This week, the young FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers travelled to the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg’s 4.574-kilometre GP circuit for the third official tests of the year, held on Wednesday and Thursday. In changeable conditions, Alexander Sims (ThreeBond with T Sport, 1:33.872 minutes) and Daniil Kvyat (Carlin, 1:33.305 minutes) set the fastest lap times of one of the days – and in addition, new faces added to the action.
Photo: Fia F3 Europe.com
Daniil Kvyat, protégée of the Red Bull Junior team, set his fastest lap time only in the closing stages after having switched – like many other drivers – to a fresh set of tyres. And he made perfect use of these tyres by setting the fastest lap time of the entire two days of testing. “It’s always great to be first but at the end of the day we are here for testing,” Kvyat said modestly. Rookie Jordan King (Carlin, 1:33.564 minutes) finished second, ahead of Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, 1:33,645). The Swede who holds second position in the championship, with nine more races to go, summed up: “It was partly bemusing as we were sometimes quick and sometimes slow on both days. We shouldn’t focus too much on the lap times but on the findings we gained.”
Sven Müller (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:33.714 minutes) finished fourth on the time sheets, right behind Rosenqvist, thus making – together with his fifth-placed team-mate Dennis van de Laar (1:33.830 minutes) – for successful days of testing, for his team. “A new team-mate always also represents a new challenge. After all, you want to beat him,” van de Laar said about Sven Müller who switched to Van Amersfoort Racing just a few days prior to the mid-season tests and felt comfortable right from the start: “The two days of testing offered me the chance of familiarising myself well with the car and the engineers and I’m delighted with having a fast team-mate, with Dennis.”
Müller’s former team-mate, André Rudersdorf (ma-con, 1:33.844 minutes), surprised by coming sixth. “I felt really comfortable in the car today but hadn’t expected to make it so far up, on the time sheets,” the 18-year-old talent honestly admitted. Alexander Sims’ fastest lap time of day one was the seventh fastest in the two-day ranking, followed by Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam, 1:33.876 minutes), Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam, 1:33.884) and Félix Serrallés (Fortec Motorsports, 1:33.902).
Quickest of the newcomers was Kevin Korjus (ThreeBond with T-Sport, 1:34.014 minutes) who contested only the second day of testing. The Estonian was delighted with having the chance of taking the wheel of Alexander Sims’ Dallara as the Briton could contest only the Wednesday tests, due to his commitments as McLaren GT racing works driver. “Yesterday morning I got a phone call and today I’m sitting in the car,” said the GP3 driver who completed his last Formula 3 laps to date in November 2012 in Macau. “Yes, a Formula 3 car differs from a GP3 racer but re-adapting wasn’t too difficult.”
Another new face in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship fraternity was Jimmy Eriksson (ma-con, 1:34.223 minutes). At Hockenheim, the Swede drove the second ma-con single-seater. “Originally, we only had planned the involvement in these tests but I wouldn’t mind to also contest the one or the other race,” the GP3 driver revealed. His compatriot John Bryant-Meisner (Fortec Motorsports, 1:34.278 minutes), who also made his Formula 3 European Championship debut at Hockenheim, learned his F3 trade in the ATS Formula 3 Cup and feels ready for making the next step. “The car, the engine, the tyres – everything differs from what is used in the Cup. I needed my time to adapt to the new situation and I’d say that I didn’t do too badly, in consideration of this fact. Now I’m going to contest the final two race weekends of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season – at Vallelunga and Hockenheim – to prepare for the next year.”
In the current season, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship young-guns still have to contest another three race meetings. In late September, the Formula 1 and DTM feeder series will race at Zandvoort, Netherlands and in October, Vallelunga will be the venue of the penultimate event, just a week before the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg stages the season finale.
