Qualifying 1: Ultra-close at Hockenheim

Felix will start tomorrow’s opening FIA Formula 3 European Championship race at Hockenheim from eighth on the grid, having fallen just one tenth short of third in an ultra-close qualifying session on Friday evening.

With a full 22 (!) cars ending up within one second, the competitiveness of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship once again left the paddock thrilled as times tumbled and positions changed throughout the course of the 20-minute session.

As the chequered flag fell to bring proceedings to a close, Felix found himself in eighth – although a mere one tenth of a second would have been enough to promote him onto the second row of the grid.

Pole position, meanwhile, went to Mücke Motorsport team-mate Lucas Auer, who produced a near-perfect lap to cement the Berlin squad’s return to form following the torrid outcome of the Silverstone season-opener. The Austrian ended up 0.301s ahead of Felix, whose main deficit came from a lack of confidence in Sector 1.

Race 1 gets underway at lunchtime tomorrow, with second qualifying – which sets up the grid for Races 2 and 3 – then taking centre stage later in the afternoon.

FELIX:

“First of all, big congrats to Lucas. He did the better job today, and that’s the difference between our positions on the grid. The car felt good and the team deserves credit for having turned our situation around so quickly. It was a very close session, and it definitely feels a little sour to start eighth when we were literally the blink of an eye from the front row.

“I need to find some time in the fast corners – particularly Turn 1, where I was lacking confidence today. It wasn’t helped when I was given a warning early on for exceeding track limits, which inevitably made me hold back a little too much throughout the rest of the session. It’s down to me to do a better job tomorrow, and the target has got to be to make up some ground in the first race.”

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