Felix among frontrunners as practice pace hints at lap record threat

Felix enjoyed a strong start to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, topping the opening segment of Friday morning free practice and eventually ending up fourth on the combined timesheets in a session that indicated potentially record-breaking pace around the Belgian venue.

In cool and cloudy – but dry – conditions, Felix set a series of quick laps towards the end of the first 40 minutes of practice, working his way down to a 2m11.896s best which gave him P1 at half mark by almost four tenths of a second.

That effort was already comfortably inside the qualifying times achieved when the FIA Formula 3 European Championship last raced at Spa in 2012, when a 2m15.157s was enough to grab pole position.

There was more to come in the final part of practice, however, as the times continued to tumble. Felix got down to a 2m11.325s before refraining from further attempts due to a late yellow-flag zone in the middle sector, while Max Verstappen was able to record a session-best of 2m10.232s right before the caution period.

Championship leader Esteban Ocon wound up second, a full 0.754s off Verstappen’s pace, with Antonio Fuoco third, Felix fourth and Gustavo Menezes fifth.

The Spa F3 lap record – which can only be officially posted during races – sits at 2m16.123s; expect that to be significantly bettered if the rest of the weekend remains dry. Qualifying 1 takes place at 14.10 local time this afternoon.

FELIX:

“A good session; I’m happy with that. The car felt strong from the first lap, and I was able to top the first part of the session without taking any risks at all. The second session was compromised by the yellow flag towards the end, but I think a mid-2m10s would have been possible. Max’s time was impressive and we will have to see what we can do to challenge him for qualifying. I’m confident we’re in contention.”

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