Photo: f3euroseries
Maiden Euro Series’ victory for William Buller
William Buller (Carlin) celebrated a premiere at the 4.326 kilometres long Red Bull Ring in the Austrian province of Styria: for the first time, he won a Formula 3 Euro Series race. The Brit was followed home by Michael Lewis (Prema Powerteam) and Tom Blomqvist (ma-con Motorsport). For Blomqvist, who contests his first season in the Euro Series, it was his maiden podium finish. In the drivers’ standings, Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam), who finished ninth in the eighth round of the season, remains in the lead with a total of 99 points.
While William Buller led the field from lights to flag, there were hard position fights in the midfield. From second down to tenth place, the young drivers frequently attacked each other and provided first-class entertainment for the spectators. Eventually, American driver Michael Lewis defended his second place, which he had already taken at the start. Tom Blomqvist also brought third place home, finishing ahead of the best-placed rookie Sven Müller (Prema Powerteam) and guest driver Jazeman Jaafar (Carlin).
William Buller (Carlin): “I am very happy to have won this race. I was able to benefit from my pole position and take the lead right away. Since the race meeting at Brands Hatch a fortnight ago, when the Prema Powerteam’s cars were superior to ours, we have improved and now, we will go on from here.”
Michael Lewis (Prema Powerteam): “Of course, I would rather have won, but there are also a lot of valuable points for finishing second. Just after the start, I had almost overtaken Will Buller, but I was on the outside in the first corner and I stayed second. After that, I was particularly careful not to be too fast when the yellow flags were out, because I certainly didn’t want to risk a penalty.”
Tom Blomqvist (ma-con Motorsport): “So far, the weekend at Red Bull Ring has been going well. We decided to compete in the Euro Series at a very late stage and therefore hardly had any time to prepare prior to the season opener at Hockenheim. Considering all that, a podium finish here is a great result. We have all been working hard to achieve this.