Tom
Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) claimed victory in the 29th
season race of the FIA Fórmula 3 European Championship. He dominated
the race at the 4.909 kilometres long Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
in Imola and scored a lights-to-flag victory. In bright sunshine, the
three years younger Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing) crossed
the finish line in second place, having overtaken Italian Antonio
Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) on the final metres. Esteban
Ocon (Prema Powerteam) finished fourth and is now 84 points ahead of
Blomqvist in the FIA Fórmula 3 European Championship drivers’
standings with four races remaining. Verstappen, who already signed a
contract to race in Fórmula 1 with the Toro Rosso team for 2015, is
96 points down on Lotus Fórmula 1 junior driver Ocon.
At the
start, Tom Blomqvist made the best use of his pole position and took
the lead. Antonio Giovinazzi overtook Esteban Ocon for second in the
first corner already. On lap three, Antonio Fuoco also managed to
find a way past Ocon and thus blew the young championship leader’s
hopes of a possible podium finish. At that time, Max Verstappen had
already worked his way up to sixth position after having had to start
from eleventh place in accordance with the regulations following an
engine change. His progress was briefly interrupted on lap seven as a
spin by Alexander Toril (ThreeBond with T-Sport) prompted the race
director to send the safety car out.
After the
restart, Blomqvist remained in front from Giovinazzi and Fuoco. Soon
after the field was released again, Verstappen overtook Nicholas
Latifi (Prema Powerteam) and then was right behind Esteban Ocon. Two
laps later, the Dutchman also overtook the Frenchman. As Fuoco had to
pit from third place due to a technical issue, Verstappen even moved
up into the top three. However, third place was not enough for the
Dutchman: he was so quick that he managed to close up to
second-placed Giovinazzi just before the finish. Coming onto the main
straight on the final lap, he managed to work his way past the
Italian to finish second. Unfazed by the action behind him, Tom
Blomqvist drove victory home.
Behind
the three drivers on the podium, Esteban Ocon took the flag in fourth
place. After 20 laps, Lucas Auer (Mücke Motorsport) finished fifth
from Nicholas Latifi, Jake Dennis (Carlin), Felix Serralles (Team
West-Tec F3), Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport) and Gustavo
Menezes (Van Amersfoort Racing).
Tom
Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin): “I am very happy with this
victory. I reckon that I showed a pretty strong race. My start was
good and I succeeded in pulling a gap straight away. After the safety
car intervention, I made a good restart and I managed to pull a gap
once again. However, my car was also running perfectly throughout the
race”.
Max
Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing): “After having made a stupid
mistake in yesterday’s race because of not being patient enough, I
was determined to do better today and I think I managed to do so. The
speed of my car was great and I am very happy to have made it all the
way from eleventh on the grid to second at the flag”.
Antonio
Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin): “All in all, it was a good
race for me. After the start, I managed to overtake Esteban Ocon and
I was up in second place. I never was close enough behind Tom to
mount an attack. Unfortunately, Max Verstappen still caught me on the
final metres, but I am also happy with third place in my home race”.
Photos: FIA F3 Euro Series
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário