Charles Leclerc has been disqualified from the results of this afternoon’s qualifying session at the Hungaroring following scrutineering, where it was discovered that he was using a part which did not comply with the technical regulations.

The Monegasque driver had provisionally claimed his 7^th pole position of the season, but post-session scrutineering discovered that his car used shims in the differential which did not comply with the material requirements laid out in the Dallara User Manual.

As such the race stewards had no choice but to disqualify the Ferrari Academy driver from the results of qualifying for a breach of Article 9.2 of the FIA Formula 2 Technical Regulations. A PREMA Racing representative confirmed that additional shims will comply with the material requirements.

Leclerc will be allowed to take part in tomorrow’s feature race, starting from the back of the grid. Oliver Rowland will now start the race in pole position, alongside title rival Artem Markelov.

Additionally Sergio Sette Camara was handed a 3 grid place penalty by the race stewards after being judged to have impeded Nicholas Latifi during the session.

source: fiaformula2.com

Charles Leclerc has continued in Budapest where he left off in Silverstone by topping this morning’s FIA Formula 2 Championship free practice session at the Hungaroring, setting the pace early on before concentrating on race simulations to take the top spot ahead of Oliver Rowland and Nyck De Vries. 

The Monegasque driver stopped the clocks at 1:27.516 about a third of the way into the hot and sunny session, overturning his own previous best laps to annex the top of the timesheets for the remainder of the session, with his rivals able to get within a tenth but no closer as they fine-tuned their set ups for this afternoon and beyond. 

Louis Deletraz set the first quickest lap but was soon deposed by the Ferrari Academy driver, who then went faster each time round for 3 laps as he improved his times at a slightly faster rate than his rivals: they maintained a gap throughout the hot lap fight on their first sets, but just couldn’t knock Leclerc off his perch. 

After emerging on fresh rubber all of the grid continued their work until De Vries pushed a little too hard, juddering over the new kerb at turn 11 before finding the wall to prompt a brief VSC period to remove his stricken vehicle: it was the only incident of note in a quiet session ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session. 

Behind the top 3 Norman Nato, Nicholas Latifi, Alexander Albon, Sergio Canamasas and Nobuharu Matsushita were well within a second of pole, which covered the top 15 drivers and promises to bring the heat in the battle for pole position.

Preliminary Free Practice Classification 

Charles Leclerc has continued his untouchable run in qualifying by grabbing an ever-increasing record of seven poles in a row this afternoon in Budapest, defying his earlier comments that the Hungaroring was not a track that suited him to annex the top spot by almost half a second from Oliver Rowland and Artem Markelov. 

The Monegasque driver stopped the clocks at 1:26.268 halfway through a hot and sunny session despite a red flag on his fast lap briefly slowing him, with his rivals unable to do anything about the gap on their second set of tyres as Leclerc continued his run, claiming every pole of the season so far. 

All of the grid were straight out on track when the lights went green except Alexander Albon, Pertamina Arden teammates Norman Nato and Sean Gelael, and the championship leader: Rowland led the early running despite a messy first flyer, with the final 4 drivers finally emerging just as their rivals had finished their fast laps and were starting to return to the pits, with Markelov and Antonio Fuoco grabbing P2 and 3 on their final tours. 

The last 4 drivers timed their run to hit a first flying lap as the rest of their rivals returned to the pits to ensure a clear run, but unfortunately for them all Gelael spun to a stop in the mid-section of the circuit, prompting the red flags to emerge and killing off Leclerc, Albon and Nato’s fast laps. The track remained closed for just 3 minutes, and the trio were straight back out on track to make up for lost time, with Nato at the front of the queue. 

Leclerc, at the back of the trio, had the luxury to make some space ahead of himself for his fast lap, and it paid off in spades: he topped the 2nd and 3rd sector times to easily claim P1 before they all returned for fresh rubber as their rivals re-emerged.

The three drivers had a quick tyre stop before returning again, with Leclerc the last man out as the clock wound down, but they needn’t have bothered: no one could get closed to the Ferrari Academy driver, and he had the luxury of returning without the need to set a better time. 

