Felix Rosenqvist ends up third overall in his rookie season of Super Formula competition in Japan, after this weekend’s title-decider at Suzuka came to an anticlimactic end with two cancelled races.
Rosenqvist went into the finale holding third in the standings, five points behind leader Hiroaki Ishiura and 4.5 adrift of second-placed Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly in what many envisaged to be a dramatic three-way scrap for the title.
It proved not to be, however, with heavy rain soaking Suzuka throughout practice and qualifying and organisers eventually cancelling both of Sunday’s two scheduled races due to an approaching typhoon.
It meant the standings remained unchanged, with Rosenqvist duly taking third in his rookie season in Asia’s leading single-seater championship.
“It’s been a very strange weekend, and it’s a shame we couldn’t race for it in the end,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “That said, there was so much water on the track in qualifying and it wouldn’t have been possible to drive in even worse conditions. The organisers probably made the right decision in the interest of safety, and I’m pleased to finish in the top three in my first year in Super Formula. The level of drivers here is incredible and I’m glad to have had this experience.”
Rosenqvist’s end result marks the best overall position for a Team LeMans driver in Super Formula since 2013, when France’s Loïc Duval also came third. 25-year-old Swede Rosenqvist has scored three podiums and two fastest laps from seven races in the 2017 campaign.
“It’s been a really useful season in terms of experience,” Rosenqvist concludes. ”It’s been all new for me: the tracks, the team, the car and the culture. It’s been the same in Formula E. I think overall I can be very pleased with how things went, but I would love to come back here one day and fight for the title once more.”
Felix Rosenqvist will next be back in action in Macau on November 16-19, when he makes his debut in the FIA GT World Cup event on the famous streets of the Chinese gambling metropolis.
RESULTS
Super Formula | Rd. 7
Suzuka Circuit
Races cancelled
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (top five)
Super Formula
After 7/7 rounds
1: Hiroaki Ishiura (JPN), 33.5 p.
2: Pierre Gasly (FRA), 33 p.
3: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), 28.5 p.
4: Yuhi Sekiguchi (JPN), 25 p.
5: Kazuki Nakajima (JPN), 22 p.