2023 Round 8 post-Qualifying press conference

Thoughts from O'Sullivan, Beganovic and Fornaroli

FIA Formula 3: Many congratulations to the top three qualifiers for the FIA Formula 3 Feature Race here at the Hungaroring. In third place, Leonardo Fornaroli for Trident, in second place, Dino Beganovic for PREMA Racing and taking his second pole position in FIA Formula 3, our pole sitter Zak O'Sullivan. How satisfying was this one?

Zak O'Sullivan: Really satisfying, I think the pace has been really good all weekend from Free Practice into Qualifying. It was quite a tricky session, we started off wet and dry towards the end. In the end it was really only one lap on the tyres, luckily mine was good enough, but a really nice result for not only me but also the team.

FIA Formula 3: Tell us a little bit more about the session, it was wet to start with, talk to us about the cross over to slicks, how difficult was that to judge?

O'Sullivan: A bit tricky, the laps from our support paddock to the pitlane were quite slippery even on wets. Eventually everyone started the session on slicks and the first run was really just gathering tyre temperature. The track dried really quickly to be honest, by the end the lap times were over a second and a half faster than in Free Practice. I think it took everyone by surprise.

FIA Formula 3: Assuming the Feature Race is dry what do you see as the biggest challenges?

O'Sullivan: This weekend the tyre degradation has been quite high. We have a new spec of medium tyres compared to last year so that will be interesting to manage. Obviously, we have the Sprint Race tomorrow to see how it is, but from Free Practice I think the deg is quite high.

FIA Formula 3: Six different pole sitters in six rounds, tell us about the crazy world of FIA Formula 3. Why do you think it's so open?

O'Sullivan: I wish I knew! Last weekend I was 15th, this weekend I'm on pole. Especially this year, every Qualifying seems to be a different story for most of the grid. I think as long as you are in the top 10 bubble you've got a good chance of scoring points.

FIA Formula 3: Best of luck for the weekend. Dino coming to you now, a great result for PREMA. Can you see where you lost the time to Zak?

Dino Beganovic: It's a really good result for the team, for me coming from a tough weekend in Silverstone with a lot of bad luck in quali it's great to sit here in P2. Obviously there is time to find here and there and I think every driver will say that when you only get one push lap at the end of the session after conditions like this. I knew before looking at the data where the time was and we just confirmed it watching it.

FIA Formula 3: How tricky was the session for you? With all the different track conditions?

Beganovic: It's always a challenge, we went out on the wet tyres and after we had to adapt with the slick on the wet track and it's always a challenge for everybody. At the same time it's really fun because you have to always be on the limit and if you go over it, there can be big consequences but that just makes it more fun! It's also a really cool qualifying for the fans to watch.

FIA Formula 3: It's difficult to overtake around the Hungaroring so what is your strategy for the Feature Race? I guess you've got to keep it clean because it's your teammate?

Beganovic: Well it's a long way down to Turn 1 but like you say it's tough to overtake. Like Zac said degradation will be a key point during the whole weekend. We get a little test tomorrow, but at the same time we need to score good points because the Championship is closing a bit. We haven't discussed yet what the plan is for Sunday. We'll take tomorrow first.

FIA Formula 3: Leonardo, coming to you now. You set the early pace on the wet tyres, how did the car feel in the dry.

Leonardo Fornaroli: We started with the wet tyres because the start of the session was for me too wet for the slick tyres. Then I did one push and I went into the pits to put the slick tyres on. As soon as I went on track on the slicks I felt very comfortable with the car and with the track. I was pushing more and more and I think we did a great job.

FIA Formula 3: A great race to P2 last time out at Silverstone. Do you feel like that win is getting closer, you must feel it?

Fornaroli: Two weeks ago I think we did a very good race. Unfortunately we struggled a bit with degradation and with the DRS Ollie was faster than me but it was definitely a good race. Here it will be another story because tyre degradation is very difficult at this track, but we start P3 on Sunday and of course I will do my best to get P1 will be very difficult.

FIA Formula 3: Best of luck to you.