Max Verstappen (van Amersfoort Racing) and Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam) headed the two FIA European F3 practice sessions at Pau today.
Verstappen emerged on top of the morning session, with Ocon giving close company. With precious little useful rubber down on the greasy track, Verstappen secured a best of 1:11.298 – just over one-tenth clear of his French rival, although it was Ocon who spent much of the timed session on top.
It all began to change in the latter part of practice one. As temperatures rose and more Hankook rubber papered the temporary circuit, times began to fall, allowing Mucke’s Felix Rosenqvist to head the table for a period.
Thereafter both Ocon and Verstappen increased their pace, with the Dutch teenager heading the field as the chequered flag drew. Eventually Rosenqvist fell to 3rd, followed by Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam / Carlin).
Thinking upon the session, Rosenqvist noted: ‘It’s less about the car here and more about the driver. I think we’re all running much softer suspension and higher downforce, so it evens out.’
Lucas Auer’s (Mucke Motorsport) best of 1:11.904 brought the Austrian into the top five, with Mitch Gilbert (Fortec) braking into the top six.
Ocon jumped Verstappen in the times for the second session with a best of 1:10.686, with the Prema man proving 0.171s quicker than his van Amersfoort rival.
Like the morning, Ocon and Verstappen clung to the peak for much of the session; however fewer laps were registered due to a red flag when Michele Beretta planted his EuroInternational machine into the barriers hard at Pont Oscar. ‘It’s getting better race-by-race,’ said Beretta. He continued: ‘I have a good teammate in Riccardo [Agostini], so the information is good. I went well in P1, but then made a mistake in P2…’
Rosenqvist maintained his 3rd place in the standings, but this time Auer took 4th ahead of Carlin dup Jake Dennis and Blomqvist.
It was a difficult opening session for Antonio Fuoco (Prema Powerteam) and Roy Nissany (Mücke Motorsport), both of whom crashed out; Fuoco at the slow Pont Oscar corner and Nissany after he got loose at the Virage de la Gare. Neither took part in the afternoon running.
2014 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 3, Free Practice 1, Pau) Pos Driver Team Time / Gap 1. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen 1:11.298 2. Esteban Ocon Prema Powerteam-Mercedes +0.125 3. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke-Mercedes +0.289 4. Tom Blomqvist Jagonya Ayam Carlin-Volkswagen +0.365 5. Lucas Auer Mucke-Mercedes +0.606 6. Mitch Gilbert Fortec-Mercedes +0.779 7. Jordan King Carlin-Volkswagen +0.799 8. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Ayam Carlin-Volkswagen +0.936 9. Dennis van de Laar Prema Powerteam-Mercedes +0.952 10. Nicholas Latifi Prema Powerteam-Mercedes +0.990 11. Jake Dennis Carlin-Volkswagen +1.023 12. Ed Jones Carlin-Volkswagen +1.040 13. Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational-Mercedes +1.201 14. Felipe Guimaraes Double R-Mercedes +1.333 15. Spike Goddard ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE +1.374 16. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen +1.591 17. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec-Mercedes +1.605 18. Alexander Toril ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE +1.685 19. Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam Carlin-Volkswagen +1.711 20. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen +1.747 21. Roy Nissany Mucke-Mercedes +1.750 22. Michele Beretta EuroInternational-Mercedes +1.868 23. Felix Serralles West-Tec-Mercedes +1.973 24. Antonio Fuoco Prema Powerteam-Mercedes +2.270 25. Hector Hurst West-Tec-Mercedes +2.535 26. Tatiana Calderon Jo Zeller-Mercedes +2.639
2014 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 3, Free Practice 2, Pau)
Pos Driver Team Time / Gap
1. Esteban Ocon Prema Powerteam-Mercedes 1:10.688
2. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen +0.171
3. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke-Mercedes +0.262
4. Lucas Auer Mucke-Mercedes +0.395
5. Jake Dennis Carlin-Volkswagen +0.604
6. Tom Blomqvist Jagonya Ayam Carlin-Volkswagen +0.697
7. Ed Jones Carlin-Volkswagen +0.746
8. Jordan King Carlin-Volkswagen +0.766
9. Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational-Mercedes +0.773
10. Mitch Gilbert Fortec-Mercedes +0.806
11. Felix Serralles West-Tec-Mercedes +0.924
12. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Ayam Carlin-Volkswagen +1.025
13. Nicholas Latifi Prema Powerteam-Mercedes +1.040
14. Dennis van de Laar Prema Powerteam-Mercedes +1.041
15. Felipe Guimaraes Double R-Mercedes +1.186
16. Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam Carlin-Volkswagen +1.314
17. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen +1.365
18. Spike Goddard ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE +1.425
19. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec-Mercedes +1.440
20. Tatiana Calderon Jo Zeller-Mercedes +1.760
21. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort-Volkswagen +1.818
22. Alexander Toril ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE +1.851
23. Michele Beretta EuroInternational-Mercedes +2.812
24. Hector Hurst West-Tec-Mercedes +2.985
25. Antonio Fuoco Prema Powerteam-Mercedes {no time}
26. Roy Nissany Mucke-Mercedes {no time}
