Mercedes junior driver George Russell has topped the timesheets in the first day of GP3’s in-season test at the Hungaroring.
Russell set a time of 1m32.159s in the morning to lead the way by 0.495s over ART team-mate and Renault protégé Jack Aitken.
This lap was 0.820s faster than the 2016 pole time at the circuit, completed by ex-ART driver Nyck de Vries.
Trident’s Dorian Boccolacci continued his fine testing form by finishing third in the morning before improving to just 0.277s behind Russell in the afternoon.
Alessio Lorandi finished third overall ahead of Aitken, with Haas-backed Arjun Maini and Santino Ferrucci in the top-six.
Honda junior and current championship leader Nirei Fukuzumi moved to seventh in the later session, with Raoul Hyman and Marcos Siebert dropping to eighth and ninth. Trident’s Kevin Joerg completed the top-10, 1.225s adrift of Russell’s best.
Ferrari academy driver, and son of F1 racer Jean, Giuliano Alesi, fell to 16th overall ahead of Red Bull junior Niko Kari. Sauber’s development driver Tatiana Calderon finished bottom of the order, 2.678s slower than the fastest lap.
