Felix Rosenqvist was denied a seemingly certain podium due to technical issues at this weekend’s FIA Formula 3 European Championship round at Spa-Francorchamps, as the Swede’s 2014 jinx continued to haunt him in the Belgian Ardennes.
Rosenqvist was running third in the first race of the weekend when a fuel pump problem saw him drop back to fourth behind Britain’s Jake Dennis on the penultimate lap. The Mücke Motorsport man, however, was able to activate the back-up pump installed in each F3 chassis, allowing him to reclaim third from Dennis as the pair commenced the final tour.
The problems were not over yet, though, as – in a heart-breaking turn of events – the spare pump would fail as well with less than half a lap remaining, leaving Rosenqvist coasting defencelessly across the line in seventh place.
Earlier on in the weekend, the 2013 championship runner-up had experienced similar problems that forced him out of a pole position scrap in qualifying, after he had previously topped the opening free practice session.
In the second race of the meeting, Rosenqvist rose from ninth on the grid to finish fourth, while suspension damage sustained in an attempted overtaking manoeuvre restricted him to ninth in Sunday’s Race 3.
“Simply not our weekend, and not our season so far,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “It’s obviously disappointing to lose out on a podium like that, but it’s part of this game – and we’ll be back. I think we got extremely little reward for the pace we had this weekend; I actually can’t recall having ever driven this well and getting so little for it. I went fastest in the opening practice session and our lap times were competitive throughout, but it’s just a shame that it doesn’t look like that due to circumstances. Fortunately, the next race is just around the corner, and I’m extremely determined to fight back.”
The FIA Formula 3 European Championship will be back in action as early as next weekend, as the 2014 campaign reaches its halfway point at the famous Norisring street circuit in Nuremberg (Germany).