Max fastest on first day of Euro F3 pre-season testing
Published on 05 April 2014 by Stefan Meens
On the first official FIA Formula 3 European Championship test day of the 2014 season, Max Verstappen clocked the fastest lap of the day. The test, held at the Hungaroring, saw the Dutch Formula 3 rookie set the seventh quickest time in the morning session before decisively topping the leader boards at the end of the day.
After a successful shakedown on Wednesday at the Most circuit in the Czech Republic, the collective Euro F3 test is Max' first opportunity to compare himself to his competitors. Sharing the track with 29 fellow F3 racers, the 16-year-old Van Amersfoort Racing driver is off to a good start. After the first hour, in which he laps the circuit 24 times, Max sits in top spot.
However, there are three hours of the morning session remaining and the lap times keep dropping. Verstappen junior also improves his quickest time and ends the morning in a solid seventh with a 1:36.971. Up until lunch time, Max has driven 46 laps, all without issues.
Max: “In the morning we worked on the car's set-up, both the front and rear-end, to understand the car better. We do this as I don’t have any experience in this brand new Formula 3 car. But it all went well. I managed to be in on P1 for quite a while despite making a few mistakes on fresh tyres. Also, it's only been my second day in the car, so I’m still figuring out where the limit is, but I wasn’t far of the quickest time.”
After lunch, the entire field takes their time to go out on track. The pit lane opens at 1pm but an hour passes before any competitive laps are clocked. Max waits even longer before leaving the pits at 2.40pm. However, when the Dutchman hits the circuit, he makes it count. After five laps, the Verstappen name displays on the top spot.
Similar to the morning, the times keep tumbling throughout the session and with three-quarters of an hour to go, Max loses P1. With ten minutes remaining, the Dutchman leaves the pits for his last run of the day and seven minutes later he claims the fastest time of the day (1:36.505) lapping 0.156s faster than runner-up Antonio Giovinazzi. Max' team mates Jules Szymkowiak and Gustavo Menezes end the day in ninth and fourteenth.
“In the afternoon I tried several different set-ups and it really worked well for me. On used tyres, I was instantly quick and able to stay among the front runners”, explains Max. The drivers are allowed two sets of brand new Hankook tyres per day. “In my last run I used my second fresh set of rubber, but the Hankook's stay fairly consistent so you can put in decent times after the tyres have done a fair share of laps.”
With 76 laps absolved and the fastest lap of the day, Max has gained a lot of vital track time and confidence ahead of the second day at the Hungaroring. “Today was all about learning and understanding the car as its brand new. However, I felt comfortable from the very start and Van Amersfoort Racing did a great job. Nevertheless, I did not expect to be the fastest so we performed above expectations. Tomorrow we will once again give it our all”, concludes a pleased Max Verstappen.
On Saturday the FIA Euro F3 drivers will again test on the Hungaroring. A morning session (8am-12pm) and an afternoon session (1pm-4pm) are scheduled. Live timing is available at: http://livetiming.de/timing/FIA
Via Twitter and Facebook we will keep you up to date throughout the sessions, before providing a full report at the end of the day on the Verstappen Info Page.
Results FIA Formula 3 European Championship pre-season test – Day 1, Friday April 4, Hungaroring:
Results morning session
Results afternoon session
Results day 1 (sessions combined)
