Valtteri Bottas leads James Calado in all-ART GP3 front row in Hungary

The Finn dominated the session, setting multiple laps good enough for first place in the early running. By the time everyone changed tyres for the final flurry of action he was nearly half a second clear of team-mate James Calado, but the Briton hacked away at that margin in the closing stages.

Calado briefly took pole with two minutes to go, but Bottas was only a few seconds behind him on track and he was quickly back in control.

Mitch Evans edged his way to the front for MW Arden over the course of the session, finally making it all the way to third with his final lap as the chequered flag fell. That knocked Tech 1's Aaro Vainio back to fourth, while RSC Mucke driver Michael Christensen completed the top five after a session where he was strong throughout.

Rio Haryanto (Manor), Nico Muller (Jenzer), Tom Dillmann (Addax) and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Manor) were next up, while Pedro Nunes completed a great session for ART by making the top 10.

Just behind him, championship leader Alexander Sims hauled himself up to 11th with a hugely committed final lap. The Status driver has been struggling all weekend, and he was battling to stay in the top 20 throughout the session until his final effort.

Lewis Williamson was another title contender to struggle. The MW Arden driver had a spin early on after he dropped a wheel onto the grass at Turn 9, and he ended the session down in 15th place.

Pos  Driver                  Team       Time       Gap
 1.  Valtteri Bottas         ART        1m36.763s
 2.  James Calado            ART        1m37.093s  + 0.330s
 3.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden   1m37.192s  + 0.429s
 4.  Aaro Vainio             Tech 1     1m37.273s  + 0.510s
 5.  Michael Christensen     RSC Mucke  1m37.354s  + 0.591s
 6.  Rio Haryanto            Manor      1m37.396s  + 0.633s
 7.  Nico Muller             Jenzer     1m37.466s  + 0.703s
 8.  Tom Dillmann            Addax      1m37.477s  + 0.714s
 9.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs     Manor      1m37.515s  + 0.752s
10.  Pedro Nunes             ART        1m37.567s  + 0.804s
11.  Alexander Sims          Status     1m37.576s  + 0.813s
12.  Simon Trummer           MW Arden   1m37.617s  + 0.854s
13.  Conor Daly              Carlin     1m37.621s  + 0.858s
14.  Nigel Melker            RSC Mucke  1m37.623s  + 0.860s
15.  Lewis Williamson        MW Arden   1m37.645s  + 0.882s
16.  Matias Laine            Manor      1m37.682s  + 0.919s
17.  Marlon Stockinger       Atech CRS  1m37.931s  + 1.168s
18.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Tech 1     1m37.968s  + 1.205s
19.  Zoel Amberg             Atech CRS  1m37.972s  + 1.209s
20.  Luciano Bacheta         RSC Mucke  1m38.089s  + 1.326s
21.  Dean Smith              Addax      1m38.090s  + 1.327s
22.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Status     1m38.094s  + 1.331s
23.  Ivan Lukashevich        Status     1m38.162s  + 1.399s
24.  Maxim Zimin             Jenzer     1m38.375s  + 1.612s
25.  Nick Yelloly            Atech CRS  1m38.392s  + 1.629s
26.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Jenzer     1m38.405s  + 1.642s
27.  Leonardo Cordeiro       Carlin     1m38.518s  + 1.755s
28.  Callum MacLeod          Carlin     1m38.670s  + 1.907s
29.  Thomas Hylkema          Tech 1     1m40.474s  + 3.711s
30.  Gabby Chaves            Addax