Trident secures points finishes with Fornaroli and Meguetounif

The FIA Formula 3 Championship is back on the short and twisty Hungarian circuit located on the outskirts of the Capital Budapest, home to the eighth round of 2024. In an extremely hard-fought qualifying,  conditioned by a red flag, which forced the stewards to end the session a few minutes early, compromising the second attempt of several drivers, Trident Motorsport performed well, with Leonardo Fornaroli in P3, Santiago Ramos in P5 and Sami Meguetounif in P6.

Three cars in the first three rows for the Feature Race are a favorable result for Trident Motorsport ahead of tomorrow's Race. However, with the reversed top-12 spots on the starting grid of the Sprint Race, Leonardo Fornaroli started from P10 today, Sami Meguetounif from P7 and Santiago Ramos from P8. When the lights went out, the Mexican driver lost two positions, while the Frenchman maintained seventh place, ahead of Fornaroli. Due to a rear-end collision, Ramos was forced to return to the pit lane to replace a tire and resumed the Sprint Race at the back.

In the central stages of the race, the situation subsided and few overtakes were seen on the track due to degradation. Leonardo Fornaroli finished the Sprint Race in seventh place, which allows him to collect four points and move closer to the top of the ranking. A point also came for Sami Meguetounif, who was P10 at the finish line, while Santiago Ramos finished at the back, far from the points zone.

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager, Sprint Race Quote: “We scored points with two cars in a race without many overtakes, as often happens on this slow and narrow track. The position on the starting grid, in line with expectations, proved to be key and rewarding first outsiders. After a good qualifying session, the reversal of the first 12 lap times left our drivers on the fourth and fifth row, too far from the podium area. Leonardo Fornaroli recovered three positions, Sami Meguetounif rounded out the top ten, while Santiago Ramos was rear-ended by a rival, who punctured his tyre. A collision prevented us from getting into the points with him. Now, it will be important to get the most out of tomorrow's Feature Race, when we will have three drivers in the first three rows of the starting grid.”.