Max
Verstappen, (Van Amersfoort Racing), crowned his nearly perfect
Saturday at Spa-Francorchamps with another victory. In the 14th
season round of the FIA Fómula 3 European Championship, the
16-year-old Dutchman kept rookie driver Esteban Ocon, (Prema
Powerteam), at bay throughout the 15 race laps. Third-placed Gustavo
Menezes, (Van Amersfoort Racing), completed the success for Dutch
team, Van Amersfoort Racing, with two of the three podium positions.
Placed fifth behind Felix Rosenqvist, (Mücke Motorsport), was the
best FIA Fórmula 3 European Championship result to date for Tatiana
Calderón, (Jo Zeller Racing), the only lady racer in the field. At
the 7.004 kilometres long demanding Fórmula 1 track in the Ardennes,
she also scored the best result for her Swiss team, Jo Zeller Racing
so far.
At the
start, Gustavo Menezes took the lead from pole position. His joy
didn’t last long, however, as both Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon
managed to overtake him on the opening lap. While the first two
places were occupied, there was a huge battle for third. Gustavo
Menezes had to give his third place to Felix Serralles, (Team
West-Tec F3), for a while, but claimed it back two laps later. On lap
nine, Serralles collided with Lucas Auer, (Mücke Motorsport) in the
battle for fourth and both drivers retired. Thus, Felix Rosenqvist
moved up into fourth place and safely drove this position home. Due
to the incident involving Serralles and Auer, the safety car was
deployed.
After the
restart, Tatiana Calderón, who was now fifth, had to defend her
place from John Bryant-Meisner, (Fortec Motorsports). The Columbian
was successful and took the chequered flag in fifth place soon after
that. Behind her and Jake Dennis, (Carlin), Alexander Toril,
(ThreeBond with T-Sport), and John Bryant-Meisner collided just
before the end of the race. As a result, Nicholas Latifi, (Prema
Powerteam), Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin), Antonio
Giovinazzi, (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin), and Jordan King, (Carlin),
moved up into seventh to tenth place.
Max
Verstappen, (Van Amersfoort Racing): “My start wasn’t perfect. On
the opening lap, I had a good slipstream, I managed to overtake
Esteban and then also get past Gustavo at the end of Les Combes. The
rest was relatively easy, I was able to control the race. Only the
restart is usually a little bit difficult at Spa, but that went well,
too. So far, it has been a perfect weekend”.
Esteban
Ocon, (Prema Powerteam): “After my disappointing first race with my
retirement, being on the podium again was important. My start was
good, but Max was quite fast on the straights. On the other hand, I
didn’t want to take too many risks, because I definitely wanted to
score a few points”.
Gustavo
Menezes, (Van Amersfoort Racing): “Of course, I am happy with my
maiden podium finish. After the start, I was in the lead and I even
had a slight gap as Max and Esteban were fighting with each other.
Then, I made a mistake at Les Combes and I was lucky that I didn’t
collide with Max. After that, my tyres were a little dirty and Félix
Serrallés used that situation to overtake me. A little bit later,
however, I was able to take back my third place”.
Photos: FIA F3 Euro Series
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