Disappointing qualifying for Max ahead of race 2 and 3 in Austria

Published on 03 August 2014 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen struggled in qualifying for the final two races at the Red Bull Ring during the eight round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Antonio Giovinazzi took the front spot on the grid for both race 2 and 3, with Max having to settle for seventh and sixth. Max was not the only driver struggling as his main rival and championship leader Esteban Ocon only managed P6 and P4.

As the pit lane opens for qualifying, the front runners in the championship wait a while before hitting the track. Max puts in a quick lap that briefly puts him at the top of the leader boards but the Dutchman slowly drops down the order. Several drivers have their fastest laps nullified after exceeding the track limits, with Max and Ocon being the prime victims of this penalty.

After twelve minutes into the session, Hector Hurst has to sideline his broken car, resulting in the session being stopped. At that moment in time, Giovinazzi leads Blomqvist with Max trailing in seventh. After the red flag, the field hits the track for one more run in an attempt to improve on their times. In the end, there are no major position changes and Max has to settle seventh and sixth.

“I wasn’t able to improve on my time after the red flag for a couple of reasons. As we are at the back of the pitlane, I had to overtake the slower cars first which means it takes a bit longer to get the tyres to a temperature that enables me to improve my times. Unfortunately, that didn’t work for me but we’re going to try our best in the remaining race. Hopefully I can still manage a podium.”

The full schedule for the Red Bull Ring Euro F3 round can be found here.
Furthermore, you can follow Max via the official live timing and the live stream (races only).
Via Twitter and Facebook we will keep you updated throughout the weekend followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship Round 8 – Red Bull Ring – Day 2, Saturday August 1:
Results race 1
Results qualifying 2 (grid race 2)
Results qualifying 2 (grid race 3)