“FIA F3: Wehrlein is king of the draft at Monza”

© FIA.
© FIA.

It is that particular engine pitch – not a cream by any stretch, but a low, sullen roar.

Although not as aurally threatening in the same way its Formula One parentage can be, the sound of a Formula 3 engine ricocheting amidst the trees at Monza’s famous Parabolica corner deliver their own might.

The characteristics of the engine notes do not chime together exactly. Lyrically they are distinct, but between the Mercedes, Volkswagen and Nissan offerings showcase the dips and peaks of tones that are often so subtle, as to often be unnoticeable to all but the most trained of hearing.

The lines through Parabolica vary too, but like the engine tones, the differing approaches are minor and often dependent on comfort.
Tom Blomqvist is a good example. Still not quite settled in with the Dallara F312, Blomqvist is a touch sensitive through the long, lingering bend, yet manages to hold it together.
That the Red Bull Junior Driver held it together despite his fire extinguisher going off in cockpit toward the tail end of the first qualifying session. He would walk away with a 4th, 4th and 9th for the Sunday races.

A slight change of conditions helped – the afternoon brought with it welcome warmth, allowing one to not only park the jacket, but also for the tyres to generate some temperature.
Unfortunately for Felix Rosenqvist, the Swede would lose out in the rush for time. Unable to garner a powerful draft, Rosenqvist had to make do with the high end of the midpack – 11th, 7th and 12th left him quite brow beaten and lost.
Will Buller suffered the same in the final qualifying session – coming in only six-tenths shy of pole, the Northern Irish racer lamented the hypothetical three-tenths lost without a sparring partner.

At Prema Powerteam, Raffaele Marciello exuded confidence. Wringing the neck of his Mercedes-powered machine, the soft-spoken Italian looked planted throughout the session, but missed the top spot to old and temporary rival Pascal Wehrlein.
Marciello would eventually claim pole for race three, but will make do with a 2nd and 3rd for the opening pair of races.

Competing in his only Formula 3 round before moving to DTM, Wehrlein mastered the slipstream to draft to the top of the standings with his final lap.
Two poles and a 2nd place was Wehrlein’s reward. The 18-year-old just looks so comfortable and quick – his star will be missed for the rest of this year.

2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Qualifying Race 1)
Pos  Driver               Team/Car                    Time       Gap
 1.  Pascal Wehrlein      Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m45.245s
 2.  Lucas Auer           Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.274s  + 0.029s
 3.  Raffaele Marciello   Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.280s  + 0.035s
 4.  Tom Blomqvist        EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc   1m45.514s  + 0.269s
 5.  Harry Tincknell      Carlin Dallara-VW           1m45.878s  + 0.393s
 6.  Eddie Cheever        Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.638s  + 0.425s
 7.  Alex Lynn            Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.692s  + 0.447s
 8.  Jordan King          Carlin Dallara-VW           1m45.723s  + 0.478s
 9.  Josh Hill            Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m45.806s  + 0.561s
10.  Dennis van de Laar   Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW   1m45.870s  + 0.625s
11.  Felix Rosenqvist     Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m45.900s  + 0.655s
12.  Will Buller          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan      1m45.918s  + 0.673s
13.  Felix Serralles      Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m45.919s  + 0.674s
14.  Sven Muller          Ma-con Dallara-VW           1m46.086s  + 0.841s
15.  Mans Grenhagen       Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW   1m46.090s  + 0.845s
16.  Mitchell Gilbert     Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m46.119s  + 0.874s
17.  Pipo Derani          Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m46.177s  + 0.932s
18.  Jann Mardenborough   Carlin Dallara-VW           1m46.189s  + 0.944s
19.  Nicholas Latifi      Carlin Dallara-VW           1m46.301s  + 1.056s
20.  Lucas Wolf           URD Dallara-Merc            1m46.398s  + 1.153s
21.  Roy Nissany          Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m46.424s  + 1.179s
22.  Antonio Giovinazzi   Double R Dallara-Merc       1m46.486s  + 1.241s
23.  Sandro Zeller        Zeller Dallara-Merc         1m46.936s  + 1.691s
24.  Andre Rudersdorf     Ma-con Dallara-VW           1m47.085s  + 1.840s
25.  Gary Thompson        Ferraris Dallara-Merc       1m47.131s  + 1.886s
26.  Spike Goddard        T-Sport Dallara-Nissan      1m46.388s  + 2.031s
27.  Sean Gelael          Double R Dallara-Merc       1m47.437s  + 2.192s
28.  Tatiana Calderon     Double R Dallara-Merc       1m47.675s  + 2.430s
29.  Dmitry Suranovich    Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m48.596s  + 3.351s
30.  Michela Cerruti      Ferraris Dallara-Merc       1m48.836s  + 3.591s


