Improved balance sees Felix join pole position scrap (UPDATED)

Felix led the Mücke Motorsport assault as second qualifying took centre stage at Hockenheim on Saturday afternoon, a set-up change conducted after Race 1 allowing him to end up just fractions from pole position.

Having suffered from severe understeer in the preceding race earlier in the day, Felix and his engineers opted for an extensive set-up alteration going into Qualifying 2, aimed at taking the car characteristics closer to those that enabled team-mate Lucas Auer to claim victory a few hours earlier.

While a lack of time between outings prevented a full-blown set-up change, the adjustments that did take place delivered a step in the right direction, with Felix out-qualifying Auer on the grid for both the second and third race of the weekend.

It was enough to hand Felix sixth on the grid for Race 2, and fourth for Race 3 – where he wound up just seven hundredths of a second shy of pole as the field again proved exceptionally close. Auer will line up seventh for both events.

UPDATE: Tom Blomqvist had originally secured a set of double pole positions, but an engine change before the session means the Briton incurs a 10-place grid penalty for the next three races (the two remaining at Hockenheim, and the first event at Pau). Blomqvist will start both of tomorrow’s races from 11th on the grid, with Max Verstappen inheriting pole position.

FELIX:

“We made quite a few changes to the car after the first race, and it was a clear improvement. The understeer was gone, but I think we went too far in the opposite direction, leaving us prone to oversteer instead.

“While we made some quick changes, we actually didn’t have enough time after the first race to set the car up fully like we’d have wanted, so this session was a bit of a compromise. Considering that, and the fact that we still suffered from locking issues, we have to be relatively happy with what we achieved.

“It’s really difficult to get the set-up absolutely right this year – the weight distribution is different from last season – and as soon as you’re outside that perfect window, you’re off the pace. Lucas won the race a few hours ago, for example, and now he qualified eighth. We still have some work to do before we can truly hit the front, but we’re learning all the time and we did come very close to pole.”

RESULTS

Grid for Race 2 (outright times)

Grid for Race 3 (second-fastest times)