Harry Tincknell and Carlin win on home soil…
At the 5.891 kilometres long Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, Harry Tincknell (Carlin) scored his maiden win in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and also secured the first win for Volkswagen in this year’s series. In a close battle, the Brit beat his compatriot Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam). Swede Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) finished third. In the drivers’ standings, Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam) remains in the lead in spite of his sixth-place finish in the first race at Silverstone. He now has a margin of 14.5 points over his closest rival Harry Tincknell.
Harry Tincknell already laid the foundation for his maiden victory in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the start, when he converted his pole position into the race lead. During the race, he was not able to pull a gap over his rival Alex Lynn. However, the 21-year-old race leader made no mistakes and did not give Lynn a chance for a successful attack. Behind Tincknell and Lynn, Felix Rosenqvist initially was involved in a battle for third with Nicholas Latifi (Carlin), but then clearly had the upper hand.
For the better part of the race, William Buller (ThreeBond with T-Sport) battled with Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam) and Raffaele Marciello for fifth place. In a thrilling encounter with various position changes, Auer eventually came out on top. In the closing stages, the Austrian managed to close the gap to Latifi and overtake the Canadian. He took the chequered flag in fourth place. His team-mate Marciello finished sixth behind Latifi, Buller had to make do with seventh. Félix Serrallés (Fortec Motorsports), Luis Felipe Derani (Fortec Motorsports) and Tom Blomqvist (Eurointernational) ended up eighth to tenth. In total, four British drivers made it into the top ten in the first FIA Formula 3 European Championship race on British soil.
Harry Tincknell (Carlin)
“I am really happy with this victory here at Silverstone. We already had a good performance in the season opener at Monza, but things are even going better in our home round. The race wasn’t easy, because Alex kept me under pressure behind me. But my car was great and I didn’t make any mistakes. That was particularly important in the opening laps, because the track was still damp and slippery at that time.”
Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam)
“In fact, I am slightly disappointed, because I could have done better. Unfortunately, my starting grid position was at the more damp part of the grid, therefore Felix was able to overtake me. Later on, Harry didn’t make any mistakes and thus didn’t give me an opportunity to overtake him. Of course, being British, Harry and I have already done many races here at Silverstone and therefore, perhaps we have a slight advantage.”
Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport)
“At the start, I was able to overtake Alex, but then I made a slight mistake and he overtook me again. However, I also have to admit that Harry and Alex were quicker and I wasn’t able to keep up with them. Now, we have to try and make the car a little bit quicker for the next two races.”