Max shows phenomenal speed during his Formula 3 debut
Published on 18 December 2013 by Verstappen Info Page
Max Verstappen stunned the racing world as he was fastest in his first Formula 3 test, clocking a fastest lap quicker than the official F3 track record. The youngster's performance was all the more remarkable as it was the Dutchman's first time on the Circuito de la Comunidad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, as well as his first collaboration with Team Motopark. Former Formula 1 driver and proud father Jos Verstappen, hailed his son's performance as "'brilliant".
Max travelled to Valencia after an invite from Team Motopark, the current German ATS Formula 3 Cup champions, for a two day test session. So far the sixteen-year-old has had nine test outings in a Formula Renault 2.0, the category in which Max is most likely to make his motorsport debut in 2014. However, despite the youngster's lack of experience, Max hit the ground running as he claimed the top spot in all four of the one hour sessions today.
"It was a great day. The F3 cars suit me perfectly", said an enthusiastic Max. "From lap one I had good pace and after three quarters of an hour I managed a 1:25.092". The time, set in only his seventeenth lap in an F3 car, was the fastest time of the first timed session. A remarkable performance, considering Max shared the track with many experienced F3 drivers.
Max carried his blistering pace through to the remaining three sessions topping the time tables at the end of every session. Despite the drivers not driving with the same Formula 3 car configuration and specification, Max was pleasantly surprised by his performance: "I was able to adapt rather quickly to the car so I felt confident to push, but I honestly did not expect to be fastest".
Verstappen junior seemed unfazed by difference in performance between FR2.0 and F3: "The biggest difference between the categories has to be the overall grip. In F3 you can go a lot faster through corners which is where you make or break a lap. Furthermore, you shift gears with a lever instead of the paddle-shift gearbox in FR2.0. This is a bit more difficult as you effectively steer with one hand whilst shifting, but I got used to that fairly quickly. Also, the F3 is a bit heavier but is an absolute joy to drive."
Apart from his phenomenal talent, a big part of Max' successful first day, was the result of his collaboration with Team Motopark. "Working together with my engineer and the whole team was a great experience. It's all very professional and a step up from FR2.0 as there is a lot more data and attention to detail needed to set the car up, to put in proper fast laps", explains Max as he takes us through his testing day: "We mainly focussed on the front wing set up, which depended mainly on the changing temperature and wind. I have to say, hats of to the team, they really gave me a good car. The balance was superb with hardly any oversteer."
This meant the talented Dutchman was able to get to grips quickly with the circuit, as it was his first outing on the Spanish track. Max lapped the track 76 times, covering 307 km in the process. Throughout the sessions, the karting world champion improved his lap times. A 1:25.7 in session two, followed by a high 25.2 in the penultimate session. Max saved the best for last as his phenomenal 1:24.832 in the fourth and final session, beat the official F3 track record.
As usual, Max rivaled his stunning pace with his ambition: "On Thursday I'm going to try to lap a bit faster as there is always room for improvement. For myself I want to improve my braking and throttle application. These things improved throughout the first day, but you can always improve, as it's never perfect."
As mentioned before, several specs of Formula 3 cars took to the track. Max drove an ATS Formel 3 Cup car. However, the test also featured FIA F3 Championship and European F3 Open series vehicles. Despite all cars complying with F3 regulations, there are slight differences in weight (between 550 and 565kg) as well as the use of different tyre suppliers, namely: Yokohama, Hankook and Dunlop.
To give an honest comparison, we have separated the lap times per specification/tyre supplier.
Lap times Formula 3 test Valencia, Wednesday December 18:
Motopark ATS Formel 3 Cup 2013, Yokohama Max Verstappen 1:24.832 Michele Beretta 1:27.385 ADM Motorsport ATS Formel 3 Cup 2013, Yokohama Eddie Cheever 1:25.844 EuroInternational ATS Formel 3 Cup 2013, Yokohama Santino Ferrucci 1:26.033 Riccardo Agostini 1:26.875 Performance Racing ATS Formel 3 Cup 2013, Yokohama Sebastian Balthasar 1:26.091 Tomasz Krzeminski 1:26.096 Carlin F3 European Championship 2014, Hankook Tom Blomqvist 1:25.257 Carlin F3 European Championship 2013, Hankook Ed Jones 1:25.954 Jordan King 1:26.610 Dan Wells 1:27.398 Müke Motorsport F3 European Championship 2014, Hankook Lucas Auer 1:25.705 Müke Motorsport F3 European Championship 2013, Hankook Roy Nissany 1:27.094 Fortec Motorsport F3 European Championship 2013, Hankook Tatiana Calderon 1:25.949 Van Amersfoort Racing F3 European Championship 2013, Hankook Jules Szymkowiak 1:26.860 Team West-Tec F3 European F3 Open 2013, Dunlop Nelson Mason 1:27.510 Florian Stüger 1:30.032 Che Won Lim 1:30.300 Campos Racing European F3 Open 2013, Dunlop Sean Walkinshaw 1:29.355 Alex Palou 1:29.366 Diego Borrelli 1:32.740
Niels Hendrix / Stefan Meens
