Max ends Moscow weekend on a high with P2
Published on 13 July 2014 by Stefan Meens
After a weekend of highs and lows, Max Verstappen ended the seventh round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship on a positive note. The Dutchman finished the third and final race of the weekend in second, after a gripping duel with race winner Esteban Ocon. The leading men in the championship were joined on the podium by Antonio Fuoco.
Max starts the final race in third and as the lights go out, the winner of the Zandvoort Masters maintains his position behind Ocon and Tom Blomqvist. At the back of the field, trouble occurs as Jules Szymkowiak and Felix Serralles collide. The organisation decides to send the safety car out on track to give the marshals time and space to move Serralles’ stranded car.
The front runners are all on the ball at the restart and they resume the race without changing positions. Meanwhile, second placed Tom Blomqvist receives a drive through penalty for a jump start at the standing start. As the Englishman hits the pits, Max moves up into second.
In the final stages of the race, Max is closing in on Ocon and it seems a matter of time before the Dutchman mounts an attack on the French rookie. However, Max’ progress is halted as the safety car makes another appearance after Lucas Auer and Jordan King crashed into each other.
The safety car comes in with only one lap remaining. Ocon tries to shake off the pack at the restart but Max anticipates to the Frenchman’s tactics. As the duo heads down to the final turn on the penultimate lap, Max passes Ocon on the outside with a daring move into the corner. Unfortunately, Verstappen junior goes a bit too wide giving Ocon a chance to get along side Max on the start/finish straight. Then the Van Amersfoort Racing driver again tries to pass the Prema Powerteam driver on the outside, this time at the first corner. Max drifts wide resulting in Ocon reclaiming the lead for the rest of the race.
“It was a good fight with Ocon in the last lap. Unfortunately, I braked a bit too late into the last corner on the penultimate lap. This meant I went a wide as we drove on to the mains straight. Ocon was therefore able to get alongside me. We touched twice but luckily there was no damage inflicted”, explains Max, who sounds considerably happier than after race 2. “At least I tried to win the race. It’s a shame I didn’t pull it off but I’m still satisfied with this second place because this hasn’t been our strongest weekend.”
On the victory lap, Ocon’s car grinds to a halt for what is believed to be a shortage of fuel. This incident and the fierce duel between the Frenchman and Max are investigated after the race. However, the stewards decide to not take any further action, which means the podium after the third race is made up of Ocon, Max and Fuoco.
The next round of the FIA F3 European Championship will be held the first weekend of August at the Red Bull Ring. “After this difficult weekend in Moscow I want to return to my winning ways when we go to Austria. It’s a medium downforce track, which should suit us. Besides, we had good performance at the Red Bull Ring earlier this year during the collective test so I think we’ll have decent chances to bag a good result”, concludes an ever ambitious Max.
FIA Formula 3 European Championship Round 7 – Moscow Raceway – Day 3, Sunday July 13:
Results race 2
Results race 3
Euro F3 drivers championship
Euro F3 rookie championship
Euro F3 team championship
