Max Verstappen claims pole position at Hockenheim

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:32.002 minutes) set the fastest time in first qualifying and thus claimed pole position for the 31st season race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. The 17-year-old is one of the three candidates who are battling for second place in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. On his best lap of the 4.575 kilometers long Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, he was 0.018 seconds faster than Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, 1:32.020 minutes). Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, 1:32.076 minutes), who also still has chances of claiming second place in the drivers’ standings, follows in third place, 0.074 seconds down on pace-setter Verstappen.

Halfway through first qualifying, the battle for pole position became intense: Blomqvist had just claimed the top position from Verstappen and Auer was biding his time in third place. Soon after that, the 20-year-old Austrian moved up into the lead, but Blomqvist and Verstappen also continued to run fast. Six minutes later, the Dutchman succeeded in toppling Auer from the leading position while Blomqvist stayed in third place. This order remained unchanged until the end of qualifying, so that Verstappen secured himself pole position for the first race of the final weekend of the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship.

Italian Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, 1:32.341 minutes) and Jordan King (Carlin, 1:32.379 minutes) from Great Britain in fourth and fifth place also succeeded in keeping the already-crowned FIA Formula 3 European Champion, Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam, 1:32.414 minutes) at bay. Swede Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, 1:32.485 minutes) ended up seventh from Indonesian Sean Gelael (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, 1:32.535 minutes), Félix Serralles (Team West-Tec F3, 1:32.676 minutes) from Puerto Rico and US-American Gustavo Menezes (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:32.760 minutes) rounded out the top ten.

Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing): “Qualifying went well. It was pretty close between the three of us in front, but my lap time wasn’t so bad and, of course, I am delighted with my pole position. The track is very demanding for the tires, so you don’t have many laps to set a fast time. For me, it worked out quite well today."

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