Felix had to settle for seventh place in the first of this weekend’s two FIA Formula 3 European Championship qualifying sessions at Spa, after losing one lap of running due to a temporary technical glitch that forced him into the pitlane.
The first half of the session – which sets up the grid for tomorrow’s Race 1 in the Belgian Ardennes – was going according to plan for Felix, who held third after the initial flurry of laps.
With some five out of the 20 minutes remaining, however, his Mücke Motorsport machine developed a fuel pump problem, forcing Felix to tour the circuit at low speed and return to the pits. While the issue was quickly rectified, it came at the price of valuable track time at the longest circuit on the calendar, with Felix losing one flying lap in the battle with his rivals and dropping from fourth to seventh at the fall of the chequered flag.
Pole position went to Esteban Ocon, with Felix keeping the gap to the Frenchman at just over half a second around the 7 km lap.
The second qualifying session, in which the grid for Races 2 and 3 of the weekend will be formed, takes centre stage later this afternoon.
FELIX:
“It seems luck isn’t on our side this year; we appear to be haunted! Things were going fine until the fuel pump gave up, and it was quickly rectified – but it did, unfortunately, cost us some track time we just can’t afford to give away at the moment. We still haven’t found the ideal balance, and we currently need a perfect session if we are to fight at the front of this field. In the end, it was all very close – half a second at Spa isn’t much – and overtaking is possible around here, so P7 isn’t a disaster. Having said that, it’s far from a result I’m happy with, and I’ll do everything I can to achieve better things in second qualifying this afternoon.”
RESULTS
| Pos. | No | Driver | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Esteban Ocon / FRA Prema Powerteam | 8 | 2:10.049 | |
| 2 | 30 | Max Verstappen / NED Van Amersfoort Racing | 8 | 2:10.110 | 0.061 |
| 3 | 25 | Antonio Fuoco / ITA Prema Powerteam | 8 | 2:10.225 | 0.176 |
| 4 | 3 | Lucas Auer / AUT kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 8 | 2:10.340 | 0.291 |
| 5 | 16 | Gustavo Menezes / USA Van Amersfoort Racing | 9 | 2:10.572 | 0.523 |
| 6 | 31 | Tom Blomqvist / GBR Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 8 | 2:10.601 | 0.552 |
| 7 | 27 | Felix Rosenqvist / SWE kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 7 | 2:10.625 | 0.576 |
| 8 | 28 | Jake Dennis / GBR Carlin | 8 | 2:10.659 | 0.610 |
| 9 | 21 | Félix Serrallés / USA Team West-TecF3 | 8 | 2:10.834 | 0.785 |
| 10 | 12 | Alexander Toril / ESP ThreeBond with T-Sport | 8 | 2:10.933 | 0.884 |
| 11 | 1 | Nicholas Latifi / CAN Prema Powerteam | 8 | 2:10.976 | 0.927 |
| 12 | 15 | Jules Szymkowiak / NED Van Amersfoort Racing | 7 | 2:10.983 | 0.934 |
| 13 | 19 | Antonio Giovinazzi / ITA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 8 | 2:11.123 | 1.074 |
| 14 | 9 | Mitchell Gilbert / AUS Fortec Motorsports | 9 | 2:11.411 | 1.362 |
| 15 | 14 | Felipe Guimaraes / BRA Double R Racing | 8 | 2:11.553 | 1.504 |
| 16 | 29 | Santino Ferrucci / USA Eurointernational | 8 | 2:11.576 | 1.527 |
| 17 | 11 | Richard Goddard / AUS ThreeBond with T-Sport | 9 | 2:11.623 | 1.574 |
| 18 | 4 | Roy Nissany / ISR kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 8 | 2:11.770 | 1.721 |
| 19 | 18 | Tatiana Calderón / COL Jo Zeller Racing | 8 | 2:11.811 | 1.762 |
| 20 | 20 | Sean Gelael / INA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 8 | 2:11.813 | 1.764 |
| 21 | 10 | John Bryant-Meisner / SWE Fortec Motorsports | 9 | 2:11.854 | 1.805 |
| 22 | 22 | Hector Hurst / GBR Team West-TecF3 | 9 | 2:12.218 | 2.169 |
| 23 | 8 | Michele Beretta / ITA Eurointernational | 9 | 2:12.406 | 2.357 |
| 24 | 17 | Sandro Zeller / SUI Jo Zeller Racing | 9 | 2:12.630 | 2.581 |
| 25 | 5 | Jordan King / GBR Carlin | 6 | 2:12.753 | 2.704 |