Second and third row grid slots conclude Max' quali début
Published on 18 April 2014 by Stefan Meens
During his first ever FIA Formula 3 European Championship round, Max Verstappen showcased his talent with an excellent qualifying result. In the two sessions, determining the starting grids for the event's three races, the Dutchman banked a fourth, sixth and fifth place.
His qualifying performance was preceded by excellent lap times in the two free practice sessions, that set the tone for a competitive day at Silverstone.
Max kicks off his rookie F3 weekend with a third place in free practice 1. With a 1:52.396, the talented Dutchman misses out on Antonio Fuoco's P1 time by a mere 0.02.s.
“The first free practice session went well. I'd driven a Formula Renault 2.0 racer here at Silverstone, which was good experience. However, with an F3 racer you can go through the corners a lot faster but I got used to it pretty quickly”, explains Max at a cold but sunny Silverstone.
Despite the encouraging lap times, Max remains his own toughest critic: “The tyre wear was high, due to the mid and high speed nature of most of the corners. I was really pushing to get to know the track and thus the car slid around quite a bit.”
Ever eager to improve himself, Max analyses the data with his engineer before going out on track for FP2. “I changed my driving style a little bit and it paid off in lap time”. With a 1:51.716, Max sets the fastest lap of both free practice sessions.
The Dutchman therefore heads into his first ever Formula 3 qualifying with confidence. He once again delivers a great results by clocking a fourth fastest lap, granting him P4 for his début race scheduled on Saturday.
“My first qualifying wasn’t bad. My first and third sector were good but I lost a couple of tenths in the second part of the track. There was more grip which I could've utilized. When I needed it the most, the tyres weren’t at their optimal performance. I did manage to improve on my first time in my last lap but the tyres had already gone off,” reveals a slightly disappointed Max.
Thus, he will occupy the second row on the grid alongside Fuoco. Both are beaten by Esteban Ocon and polesitter Tom Blomqvist. The Englishman set a 1:51:327 beating Max' time by only 0.075s, a testament to the series' competitive driver line up.
Max' first Euro F3 outing at Silverstone is concluded with the second qualifying. The fastest lap in the session determines the starting position for race 2. In addition, the drivers' second quickest performance, decides the grid ahead of the third and final race of the weekend.
Max secures a sixth (1:51.808) and fifth (1:51.810) place. In contrast to the first qualifying, the difference in lap times between the drivers are bigger and Max trails polesitter Esteban Ocon by four tenths.
“It wasn’t the best of qualifying sessions. I suffered from understeer and balance issues and it hurt me in the second sector, which is characterized by fast corners. There, I lost a couple of tenths. In the end, sixth and fifth isn’t bad, but you always hope for more”, reveals the Van Amersfoort Racing driver.
However, Max is keen to make the most of the weekend: “We'll study the data in order to improve the car in areas such as brake balance, the way the car turns in to corners , the cornering speed, braking points and braking distance etc. Together with my engineer we'll decide on the changes.”
On Saturday, April 19, Max will contest his first two European Formula 3 races. Both will last 35 minutes with race 1 scheduled at 10.20am and race 2 at 1.20pm. The third and final race takes place on Sunday at 9.15am.
“Im excited for my first races. We'll try to improve the set-up of the car and analyse what I can do to be quicker as I'll try to go for a podium finish”, says a feisty and ambitious Max.
“I cant complain too much as we are among the front runners and I think I can pull of a good start. I just need to find the clutch biting point combined with the right amount of revs. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.”
Live timing is available at: http://livetiming.alkamelsystems.com/fiawec/
Live stream (races only) available at: http://www.fiaf3europe.com/livestream.html
Via Twitter and Facebook we will keep you updated throughout the weekend followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action.
FIA Formula 3 European Championship – Round 1, Silverstone – Day 1, Friday April 18:
Results free practice 1
Results free practice 2
Results qualifying 1 (starting grid race 1)
Results qualifying 2 (starting grid race 2)
Results qualifying 2 (starting grid race 3)
