Encouraging start to Max' Hockenheim campaign

Published on 02 May 2014 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen kicked off his second European F3 weekend with encouraging lap times in the two free practice sessions lined up on Friday. At the Hockenheimring in Germany, the 16-year-old Van Amersfoort Racing driver managed a thirteenth position in FP1 before banking an impressive third fastest time in the second session.
The first session gets underway in sunny and dry conditions. However, the drivers are unable to put in fast lap times as the safety car enters the track early on in the session. Fortunately, there has not been an incident but the arrival of the safety car is part of a practice procedure.

Max explains: “We had a practice procedure with the safety car as things didn’t go to plan in Silverstone. A couple of drivers had overtaken the safety car at locations were it wasn’t allowed. To avoid further incidents, the organisation decided we should practice.”
As the safety car leaves the track, the 27 Euro F3 drivers are free to unleash their talent. Max quickly puts in purple sector times, indicating he has no issues finding his way around the German track. “Compared to a Formula Renault 2.0 racer you can go through corners much faster with my Formula 3 car. I got used to it quickly”, reveals Max.

However, as his tyres are nearing the end of their performance life, the youngster sees several drivers beat his time. In the end, Max finishes the first free practice session in thirteenth. “The track was pretty slippery in the morning especially in the first twelve laps. After that, the track conditions improved.”
Antonio Giovinazzi claims the fastest time with a 1.34.0. Max trails the Italian by seven tenths. “The first session went well. I took to the track on a set of old tyres and in the beginning the times were looking good. Later on in the session, several guys switched to new rubber but I remained on my used set.”

In free practice 2, Max hits the circuit with new tyres and immediately manoeuvres his bright orange Volkswagen powered Dallara F312 to top spots of the leader board. He is fast throughout the whole session and finishes in third position, two tenths behind the 1.33:352 of Jagonya Ayam with Carlin's Giovanizzi. Kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport’s Lucas Auer takes second.
“The second session went a quite a bit better. We really got a feel for the car and now we’ll analyse how we can improve on it. P3 is a good but we always want to improve. Particular in the third sector I can gain”, explains an ambitious Verstappen junior.

To follow Max at Hockenheim you can make use of the official Euro F3 live timing and stream:
Live timing is available at: http://livetiming.de/timing/FIA
Live stream (races only) available at: http://www.fiaf3europe.com/livestream.html

Furthermore, via Twitter and Facebook we will keep you updated throughout the weekend followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action. For exclusive pictures of Max, check out our Hockenheim photo album.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship – Round 2, Hockenheim – Day 1, Friday May 2: 
Results free practice 1
Results free practice 2