F3 EURO CHAMPIONSHIP
TENTH VICTORY OF THE SEASON FOR FELIX ROSENQVIST
At the Nürburgring sprint circuit, Felix Rosenqvist (Prema Powerteam) scored an undisputed lights-to-flag victory and thus extended his lead in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers’ standings to 58.5 points. Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) remains second in the drivers’ standings; he finished tenth in the 28th race of the season. In the Eifel, Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam) finished second from Callum Ilott (Carlin). For both drivers, it was their first podium finish in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. With the two podium results for Rosenqvist and Cassidy, Prema Powerteam also secured an early title in the teams’ standings.
Felix Rosenqvist won the dash to the first corner and immediately took the lead. His main rival was team-mate Nick Cassidy while Callum Ilott slotted into third place. The trio was able to pull clear from Charles Leclerc (Van Amersfoort Racing) in the opening stages already as the rookie from the Van Amersfoort Racing team was driving with a damaged front wing. Behind him, there was a long range of drivers, but none of them was able to overtake Leclerc. Thus, Mikkel Jensen (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) finished in fifth place from Markus Pommer (Motopark), Santino Ferrucci (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), Arjun Maini (Van Amersfoort Racing), Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam) and Antonio Giovinazzi. Thus, the Italian secured one point for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers’ standings and, with five races remaining, now has Charles Leclerc closing up to him in the battle for runner-up spot. The Monegasque is only eight points down on the stalwart. Fourth in the drivers’ standings, Jake Dennis (Prema Powerteam) also still has chances of winning the title. The Brit retired and thus wasn’t able to score any points. He is now 94 points down on leader Felix Rosenqvist.
For George Russell (Carlin), hopes of another podium finish were reduced to a minimum prior to the start of the race already. The Brit, who had secured second place on the grid in qualifying, was dropped ten positions on the grid due to an engine change. He finished the race in 13th place. On the FIA Formula 3 European Championship debut of his team, Harald Schlegelmilch (ArtLine Engineering) brought the ARTTech P315 to the finish in 32nd place.
Felix Rosenqvist (Prema Powerteam): “I mainly concentrated on getting a good start, in which I succeeded. I reckon that it was one of my best starts of the season. My car was good from the very beginning and I was able to pull a slight gap right away. Then I held on to it until the finish. At this stage of the championship, it is difficult to ignore the drivers’ standings, but I try not to look at them too often. I want to focus on the races and then, at the end of the weekend, I take a closer look at the drivers’ standings.”
Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam): “I am happy to be on the FIA Formula 3 European Championship podium for the first time. At Portimão already, I was close to Felix in terms of speed, but I wasn’t able to make it onto the podium yet there. Here, at the Nürburgring, it was my goal to get that done. I am feeling really well at Prema Powerteam, it is very well organised and working together very well and effectively. I am still in the learning process, but since finishing third at Macau last year, I am generally quite happy with my performance.”
Callum Ilott (Carlin): “Being on the podium in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship is a great feeling. The race was a nice one, I was able to keep up with Felix and Nick in front of me and I managed to pull clear from my nearest rival Charles Leclerc. Only at the start, things got a little bit tighter, but the rest was trouble-free.