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World karting champion Max Verstappen surprised the Formula 3 European Championship opposition by topping the times on the first official pre-season test day at the Hungaroring.

The 16-year-old son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen was one of a group of drivers to improve their times right at the end of the day to put his Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Volkswagen at the top of the heap.

Reigning British F3 champion Jordan King's morning time was good enough to be fastest overall for the day until three minutes before the end of the afternoon running, when Verstappen eclipsed it.

Verstappen was then on an even faster lap, before losing time in the final sector.

King did little running in the afternoon due to a small technical problem, but headed a 2-3-4 for the Carlin team, with Antonio Giovinazzi and Jake Dennis both making late improvements to go third and fourth respectively.

Title favourite Felix Rosenqvist was the leading Mercedes-powered driver, the Mucke Motorsport man pipping Prema Powerteam's Esteban Ocon, who was second in the morning but - along with King - was one of just five drivers not to go faster in the afternoon.

Ocon's Prema team-mate Nicholas Latifi completed just three laps in the morning before fire - thought to have originated in the airbox - damaged his engine and forced him out for the remainder of the two-day test.

Another to lose time was Michele Beretta, who crashed in the morning but who got back on track after repairs.

Pos Driver Car-Engine Time 1. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m36.505s 2. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 1m36.604s 3. Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin Dallara-VW 1m36.661s 4. Jake Dennis Carlin Dallara-VW 1m36.676s 5. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m36.728s 6. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m36.737s 7. Lucas Auer Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m36.805s 8. Tom Blomqvist Carlin Dallara-VW 1m36.820s 9. Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational Dallara-Merc 1m36.936s 10. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m36.945s 11. Ed Jones Carlin Dallara-VW 1m37.023s 12. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m37.069s 13. Sean Gelael Carlin Dallara-VW 1m37.199s 14. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m37.235s 15. Antonio Fuoco Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m37.266s 16. Mitch Gilbert Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m37.343s 17. Dennis van de Laar Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m37.604s 18. Alexander Toril T-Sport Dallara-NBE 1m37.632s 19. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m37.729s 20. Felipe Guimaraes Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m37.827s 21. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-NBE 1m37.865s 22. Michele Beretta EuroInternational Dallara-Merc 1m37.884s 23. Hector Hurst West-Tec Dallara-Mercedes 1m38.159s 24. Oscar Tunjo Signature Dallara-Renault 1m38.228s 25. Felix Serralles West-Tec Dallara-Mercedes 1m38.345s 26. Tatiana Calderon Signature Dallara-Renault 1m38.963s 27. Sandro Zeller Jo Zeller Dallara-Mercedes 1m39.442s 28. Nicholas Latifi Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m47.547s