Felix Rosenqvist found himself scrapping over the podium as the FIA Formula 3 European Championship set camp at Austria’s Red Bull Ring this weekend, although his 2014 jinx eventually continued to deny him of some strong results.
Rosenqvist – who made history by scoring a triple win at the Red Bull Ring in 2013 – finished fourth in the first race of the weekend and was on course for a strong finish again in Sunday’s Race 2. The 22-year-old Swede was shadowing championship leader Esteban Ocon in the early stages, and attacked the Lotus F1 junior following a safety car restart. Ocon covered the inside line as the duo went into the first corner, but then veered left – into the path of Rosenqvist.
In the inevitable collision that followed, Rosenqvist was forced to park his Mücke Motorsport Dallara on the spot with suspension damage, while Ocon was later penalised by the stewards.
The final race of the meeting saw Rosenqvist retire for a second time.
“Overall, we have taken some small steps forward this weekend, and we’ll take that with us into the final few rounds of the season,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “The car felt more consistent than in Russia last time out, and we were able to challenge for the podium on pace – at least over the second half of the weekend. We were particularly strong in the second race, which made it all the more sad to retire. We’re still not where we should be, obviously, but we’re working as hard as we can and we’ll continue doing so until we return to winning ways.”
The FIA Formula 3 European Championship now moves on to the Nürburgring (Germany), where the field will regroup on August 15-17.