Drive through and P4 conclude Hungaroring weekend
Published on 01 June 2014 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen finished the last two races of the fourth FIA Formula 3 European Championship round in sixteenth and fourth position. A drive through penalty prevented the Dutchman from scoring points in race 2. The P4 in the final race granted Max his first points of the weekend after a mechanical issue halted the youngster's progress in race 1, held on Saturday.
“I’m not really happy. We just didn’t have the speed. I was consistent but not fast enough. We just couldn’t find the right balance in the car”, explains Max. “I think P4 was the maximum I could achieve in this last race. It's a shame I wasn’t able to claim a third place in the first race of the weekend due to clutch issues.”
The first Sunday race sees Max have a good get away from P5. Despite having a clean start, Max loses a place to Jake Dennis. However, the latter makes a jump start and is penalised with a drive through which gives Max P5 back.
“I had a good start. But my initial get away wasn’t optimal because of my new clutch. We'll try to improve on that”, reveals Max. “After the start I chose to stay at the outside round the first corner. However it didn’t work out the way I wanted as I drove onto the run-off area.”
As the race settles after the opening laps, Max struggles a bit. He doesn not have enough speed to attack the front runners and the Dutchman is trying hard to keep ahead of Tom Blomqvist, Antonio Giovinazzi and Van Amersfoort Racing team mate Gustavo Menezes.
Max explains: “Early on in the race I suffered understeer which meant the car didn’t handle well in certain corners resulting in my front tyres being worn after only a few laps. It also forced me to use lower gears in several corners to go round them.”
In lap nine, the race organisation gives Max a drive through penalty for crossing the white line at turn four. The 16-year-old is not the only driver penalized for this manoeuvre as a handful of colleagues suffer the same fate.
“In the corner that cost me the drive through, I had to put in too much steering and I only just slipped out side the line. It was my own fault and I’m very disappointed as after the penalty, there wasn’t much I could do other than see the race out till the end.”
The penalty means Max drops from fifth all the way back to P20. In the remaining laps, he manages to gain a few places and he finishes the race in sixteenth. As Max is the third highest rookie he inherits the final spot on the rookie podium.
The overall victory goes to Esteban Ocon who beats Antonio Fuoco by seven seconds. Lucas Auer completes the top three. Van Amersfoort Racing's best finisher is Gustavo Menezes. The American finishes in seventh.
For the third and final race of the weekend, Max once again starts from fifth on the grid. This time round, he loses ground to his main competitors. “The engine wasn’t revving high enough at the exact moment the lights went out. I was concentrating too hard.” As the field is unleashed for the opening lap, Max has to work hard to maintain his starting position. “I was sandwiched in between the two Carlin drivers in the first corner. I was able to keep ahead of one of them but there wasn’t a lot of room to manoeuvre. In turn two, Giovanizzi tried to overtake me on the outside. He squeezed me which meant my front wheel touched his rear wheel. Luckily we both escaped without damage.”
In the meantime, pole-sitter Ocon has secured his lead after the start. Rosenqvist wins two places and sits in second. However, the Swede gets a drive through penalty resulting in Fuoco, Auer, Max and Giovinazzi all gaining a place.
The top five remains the same throughout the race, which is red-flagged due to rain. With six laps remaining, rain hits the track. The lap times become slower and the organisation decides to send the safety car out moments before the race is red flagged, four laps before the end. Ocon wins comfortably ahead of Fuoco and Auer.
Max: “The organisation didn’t want us to switch to rain tyres as it would ensue chaos. Despite the rubber put down on the track by the DTM cars and support races, the circuit was very slippery so I think it was a good decision to red flag the race.”
Max is the highest finisher with a Volkswagen engine. Verstappen junior, like in race 2, takes another rookie podium. Overall he has scored 80 championship points, granting him fifth place in the prestigious European Formula 3 series.
In three weeks the drivers face the challenge that is Spa-Francorchamps in the Ardenne forest. “Spa is a beautiful track and I’m looking forward to race there although I have less experience there compared to the rest of the Formula 3 drivers. As it's close to home I’m expecting plenty of family, friends and fans to sheer me on. That's of course great but it wont make the car faster. That's why we are going to try to improve the car in between now and the next race weekend”, concludes Max.
FIA Formula 3 European Championship Round 4 - Hungaroring – Day 3, Sunday June 1:
Results race 2
Results race 3
Euro F3 championship
Euro F3 rookies championship
Euro F3 team championship