Behind the top 3 Jordan King, Fuoco, Nato, Nicholas Latifi, Nyck De Vries, Nobuharu Matsushita  and Sergio Canamasas rounded out the top 10, with debutant Santino Ferrucci impressively grabbing P11 well within a second of pole, all of whom will be hoping their race pace can make a dent in the Leclerc’s plans for tomorrow’s feature race.

Preliminary Qualifying Classification 

Seven FIA Formula 2 drivers have been announced to join the upcoming Formula 1 test, which is set to follow this weekend’s races at the Hungaroring in Budapest on 1-2 August, with drivers sharing responsibilities with a variety of F1 drivers for the 2 day test.

Championship leader Charles Leclerc recently announced his attendance via Twitter, noting that he was “very happy to announce that I'll be driving 1 day for Ferrari during the F1 tests after the Hungaroring GP. Busy week ahead! Round 07 this weekend and F1 test just after it!” He is expected to share a car with test driver Antonio Giovinazzi as well as one of the race drivers, Sebastien Vettel or Kimi Raikkonen.

Silverstone sprint race winner Nicholas Latifi will drive for Renault on Tuesday, noting "I am extremely honoured to get this opportunity, and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the R.S.17. As Test Driver for the team I’ve completed a number of different aspects of my programme so far, but this is really something special. I’m looking forward to working with the team and Pirelli to deliver everything they require from the day.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director of Renault Sport Racing, confirmed “this is an exciting next step for Nicholas. He will drive our current generation Formula 1 car: this will offer invaluable experience to him, and is a crucial element to preparing Nicholas for other opportunities in the future. The test programme he will run for Pirelli relates to development for 2018 tyres so it’s an important duty he has too. We look forward to seeing Nicholas out in action on Wednesday.”

Luca Ghiotto, fresh from his P2 in Silverstone, will make his Formula 1 debut with Williams, sharing the car over the 2 days with Felipe Massa. The Italian was delighted, stating “a big thanks to Williams for this opportunity. I think the first F1 test for any driver is a special moment, and to do it with such an historic team is even better, so I’m really excited. Of course, I also need to focus on the F2 weekend beforehand, but I’m really looking forward to the test, and I really hope it goes well.”

“Our team has a strong track record for developing young talent, and we always enjoy seeing young drivers getting opportunities to demonstrate their ability,” noted Claire Williams, deputy team principal. “I look forward to seeing how he performs in the car next month.”

Sauber have confirmed that they will test two Formula 2 drivers, with Gustav Malja being announced previously and Nobuharu Matsushita now joining his rival at the team, with the Swede to drive on Monday and the Japanese ace on Tuesday. Malja noted “the prospect of driving a Formula 1 car is exceptionally thrilling, and a childhood dream come true. I can’t wait to experience that sensation; I’m sure it will be a very surreal moment. I will do everything in my power to make the most of the test day and learn as much as I possibly can. Wholehearted thanks to the Sauber F1 Team for giving me this fantastic opportunity.”

Matsushita was similarly delighted, stating “when I was four years old I was fascinated by Michael Schumacher, watching him racing in Formula 1, and since then my dream was to become a Formula 1 driver. I am very excited about my first Formula 1 test, and I am really looking forward to driving the Sauber C36-Ferrari at the Hungaroring – it is a great opportunity for me. I hope it will be a productive day for the team as well as for myself, so that I can learn as much as possible. I would like to thank the Sauber F1 Team for making this happen.”

Frederic Vasseur, co-founder of ART and newly installed Sauber team principal, commented: “I am pleased that Nobuharu has this great opportunity. He deserves the experience of his first test in a Formula 1 car. Ever since his debut in Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix I have been following his progress closely, and have watched him advance his performance from year to year. With this Formula 1 test, he comes one step closer to his dream of becoming an F1 driver one day.”

Sean Gelael will make his second test with Toro Rosso in Budapest, having previously announced his involvement. And finally Santino Ferrucci, who moved up to Formula 2 from the GP3 Series ahead Round 7 in Budapest, will also join the test as a continuation of his development driver role with Haas F1, running on both days.

source: fiaformula2.com