Tom Blomqvist stormed to the top of the FIA European F3 ‘Qualifying 2’ timesheets this evening; however a penalty for changing his Volkwagen engine has earned the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin driver three ten-place grid penalties.
The penalty gives Max Verstappen pole position for both of tomorrow’s races. Blomqvist will also carry a ten-place grid penalty for race one in the third round at Pau.
Blomqvist made certain of the initial result by twice being the only driver to break the 1’32” marker. Indeed come the end of session, Blomqvist’s best of 1:31.655 was almost four-tenths quicker than the nearest quick man Verstappen.
Despite the penalty, Blomqvist was delighted with his effort. “That was the best qualifying I have ever driven in my career and I am very happy with it. I am almost lost for words. It wasn’t easy, because the team had to replace the engine before qualifying.”
He added: “It was possibly one of my strongest qualifying sessions I’ve ever had. I felt really on it and knew we were running very well throughout so it’s a nice way to repay the team for all of their hard work.”
While Esteban Ocon, Antonio Giovinazzi, Antonio Fuoco and Felix Serralles seemed content to head the time sheets through the opening 15 minutes of 20, Blomqvist made his presence felt when he jumped to the top of the standings with a 1:31.958s.
Verstappen followed that up with a 1:32.014s, while Ocon maintained the pressure by lapping some three-hundredths slower than his Dutch rival; however no-one had any answer for Blomqvist’s next run, which put the Volkswagen-powered driver beyond the reach.
With slightly older engines, Verstappen and Ocon could do no better, while Giovinazzi rose to 4th with three minutes remaining, when he clocked up a 1:32.105.
Ed Jones registered a lap six-hundredths for 5th and Antonio Fuoco had a better go at qualifying today, when he assumed 6th spot ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and race one winner Lucas Auer. Felix Serralles and Nicholas Latifi rounded out the top ten.
Disappointingly, Jordan King could only manage a best of 19th, having finished on the podium earlier in the day.
2014 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 2, Qualifying 2) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen 1:32.014 2. Esteban Ocon Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:32.044 3. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Ayam/Carlin-VW 1:32.105 4. Ed Jones Carlin-Volkswagen 1:32.164 5. Antonio Fuoco Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:32.208 6. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke-Mercedes 1:32.228 7. Lucas Auer Mucke-Mercedes 1:32.258 8. Felix Serralles Team West-Tec-Mercedes 1:32.278 9. Nicholas Latifi Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:32.314 10. Jake Dennis Carlin-Volkswagen 1:32.327 11. Tom Blomqvist Jagonya Ayam/Carlin-VW 1:31.655* 12. Dennis van de Laar Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:32.344 13. Mitch Gilbert Fortec-Mercedes 1:32.445 14. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec-Mercedes 1:32.575 15. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen 1:32.688 16. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen 1:32.740 17. Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam/Carlin-VW 1:32.776 18. Alexander Toril ThreeBond/T-Sport-NBE 1:32.861 19. Jordan King Carlin-Volkswagen 1:32.871 20. Spike Goddard ThreeBond/T-Sport-NBE 1:32.887 21. Felipe Guimaraes Double R-Mercedes 1:33.011 22. Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational-Merc 1:33.208 23. Roy Nissany Mucke-Mercedes 1:33.231 24. Sandro Zeller Zeller-Mercedes 1:33.365 25. Hector Hurst Team West-Tec-Mercedes 1:33.798 26. Michele Beretta EuroInternational-Merc 1:33.377** 27. Tatiana Calderon Zeller/Mucke-Mercedes 1:33.361*
Notes:
Penalties
Tom Blomqvist and Tatiana Calderon; 10-place grid drop (using different engine, following previous round).
Michele Beretta; 5-place grid drop, (causing collision in race one).
2014 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 2, Qualifying 3) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen 1:32.185 2. Esteban Ocon Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:32.242 3. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Ayam/Carlin-VW 1:32.251 4. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke-Mercedes 1:32.256 5. Antonio Fuoco Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:32.257 6. Ed Jones Carlin-Volkswagen 1:32.304 7. Lucas Auer Mucke-Mercedes 1:32.382 8. Dennis van de Laar Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:32.501 9. Jake Dennis Carlin-Volkswagen 1:32.512 10. Nicholas Latifi Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:32.591 11. Tom Blomqvist Jagonya Ayam/Carlin-VW 1:31.958* 12. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec-Mercedes 1:32.626 13. Felix Serralles Team West-Tec-Mercedes 1:32.636 14. Mitch Gilbert Fortec-Mercedes 1:32.753 15. Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam/Carlin-VW 1:32.814 16. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen 1:32.829 17. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen 1:32.829 18. Spike Goddard ThreeBond/T-Sport-NBE 1:32.906 19. Jordan King Carlin-Volkswagen 1:32.937 20. Alexander Toril ThreeBond/T-Sport-NBE 1:32.940 21. Felipe Guimaraes Double R-Mercedes 1:33.040 22. Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational-Merc 1:33.360 23. Michele Beretta EuroInternational-Merc 1:33.479 24. Roy Nissany Mucke-Mercedes 1:33.483 25. Sandro Zeller Zeller-Mercedes 1:33.601 26. Hector Hurst Team West-Tec-Mercedes 1:33.892 27. Tatiana Calderon Zeller/Mucke-Mercedes 1:33.483*
Notes:
Penalties
Tom Blomqvist and Tatiana Calderon; 10-place grid drop (using different engine, following previous round).
