Round 7 Post Qualifying Press Conference

FIA Formula 3: Welcome everyone to today's FIA Formula 3 press conference following qualifying here in Hungary. Joining us P3 from MP is Mattia Colnaghi, in second place from TRIDENT it's Freddie Slater, and from MP Motorsport capturing his first pole in Formula 3 it's Tukuka Taponen. Tuukka, congratulations, first Pole Position in Formula 3. How does that feel?

Tuukka Taponen: Feels great for sure. We have been waiting for it for quite a long time, honestly. We have done a good step forward and I'm very happy to finally be able to show what we are capable of.

FIA Formula 3: So it's a first for MP since Monza in 2022. Can you just take us through your lap there?

Taponen: I think the lap was not bad. Gaps were really tight. I think P9 was like a bit more than tenth off. So I would say there was room for improvement on the lap for sure and I didn't feel like that was the pole lap. It feels like the car was good enough for pole this time.

FIA Formula 3: Looking ahead to Sunday, what will it take to come away with a victory here?
Taponen: For sure I need to have a good start. Then try to look after the tyres as much as possible because I think degradation will play a big role here again, like in Spa. Try and manage the race from the beginning and hope that I can keep the lead.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations on that pole position. Freddie, coming to you. In the last three rounds you've qualified in the top three. It seems like you're really finding your stride here. What's been the difference?

Freddie Slater: I think a couple of things. I think obviously being a rookie and getting more used to the car and what the car needs from me as a driver and I think I've got a better understanding of that throughout the championship so far and I think it's been that progression you'd expect as a rookie and I think the team have done a really good job of fine-tuning the details but also adapting a little bit to my style of what I need from the car. So I think it's just a combination of things that have added up and here we are.

FIA Formula 3: There's not much in it between you and Tuukka today, so how close do you think the race is going to be on Sunday?

Slater: I think it's tough to say how close it will be because qualifying is very different to the race and qualifying around here seems to be generally quite close even if you look at previous years. So it was down to the fine details today and it was a good fight for pole.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations on the P2, Mattia coming to you. Congratulations, I mean your best qualifying of the season so far. How was your lap here today?

Mattia Colnaghi: It was a solid one. Good to be back up there and overall quite a clean session just maximising what we could in terms of car performance after Free Practice and driving, fine-tuning the driving. Obviously, first time here for me so good to straight away be on it and to maximise what we had.

FIA Formula 3: Looking ahead to Sunday, you're coming off two strong fourth place finishes in Spa. What do you think is possible?

Colnaghi: It would be good to get a podium. I think it's possible. We had already a good points in Spa with a double P4, not quite enough to get to the press conference, but still solid results and it's a good to step it up a bit.