Jake Hughes put in a spectacular final qualifying lap at France’s Circuit Paul Ricard to seal his first pole position of the FIA Formula 3 season.
Last round’s Race 2 winner Jehan Daruvala had dominated the entire session before British driver Hughes seared around the circuit to beat the Indian in every sector and steal P1. Championship leader Robert Shwartzman was forced to settle for third, as he failed to keep pace with the duo.
It was Daruvala who set the standards early on, topping the timesheets shortly after hitting the track, narrowly in-front of his Russian team mate Shwartzman. There were a number of failed attacks on his time, but Daruvala managed to maintain his grip on the P1 spot and even improve his time. Shwartzman, Lundgaard and Leonardo Pulcini all enjoyed spells in second, but failed to ever topple the PREMA man.
Then, in a dramatic final flurry, Daruvala passed the chequered flag with pole position apparently safe only for Hughes – who had spent the majority of the session in and around fifth place – to release his HWA RACELAB machine’s full potential and nab pole with a time of 1m 49.519s.
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