F3 EC

Raffaele Marciello dominates in the rain…

Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam) was unbeatable in the seventh season round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. The Italian, a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, could even afford himself a spin at the rain-soaked 4.574 kilometres long Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg and still won with a margin of 14.834 seconds from Félix Serrallés (Fortec Motorsports). Tom Blomqvist (Eurointernational) was classified third. With his fourth season victory, Marciello extended his lead in the drivers’ standings to 57.5 points.

From pole position, Raffaele Marciello already took the lead at the start and returned from the first lap with a margin of over five seconds already. In the process, he also benefited from a spin from Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam) in the first corner after the start, after which the Austrian dropped back to ninth. Second-placed Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam) also spun on the opening lap and dropped to the back of the field. On the first lap already, Félix Serrallés emerged as the main rival of Marciello. That was not to change during the 19 laps of the race, the Fortec driver finished second in spite of pressure from Tom Blomqvist. 

Behind the drivers on the podium, Sven Müller (ma-con) ended up fourth in the rain race as the best-placed German in the 29-strong field. Halfway through the race, he overtook Harry Tincknell (Carlin) and safely brought fourth place home. For Müller, this was his best season result to date in his home race. Josh Hill (Fortec Motorsports) finished sixth ahead of Auer and Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), who is still second in the drivers’ standings. William Buller (ThreeBond with T-Sport) and guest driver Daniil Kvyat (Carlin) rounded out the top ten. 

Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam) 
“Personally, I don’t care whether I am driving in the rain or on a dry track. However, I think that our car is particularly good in the rain. I had a hairy moment when I spun at the first corner. I was lucky not to hit the wall and to continue without any problems. I have a pretty comfortable lead in the drivers’ standings, but the season is still long and nothing has been decided yet.”

Félix Serrallés (Fortec Motorsports)
“It was a good race and I am very happy with my maiden podium finish of this year. I reckon that we, as a new team in the series, first had to get used to the tyres. Now, we definitely are working into the right direction. Nevertheless, Raffaele was much too fast for me today.”

Tom Blomqvist (Eurointernational)
“I am happy with third place. Of course, I was slightly lucky as well that two drivers spun in front of me. After that, I think that I was slightly faster than Félix, but I didn’t find a way past.”