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.”
RESULTS
Pos. | No | Driver | Laps | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 30 | Max Verstappen / NED Van Amersfoort Racing | 14 | 2:10.232 | |
2 | 2 | Esteban Ocon / FRA Prema Powerteam | 16 | 2:10.986 | 0.754 |
3 | 25 | Antonio Fuoco / ITA Prema Powerteam | 15 | 2:11.096 | 0.864 |
4 | 27 | Felix Rosenqvist / SWE kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 13 | 2:11.325 | 1.093 |
5 | 16 | Gustavo Menezes / USA Van Amersfoort Racing | 13 | 2:11.375 | 1.143 |
6 | 14 | Felipe Guimaraes / BRA Double R Racing | 13 | 2:11.584 | 1.352 |
7 | 19 | Antonio Giovinazzi / ITA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 11 | 2:11.728 | 1.496 |
8 | 21 | Félix Serrallés / USA Team West-TecF3 | 13 | 2:11.782 | 1.550 |
9 | 12 | Alexander Toril / ESP ThreeBond with T-Sport | 14 | 2:11.855 | 1.623 |
10 | 5 | Jordan King / GBR Carlin | 13 | 2:11.976 | 1.744 |
11 | 28 | Jake Dennis / GBR Carlin | 10 | 2:12.111 | 1.879 |
12 | 31 | Tom Blomqvist / GBR Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 11 | 2:12.369 | 2.137 |
13 | 29 | Santino Ferrucci / USA Eurointernational | 12 | 2:12.506 | 2.274 |
14 | 20 | Sean Gelael / INA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 11 | 2:12.533 | 2.301 |
15 | 1 | Nicholas Latifi / CAN Prema Powerteam | 12 | 2:12.543 | 2.311 |
16 | 11 | Richard Goddard / AUS ThreeBond with T-Sport | 11 | 2:12.664 | 2.432 |
17 | 10 | John Bryant-Meisner / SWE Fortec Motorsports | 14 | 2:12.823 | 2.591 |
18 | 26 | Dennis van de Laar / NED Prema Powerteam | 11 | 2:13.009 | 2.777 |
19 | 3 | Lucas Auer / AUT kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 12 | 2:13.206 | 2.974 |
20 | 22 | Hector Hurst / GBR Team West-TecF3 | 13 | 2:13.228 | 2.996 |
21 | 9 | Mitchell Gilbert / AUS Fortec Motorsports | 14 | 2:13.368 | 3.136 |
22 | 15 | Jules Szymkowiak / NED Van Amersfoort Racing | 8 | 2:13.383 | 3.151 |
23 | 8 | Michele Beretta / ITA Eurointernational | 12 | 2:13.574 | 3.342 |
24 | 4 | Roy Nissany / ISR kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 12 | 2:13.612 | 3.380 |
25 | 18 | Tatiana Calderón / COL Jo Zeller Racing | 12 | 2:13.623 | 3.391 |
26 | 17 | Sandro Zeller / SUI Jo Zeller Racing | 6 | 2:14.115 | 3.883 |