Rashid Al Dhaheri wins in Budapest to extend FIA Formula Regional European Championship lead

Driving the No. 71 Yas Heat-coloured Tatuus for R-ace GP, Al Dhaheri won Race 2 from pole position after finishing second in Race 1 at the technical circuit outside Budapest.

Mercedes junior driver Al Dhaheri summed up his weekend: "I'm very happy to win the feature race. This weekend, the team did a fantastic job to put me in a position to start from pole and that made a huge difference. We had really strong pace throughout the race and were able to build a comfortable gap.

"Even though the safety car restarts always brought an extra challenge. In the end, the most important thing was to execute the race properly, bring the car home and make the most of the opportunity the team gave me," added Rashid.

The iconic Hungaroring, which has hosted the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix every year since 1986, is known for its sequence of medium- and slow-speed corners, where overtaking is limited and qualifying position is often decisive.

Al Dhaheri showed strong pace from the start of the weekend, topping both Thursday practice sessions and ending the opening day as the fastest driver overall. He remained competitive through Friday practice as R-ace GP built momentum towards qualifying.

In Saturday’s opening qualifying session, Al Dhaheri missed pole by 0.019 seconds, securing second in Group A and third on the grid for Race 1. He made a strong start to move into second place at the first corner before holding position to secure another podium finish.

Race 2 brought his strongest performance of the weekend. Al Dhaheri took overall pole with a lap of 1:37.639, beating a 30-car field made up of drivers from 20 nations and adding two championship points.

He converted pole into the lead at the start and controlled the race despite several Safety Car interruptions. Each restart brought renewed pressure, but Al Dhaheri kept the lead and rebuilt his advantage to take the chequered flag.

After the race, he celebrated by standing on the cockpit of his car and stretching his arms in the shape of a falcon, a reference to the UAE emblem carried on his helmet. He then joined his R-ace GP team before standing on the top step of the podium as the UAE national anthem was played.

The double podium result extended Al Dhaheri’s advantage at the top of the championship standings. His team said he is the first driver from the MENA region to lead an FIA championship.

The championship now moves to Circuit Paul Ricard near Marseille, France, in two weeks, where Al Dhaheri will continue his title campaign.