Ocon wins first Imola race, Max DNF
Published on 11 October 2014 by Stefan Meens
The first race of the penultimate round of the FIA F3 European Championship ended in a disappointing DNF for Max Verstappen. After an impressive first half of the race in which the Van Amersfoort Racing driver worked his way up the field from P15 to seventh, Max' race was ultimately halted because of several incidents. Meanwhile, championship leader and favourite Esteban Ocon extended his lead with the win in race 1 at Imola.
Max: “I had a great start and I was able to work my way up to seventh. We had good speed which is encouraging as we changed a few things on the car yesterday. It worked as I set the fastest lap of the race, so it's disappointing to not finish.”
As the cars line-up on the race 1 grid, Max knows he will need to produce something special to score a bulk of points, after his second of three 10-place grid penalties has put him back in fifteenth. As the light go out, Verstappen junior produces a blistering 'Verstappen'-start. Halfway into the first lap, Max has worked his way up to ninth. Meanwhile Santino Ferrucci and Martin Cao collide at the rear of the field, leaving the latter stranded in the barriers. The following safety car bunches the pack up with Max still in ninth.
After three laps, the safety car enters the pits and the drivers are clear to race. Race leader Esteban Ocon is right on the money and pulls a gap to the rest of field. Max is batting for seventh with Lucas Auer and Antonio Fuoco. The Italian makes a mistake at the end of lap five and both the Dutchman and the Austrian overtake Fuoco. Right away Max pounces on a slight mistake made by Auer. With a stunning manoeuvre, choosing the outside line going into Rivazza, the Van Amersfoort Racing ace takes seventh. The overtake is followed by the fastest lap of the race as Max closes in on Jake Dennis in P6.
The pair crosses the start/finish line on their way to the infamous Tamburello with Max gaining an excellent slipstream. He chooses the outside line into the first corner and passes Dennis. However, the 17-year-old F1 rookie hits the inside kerb, launching the Dallara F314 of its wheels into the gravel. Max uses all his talent and car control to keep his car out of the barriers and resumes the race in ninth.
“I might have been a bit too optimistic to pass him at the first opportunity. The kerbs just forced me wide which meant I had to wait for a couple of laps to get rid of the dirt on my tyres.”
A few laps later, Max has picked up the pace. However, the Dutchman visits the gravel traps a second time after Fuoco taps him on the back. Max drops down the order to thirteenth whereas the Italian receives a drive-through penalty. “I saw Fuoco in my mirrors so I kept the inside line to defend but he just pushed me.” Max does not give up and chases down the next man up the road, Roy Nissany. “I chose the outside line as he braked early holding the inside line. However, he overshot the corner, leaving me no space. This resulted in my rim being bend and thus a puncture.” The incident forces Max to retire from the race.
Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon extends his championship lead with a deserved victory ahead of Jordan King. Third placed Tom Blomqvist scored enough points to pass Max in the standing. The Briton leads the Dutchman by five points with five races remaining.
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 2, Saturday 11 October:
Results race 1
