Felix will start both of Sunday’s FIA Formula 3 European Championship races at the Hungaroring from the second row of the grid after going fourth fastest in a delayed qualifying session at the Hungarian venue on Saturday evening.
The session began more than 30 minutes behind schedule after a crash in the preceding Maserati support race necessitated lengthy barrier repairs at Turn 10, but once action got underway, it did so in beautiful fashion as the 25 cars toured out onto the track against the backdrop of lovely late-day sunshine.
With the current F3 qualifying format requiring drivers to post two competitive lap times – with the outright effort counting for Race 2, and the second-fastest for Race 3 – the quality of the field once again became apparent as the leading runners managed to squeeze out two near-identical efforts to ensure the top five will look the same for both of tomorrow’s races.
Felix will start behind pole-sitter Esteban Ocon, second-placed Antonio Fuoco (both Prema Powerteam) and Mücke Motorsport colleague Lucas Auer in both events, ending up 0.464s adrift of Ocon after losing two tenths due to recurring oversteer at the first corner. Sectors two and three, by contrast, were both very competitive with Felix mixing it with the Prema runners.
Race 1 winner Tom Blomqvist will start from sixth and seventh respectively, ending up a tenth off Felix’s pace.
FELIX:
“A decent session. I knew it would be tough to challenge for the front row today, but I’m happy to be on the second – even though I would have preferred to be third instead of fourth. Still, it was a more competitive showing than yesterday for us, and we’ll line up ahead of all the Carlins. I had massive oversteer at Turn 1, much like in the race this morning, which cost me two tenths, but the rest of the lap was OK and we’ll try to dial in the car even better for tomorrow. Since we didn’t run any new tyres this morning, I’m in a good position for tomorrow, but the start will be vital and the aim has got to be to fight for another set of podiums.”
RESULTS
Grid for Race 3 (second-fastest times)
| Pos. | No | Driver | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Esteban Ocon / FRA Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1:35.827 | |
| 2 | 25 | Antonio Fuoco / ITA Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1:36.102 | 00.275 |
| 3 | 3 | Lucas Auer / AUT kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 10 | 1:36.216 | 00.114 |
| 4 | 27 | Felix Rosenqvist / SWE kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 11 | 1:36.325 | 00.109 |
| 5 | 30 | Max Verstappen / NED Van Amersfoort Racing | 11 | 1:36.400 | 00.075 |
| 6 | 19 | Antonio Giovinazzi / ITA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 10 | 1:36.451 | 00.051 |
| 7 | 31 | Tom Blomqvist / GBR Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 10 | 1:36.471 | 00.020 |
| 8 | 5 | Jordan King / GBR Carlin | 10 | 1:36.685 | 00.214 |
| 9 | 1 | Nicholas Latifi / CAN Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1:36.687 | 00.002 |
| 10 | 21 | Félix Serrallés / USA Team West-TecF3 | 10 | 1:36.727 | 00.040 |
| 11 | 4 | Roy Nissany / ISR kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 11 | 1:36.854 | 00.127 |
| 12 | 16 | Gustavo Menezes / USA Van Amersfoort Racing | 10 | 1:36.917 | 00.063 |
| 13 | 28 | Jake Dennis / GBR Carlin | 10 | 1:36.948 | 00.031 |
| 14 | 26 | Dennis van de Laar / NED Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1:36.977 | 00.029 |
| 15 | 10 | John Bryant-Meisner / SWE Fortec Motorsports | 11 | 1:37.064 | 00.087 |
| 16 | 9 | Mitchell Gilbert / AUS Fortec Motorsports | 11 | 1:37.147 | 00.083 |
| 17 | 15 | Jules Szymkowiak / NED Van Amersfoort Racing | 11 | 1:37.172 | 00.025 |
| 18 | 20 | Sean Gelael / INA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 10 | 1:37.187 | 00.015 |
| 19 | 14 | Felipe Guimaraes / BRA Double R Racing | 10 | 1:37.269 | 00.082 |
| 20 | 18 | Tatiana Calderón / COL Jo Zeller Racing | 11 | 1:37.515 | 00.246 |
| 21 | 11 | Richard Goddard / AUS ThreeBond with T-Sport | 12 | 1:37.695 | 00.180 |
| 22 | 22 | Hector Hurst / GBR Team West-TecF3 | 10 | 1:37.857 | 00.162 |
| 23 | 17 | Sandro Zeller / SUI Jo Zeller Racing | 11 | 1:37.915 | 00.058 |
| 24 | 12 | Alexander Toril / ESP ThreeBond with T-Sport | 11 | 1:38.034 | 00.119 |
| 25 | 8 | Michele Beretta / ITA Eurointernational | 12 | 1:38.169 | 00.135 |
Grid for Race 2 (outright times)
| Pos. | No | Driver | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Esteban Ocon / FRA Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1:35.800 | |
| 2 | 25 | Antonio Fuoco / ITA Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1:36.099 | 00.299 |
| 3 | 3 | Lucas Auer / AUT kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 10 | 1:36.157 | 00.357 |
| 4 | 27 | Felix Rosenqvist / SWE kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 11 | 1:36.264 | 00.464 |
| 5 | 30 | Max Verstappen / NED Van Amersfoort Racing | 11 | 1:36.279 | 00.479 |
| 6 | 31 | Tom Blomqvist / GBR Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 10 | 1:36.360 | 00.560 |
| 7 | 19 | Antonio Giovinazzi / ITA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 10 | 1:36.389 | 00.589 |
| 8 | 5 | Jordan King / GBR Carlin | 10 | 1:36.444 | 00.644 |
| 9 | 28 | Jake Dennis / GBR Carlin | 10 | 1:36.473 | 00.673 |
| 10 | 1 | Nicholas Latifi / CAN Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1:36.617 | 00.817 |
| 11 | 21 | Félix Serrallés / USA Team West-TecF3 | 10 | 1:36.649 | 00.849 |
| 12 | 16 | Gustavo Menezes / USA Van Amersfoort Racing | 10 | 1:36.663 | 00.863 |
| 13 | 4 | Roy Nissany / ISR kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport | 11 | 1:36.786 | 00.986 |
| 14 | 9 | Mitchell Gilbert / AUS Fortec Motorsports | 11 | 1:36.922 | 01.122 |
| 15 | 10 | John Bryant-Meisner / SWE Fortec Motorsports | 11 | 1:36.936 | 01.136 |
| 16 | 26 | Dennis van de Laar / NED Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1:36.937 | 01.137 |
| 17 | 14 | Felipe Guimaraes / BRA Double R Racing | 10 | 1:36.970 | 01.170 |
| 18 | 20 | Sean Gelael / INA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 10 | 1:37.013 | 01.213 |
| 19 | 15 | Jules Szymkowiak / NED Van Amersfoort Racing | 11 | 1:37.057 | 01.257 |
| 20 | 18 | Tatiana Calderón / COL Jo Zeller Racing | 11 | 1:37.345 | 01.545 |
| 21 | 12 | Alexander Toril / ESP ThreeBond with T-Sport | 11 | 1:37.405 | 01.605 |
| 22 | 11 | Richard Goddard / AUS ThreeBond with T-Sport | 12 | 1:37.587 | 01.787 |
| 23 | 22 | Hector Hurst / GBR Team West-TecF3 | 10 | 1:37.718 | 01.918 |
| 24 | 17 | Sandro Zeller / SUI Jo Zeller Racing | 11 | 1:37.765 | 01.965 |
| 25 | 8 | Michele Beretta / ITA Eurointernational | 12 | 1:37.866 | 02.066 |