Max misses out on another win due to DNF

Published on 17 August 2014 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen saw his dream of a second consecutive win at the Nürburgring go up in smoke. Whilst comfortably leading the race, the Red Bull Junior was forced to retire from the race when his engine blew up with five laps remaining.
“This is very disappointing. I would’ve taken the victory without any problems so I’m pretty sad about the DNF”, explains a disillusioned Max.

Due to a damaged crash barrier, qualifying for the race 2 and 3 had to be rescheduled to Sunday morning. In the session, that determines the grid for the remaining races, Max continued to be among the front runners, claiming P2 for both remaining races. Tom Blomqvist beat the Van Amersfoort Racing driver to pole twice on Sunday morning.

“I’m happy with P2 for both races. However, I think I could’ve gone even better. The balance of the car was excellent so that wasn’t an issue. However, it would’ve been nice to put in an extra lap”, reveals Max. “Because Van Amersfoort Racing has their pits at the end of the pit lane, we are forced to go on track as one of the last drivers. This means we have one lap less to set a time. We’ve complained about it with the organisation, but no results.”

Unlike race 1, the second race gets underway on a dry track. Max has good start and takes the lead as the field plunge into the tight first corner. Pole sitter Blomqvist struggles at the start and sees Max and his team mate Antonio Giovinazzi drive past.

After the first laps, the top four are in a league of their own with Max leading the way followed by Giovinazzi, Blomqvist and Esteban Ocon. The Italian stays close to the Dutchman but is unable to pass as Max does not put a foot wrong.

“I had a good start and was able to take the lead. My pace throughout the race was good. However, I did experience quite a bit of tyre wear. Especially at the front and rear right. I guess the other drivers had the same issue due to the nature of track. It’s doesn’t provide a lot of grip and there are a few long sweeping corners.”

With six laps remaining, disaster strikes. Blue clouds of smoke appear from the Volkswagen engine. Heavily disappointed, the Dutchman is forced to park his Dallara F312. Despite his frustration, Max is keen to help the marshalls push away his car to avoid any dangerous situations.

“With ten laps to go, I got an oil pressure warning and I could tell something was wrong. The engine had less power and on the downshifts I felt vibrations. A few laps later, my engine blew up and that was it. Very disappointing.”.
As Van Amersfoort Racing are forced to replace Max’ engine, Verstappen junior is handed a ten-place grid penalty for the next three races. This means he will start race 3 in twelfth.

The full schedule for the Nürburgring Euro F3 round can be found here.
Furthermore, you can follow Max via the official live timing and the live stream (races only).

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 9 – Nürburgring – Day 3, Sunday August 16:
Results qualifying 2 (grid race 2)
Results qualifying 2 (grid race 3)
Results race 2