eventually bring second place home. In the opening stages, I had some luck because I almost touched Lance Stroll’s car. I am very happy with my podium finish.”

Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam): “First of all congratulations to Ben for taking his maiden win in only his sixth Formula 3 race. The race wasn’t easy, because the track was extremely slippery. However, that also was a slight advantage for me, because that probably allowed me to make up more positions from eighth place on the grid than in a dry race. I reckon, the most important thing was to keep the car on track and to avoid taking too many risks. I succeeded and thus, I still had a good way to end a weekend during which we were having some trouble. I am also happy that I was able to reduce the gap to points’ leader Maximilian Günther and that I am now in a good position in the drivers’ standings.”