Grid penalty demotes Max from fifth to P15
Published on 10 October 2014 by Stefan Meens
After qualifying in fifth, Max Verstappen will start the first race of penultimate FIA Formula 3 European Championship round at Imola from P15. Due to an engine swap at the Nürburgring, the Van Amersfoort Racing driver still has to serve two of the three 10-place grid penalties awarded at this weekend’s event in Italy.
The Red Bull Junior was not pleased with his qualifying performance after he failed to string a perfect lap together. “This is very disappointing. We were just off the pace. Also, it was once again a disadvantage for us, with all the red flags, to start at the back of the pit lane. So today was just not our day.”
The Friday kicked off, as usual, with two 40-minute free practice sessions. Santino Ferruci, Jules Szymkowiak, Spike Goddard and Felix Rosenqvist experienced issues that forced race control to red flag the two sessions several times. Meanwhile, Max reached P7 in free practice 1 - he was never able to set a ‘clean’ lap due to the interruptions - before redeeming himself with second place in free practice 2.
The red flags were not exclusively to the practice sessions. Qualifying was halted twice with Sean Gelael hitting the barriers early on at the Villeneuve chincane before Alexander Toril went off at Rivazza. It did not bother championship leader Esteban Ocon, who snatched pole off Carlin trio Antonio Giovinazzi, Jordan King and Tom Blomqvist at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Verstappen junior had to settle for fifth after a dominant performance in the Euro F3 collective test earlier this week on the same circuit.
“The balance of the car wasn’t bad but I lack grip on all four wheels. I struggled with this in free practice as well. The track has changed a lot compared to the collective test. There is more rubber on the track so the grip levels have changed. Clearly that doesn’t work for us”, reveals Max. “We’ll work hard to improve the car so we can get the best result possible on Saturday.”
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.
The full schedule for the Imola Euro F3 round can be found here.
Furthermore, you can follow Max via the official live timing and the livestream (races only).
FIA Formula 3 European Championship Round 10 – Imola - Day 1, Friday 10 October:
Results free practice 1
Results free practice 2
Results qualifying (race 1 grid)
