Felix Rosenqvist was forced to retire due to an engine problem when looking set for a return to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship podium at Hockenheim this weekend.
The 2013 championship runner-up was part of a trio of early breakaway runners in the final race of the weekend, holding third and putting pressure on Race 2 winner Esteban Ocon when a loss of power forced the Swede to park his Mücke Motorsport car on lap five.
It marked a gloomy end to what had previously been a challenging weekend, with Rosenqvist finishing fifth and seventh respectively in the preceding two races after set-up and balance issues compromised him throughout the course of the event.
“It’s been a pretty tough weekend for us, with lots of ups and downs,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “We basically haven’t been able to find a consistent set-up; we’ve been very competitive in some of the sessions, and then not so in others as the balance swung. We made some good changes ahead of the final race on Sunday afternoon and it was finally working well, but then I unfortunately had to retire with a loss of power. It’s not been the weekend we would have liked, but compared to Silverstone, we have at least taken a step forward and we’ll continue to push as hard as always to make further progress in the coming races.”
The FIA Formula 3 European Championship now heads for France, with the next round of the season taking place on the streets of Pau in just one week’s time.
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