F3 EURO CHAMPIONSHIP

Felix Rosenqvist unbeatable at Monza

Season race: 12 of 33
Track: Monza
Winner: Felix Rosenqvist (Prema Powerteam)
Pole position: Felix Rosenqvist (Prema Powerteam)
Weather: overcast and warm

For Felix Rosenqvist, the journey to the Monza Formula 1 circuit paid off, because the Swede also won the third race of the weekend. In the twelfth race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season, the Prema driver led from lights to flag to score his third victory of the season. Jake Dennis (Prema Powerteam) and Charles Leclerc (Van Amersfoort Racing) were classified in second and third place respectively. Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin), the FIA Formula 3 European Championship points leader, Brandon Maïsano (Prema Powerteam) and Gustavo Menezes (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) finished in fourth to sixth place.

Starting from pole position, Felix Rosenqvist took the lead as the lights went out, but had to turn down an attack by Charles Leclerc on his way towards the first corner. Further down the field, Ryan Tveter (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) ran into the back of the car driven by Fabian Schiller (Team West-Tec F3) and got airborne. Because the American’s car stranded as a result, the race director sent the safety car out. Tveter was taken to hospital for a check-up. For Schiller, the race was over due to a damaged rear wing soon after that.

At the restart on lap five, Rosenqvist held on to his lead. Leclerc lost second place to Jake Dennis after a successful attack by the Brit and dropped back to third. Only three laps after the restart, Mikkel Jensen (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) collided with Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam) and retired. That prompted the second safety car intervention, followed by the race being red-flagged. With two cars having barrel-rolled in the second race already, without any injuries for the drivers involved, and medical care being required for Ryan Tveter after his accident in the opening stages of this race, race control intervened for safety reasons.

This early end didn’t affect Rosenqvist’s victory in any way. Dennis, Leclerc, Giovinazzi, Maïsano, Menezes, George Russell (Carlin), Santino Ferrucci (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam) and Maximilian Günther (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) rounded out the top ten.

Felix Rosenqvist (Prema Powerteam): “My car was perfect throughout the weekend, which I was able to prove by three pole positions and three race wins. Unfortunately, we also got half the points in this race, too, because we didn’t get to complete 75 percent of the scheduled race distance.”

Jake Dennis (Prema Powerteam): “My start was good and later on, I also managed to overtake Charles. With that, I was second, which is a good result.”

Charles Leclerc (Van Amersfoort Racing): “I am happy to be back on the podium, even though third place is not what I had been dreaming of. In this race, I particularly was having problems on the straight. When Jake overtook me, I wanted to follow in his slipstream. Unfortunately, the race then was stopped early.”