Felix storms to Grand Prix de Pau victory!

Felix overcame all of his recent misfortune by storming to victory in the prestigious Grand Prix de Pau, winning Sunday’s FIA Formula 3 European Championship finale on the streets of the French city to become only the second Swede in history to win the classic event.

Felix grabbed the lead from second on the grid as he out-dragged pole-sitter Esteban Ocon off the line, and then set about extending his lead ever so slightly.

As was the case in the second race this morning, the leading duo quickly pulled away from the rest of the field, lapping comfortably faster than anyone else managed.

The only real worry came due to a mid-race safety car period, which forced Felix to control a crucial restart situation – a task not aided by a gearbox problem. Ocon used the opportunity to launch an attack into the Gare hairpin, but Felix held firm to eventually win by 0.8 seconds. In doing so, he joined Reine Wisell into the history books as only the second Swede to have won the Grand Prix de Pau, 43 years after the ex-F1 driver emerged victorious in 1971.

To underline his pace, Felix threw in the fastest lap of the race for the second event running.

While the race marked the official 2014 “Grand Prix de Pau”, it is not worth more than races one and two of this weekend in terms of FIA Formula 3 European Championship points, handing Felix the regular 25 for victory.

FELIX:

“Absolutely fantastic! I decided before the start that I simply had to win this race; going away from here with second was just not an option. I made a good start, grabbed the lead and managed to open up a small but important gap to Esteban. When the safety car came out, I had a clear idea of how to handle the restart, but then the gearbox lived its own life momentarily and I couldn’t get it into second gear. It was a critical point of the race, but fortunately it all started working again and I could hold on to the lead. Winning this race means a lot – I’m a big fan of street circuits – and it feels great to finally come out on top after all the problems we’ve had earlier this weekend.”

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