2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Qualifying Race 2)
Pos  Driver               Team/Car                    Time       Gap
 1.  Pascal Wehrlein      Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m45.307s
 2.  Raffaele Marciello   Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.559s  + 0.252s
 3.  Lucas Auer           Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.626s  + 0.319s
 4.  Tom Blomqvist        EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc   1m45.626s  + 0.319s
 5.  Alex Lynn            Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.820s  + 0.513s
 6.  Harry Tincknell      Carlin Dallara-VW           1m45.873s  + 0.566s
 7.  Felix Rosenqvist     Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m45.917s  + 0.610s
 8.  Jordan King          Carlin Dallara-VW           1m45.920s  + 0.613s
 9.  Will Buller          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan      1m45.974s  + 0.667s
10.  Felix Serralles      Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m46.049s  + 0.742s
11.  Mans Grenhagen       Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW   1m46.117s  + 0.810s
12.  Eddie Cheever        Prema Dallara-Merc          1m46.210s  + 0.903s
13.  Dennis van de Laar   Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW   1m46.210s  + 0.903s
14.  Pipo Derani          Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m46.262s  + 0.955s
15.  Josh Hill            Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m46.399s  + 1.092s
16.  Sven Muller          Ma-con Dallara-VW           1m46.404s  + 1.097s
17.  Jann Mardenborough   Carlin Dallara-VW           1m46.408s  + 1.101s
18.  Nicholas Latifi      Carlin Dallara-VW           1m46.430s  + 1.123s
19.  Mitchell Gilbert     Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m46.548s  + 1.241s
20.  Roy Nissany          Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m46.574s  + 1.267s
21.  Lucas Wolf           URD Dallara-Merc            1m46.748s  + 1.441s
22.  Antonio Giovinazzi   Double R Dallara-Merc       1m46.785s  + 1.478s
23.  Andre Rudersdorf     Ma-con Dallara-VW           1m47.190s  + 1.883s
24.  Gary Thompson        Ferraris Dallara-Merc       1m47.311s  + 2.004s
25.  Spike Goddard        T-Sport Dallara-Nissan      1m47.461s  + 2.154s
26.  Sean Gelael          Double R Dallara-Merc       1m47.484s  + 2.177s
27.  Tatiana Calderon     Double R Dallara-Merc       1m47.722s  + 2.415s
28.  Sandro Zeller        Zeller Dallara-Merc         1m47.982s  + 2.675s
29.  Dmitry Suranovich    Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m48.640s  + 3.333s
30.  Michela Cerruti      Ferraris Dallara-Merc       1m48.985s  + 3.678s


2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Qualifying Race 3)
Pos  Driver               Team/Car                    Time       Gap
 1.  Raffaele Marciello   Prema Dallara-Merc          1m44.781s
 2.  Pascal Wehrlein      Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m44.946s  + 0.165s
 3.  Alex Lynn            Prema Dallara-Merc          1m44.987s  + 0.206s
 4.  Lucas Auer           Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.026s  + 0.245s
 5.  Pipo Derani          Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m45.240s  + 0.459s
 6.  Jordan King          Carlin Dallara-VW           1m45.259s  + 0.478s
 7.  Eddie Cheever        Prema Dallara-Merc          1m45.296s  + 0.515s
 8.  Harry Tincknell      Carlin Dallara-VW           1m45.321s  + 0.540s
 9.  Tom Blomqvist        EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc   1m45.355s  + 0.574s
10.  Will Buller          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan      1m45.452s  + 0.671s
11.  Sven Muller          Ma-con Dallara-VW           1m45.530s  + 0.749s
12.  Felix Rosenqvist     Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m45.547s  + 0.766s
13.  Felix Serralles      Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m45.662s  + 0.881s
14.  Josh Hill            Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m45.717s  + 0.936s
15.  Lucas Wolf           URD Dallara-Merc            1m46.748s  + 0.967s
16.  Dennis van de Laar   Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW   1m45.774s  + 0.993s
17.  Nicholas Latifi      Carlin Dallara-VW           1m45.822s  + 1.041s
18.  Roy Nissany          Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m45.919s  + 1.138s
19.  Mitchell Gilbert     Mucke Dallara-Merc          1m46.143s  + 1.362s
20.  Mans Grenhagen       Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW   1m46.204s  + 1.423s
21.  Antonio Giovinazzi   Double R Dallara-Merc       1m46.332s  + 1.551s
22.  Jann Mardenborough   Carlin Dallara-VW           1m46.355s  + 1.574s
23.  Andre Rudersdorf     Ma-con Dallara-VW           1m46.725s  + 1.944s
24.  Spike Goddard        T-Sport Dallara-Nissan      1m46.964s  + 2.183s
25.  Sean Gelael          Double R Dallara-Merc       1m47.218s  + 2.437s
26.  Gary Thompson        Ferraris Dallara-Merc       1m47.223s  + 2.442s
27.  Dmitry Suranovich    Fortec Dallara-Merc         1m47.596s  + 2.815s
28.  Tatiana Calderon     Double R Dallara-Merc       1m47.763s  + 2.982s
29.  Sandro Zeller        Zeller Dallara-Merc         1m47.782s  + 3.001s
30.  Michela Cerruti      Ferraris Dallara-Merc       1m48.981s  + 4.200s

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