Max third in the morning at first day in Austria
Published on 08 April 2014 by Stefan Meens
On Tuesday and Wednesday April 8 and 9, the Red Bull Ring in Austria hosts the second official FIA Formula 3 European Championship test. Similar to the year’s first pre-season test, Max Verstappen and Van Amersfoort Racing are participating in the two-day event.
The former A1-ring awakes to a sunny morning on which Max is able to display his talent. Throughout the three-hour session, the 16-year-old is constantly among the front-runners and ends the first half of the day in third.
“I’m very happy with P3 this morning, especially since it’s my first time at this track. It’s a fun course to drive, the final two sectors in particular. They consist of high-speed corners that I very much enjoy. The circuit it still a bit dusty and thus slippery, but the grip builds up overtime”, says a delighted Verstappen junior after completing over 40 laps before lunch.
At 9am local time the pit lane opens and Max heads out for an installation lap in his orange and black racer. After that the Dutchman straightaway drives his first stint to familiarize himself with the track. Despite having never raced at the Red Bull Ring before, Max is fastest in the early stages of the session.
During his second stint Max stops in the final corner of the circuit; he has run out of fuel. However, his stop on track is planned by the team as they wants to know exactly how much fuel the car can carry in its tank.
With an hour on the clock remaining, Max hits the track and improves his lap time twice, resulting in a 1:25.833. It is to be his fastest time during the morning session. For a while it appears that Max’ time will be enough to hold on to P1. Unfortunately. Esteban Ocon and Riccardo Agostini nibble two tenths of Verstappen junior’s time. Nevertheless, Max is among the front-runners. His Van Amersfoort teammates end the session in nineteenth (Gustavo Menezes) and twenty-third (Jules Szymkoziak).
Max: “In the morning, it went well from the start. We were at the top of the timing sheets straight away. Even on used tyres I was quick. During my last run on fresh rubber, we did a small set-up alteration in regards to the front wing to generate more grip but it did’t really work out. After we reset that change, we encountered a red flag twice, just when I wanted to hit the track for a final fast run. Therefore I wasn’t able to improve my lap but I’m still very pleased with the progress so far here in Austria.”
Results FIA Formula 3 European Championship pre-season test – Day 1, Tuesday April 8, Red Bull Ring:
Results morning session
