Front-runner Max finishes qualifying race 1 in third

Published on 27 June 2014 by Stefan Meens

After finishing both free practice sessions at the Norisring as the fastest man on track, Max Verstappen missed out on pole position for race 1 of the sixth FIA Formula 3 European championship round. In the end, the 16-year-old had to settle for third only 0.011s shy of the pole time set by F3 veteran Felix Rosenqvist. Esteban Ocon will start the race from second.

The day kicks off with two 40 minute practice sessions on the 1.4 mile long Norisring, the shortest circuit on the calendar. Despite it being Max’ first time on the German street course, he is enjoying the challenge.
“It’s a short and fun track. As it’s a street circuit, it’s great to drive. Also there are some slipstream opportunities to win lap time. On top of that, the atmosphere around the circuit is pretty cool.”

From the moment the weekend gets underway, Max is the pace setter and in both practice sessions the youngster tops the leaderboards. Felix Rosenqvist, Tom Blomqvist en Esteban Ocon are among the other front runners.

Late in the afternoon, the field is unleashed for a twenty minute qualifying that determines the starting grid for the first race on Saturday morning. Max, once again, sets the benchmark throughout the session.
Nevertheless, with four minutes on the clock, championship leader Ocon beats Max’ time by a mere 0.008s. Only a few minutes later, Rosenqvist manages to out-qualify both the Dutchman and Frenchman to claim pole position with a 48.082.

“Of course it’s a bit frustrating when you are the fastest man throughout the day and then miss out on pole. But on this track that isn’t such a big issue. I think overtaking is possible around here so I see some opportunities ahead of race 1”, says Max.

“Nevertheless, I could’ve gone faster. My last sector during my last run wasn’t perfect. I braked a bit too late into the final corner so there is room for improvement. Together with my engineer I’ll investigate where we can make progress. But I’m looking forward to the race!”

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. 
The full schedule for the FIA F3 European Championship round at the Norisring can be found here.
Furthermore you can follow Max via the official Euro F3 live timing and stream (races only).

FIA Formula 3 European Championship Round 6 – Norisring – Day 1, Friday June 27: 
Results free practice 1
Results free practice 2 
Results qualifying 1 (grid race 1)