Sovereign victory for Max at Spa

Published on 21 June 2014 by Stefan Meens

A sunny Spa-Francorchamps provided a fbeautiful backdrop for the first race of the fifth European Formula 3 championship round in which Max Verstappen claimed a sovereign victory. After missing out on pole position by less than a tenth of second, the Van Amersfoort Racing driver was eager to show his true potential: “I didn’t doubt for a minute that I wouldn’t be able to win this race. I'm delighted with this home win.”

As the race gets under way, Max has a good start, but so do pole sitter Esteban Ocon and third placed Antonio Fuoco. As the field arrives at the tight first corner, La Source, Max is forced wide and Fuoco squeezes past. In the following run down from Eau Rouge to Les Combes, Verstappen junior is able to slipstream past both Fuoco and Ocon to take the lead. The latter collides with Fuoco resulting in the Frenchman's first DNF of the season. The incident grants Lucas Auer second place.

Max: “I had a good start but I was forced wide which oddly enough gave me a perfect run down to Eau Rouge and consequently the long run down to Les Combes. It was a bit tight but I was able to take the lead.”
After the turmoil in the opening laps of the race, Max is building up a lead. In the fifth lap he underlines his skill and speed by setting the race's fastest lap, a 2:11.111, whilst extending his lead to over two seconds.

However, his advantage is nullified as the safety car is forced to hit the track after Antonio Giovinazzi and Santino Ferrucci endure a big shunt a Les Combes.
“After the opening stages I had excellent pace and I was able to extend my lead to two seconds so it was a bit of a shame the safety car came out.”

After the restart, Max once again builds up a comfortable lead and it looks like the race will be an easy win for the Dutchman. However, in the last lap, Auer closes the gap dramatically. Due to tyre wear, Max experiences a lot of oversteer giving the Austrian the opportunity to close in. In a last ditch effort, Auer tries to overtake Max by slipstreaming past but Verstappen junior defends decisively on his way to the first victory of the weekend. The podium is completed by Jake Dennis.

“After the restart, my pace was still good but I suffered a lot of oversteer in the final two laps. The last lap was tough but I wasn’t going to let this win in front of a home crowd be taken away from me. This is such a great win!”, reveals Max.

“Auer was very close to me at the end but that is part of racing here at Spa-Francorchamps. It's hard to create a gap with the two long straights and you can only create a lead in the second sector. But we have had a strong package all weekend which led to this great result. I therefore want to thank the entire Van Amersfoort Racing team for all their hard work and efforts and I’m very much looking forward to the rest of this weekend!”

The full schedule for the FIA F3 European Championship round at Spa can be found here.
To follow Max you can make use of the official Euro F3 live timing and stream:
Live timing is available at: http://www.mstworld.com/timing/livetiming.htm?series=wtcc-support
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. 

FIA Formula 3 European Championship Round 5 – Spa-Francorchamps – Day 2, Saturday June 21: 
Results race 1