Felix Rosenqvist wins spectacular race 2 in Silverstone

Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) won an action-packed fifth season round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. At the 5.891 kilometres long track of Silverstone in the UK, the Swede finished ahead of Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam) and Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam). With his second-place finish, Marciello extended his points’ lead in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. He now has 20.5 points more than second-placed Harry Tincknell (Carlin).

There was already plenty of action at the start, when Jann Mardenborough (Carlin), Antonio Giovinazzi (Double R Racing) and Félix Serrallés (Fortec Motorsports) collided while still on the main straight. The safety car was deployed to allow for the track to be cleaned. At that time, Felix Rosenqvist was in the lead, followed by the two British drivers Harry Tincknell and William Buller (ThreeBond with T-Sport).

Just before the restart, Rosenqvist suddenly slowed down and was overtaken by Tincknell and Buller. Behind Rosenqvist, there was a head-to-tail collision, in which Sven Müller (ma-con), Nicholas Latifi (Carlin) and Måns Grenhagen (Van Amersfoort Racing) were involved. After the turbulent restart, the order was: Tincknell from Buller, Rosenqvist, Tom Blomqvist (Eurointernational) and Josh Hill (Fortec Motorsports). The son of ex-Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill already was under pressure from the charging Marciello.

Out in front, Rosenqvist wanted to make up for his mistake from the restart and started the hunt for Buller and Tincknell. Having first overtaken Buller on lap seven, the Mücke driver then got past Tincknell with a spirited drive to take the lead three laps later. He remained there until the chequered flag was out.

Behind Rosenqvist, there were some position changes until the end of the race. William Buller spun on his own and thus dropped out of the podium positions to finish ninth, while Tincknell was left without a chance against the charging Prema Powerteam drivers Marciello and Auer. Marciello eventually took the flag in second place, Auer was happy with third. Harry Tincknell, the winner of the first race at Silverstone, brought fourth place home from Tom Blomqvist, Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam) and Josh Hill.

Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) “I had a good start, but I messed up the restart after the safety car. I reckon, I should have read the regulations better and I apologise for this move. After that, I was determined to win this race at all costs. My car was fast and I was able to overtake William Buller and Harry Tincknell. The move against Harry was a close one, but I knew that I wouldn’t have many chances and I had to use this one.”

Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam) “After the start, I was second, but then I made a mistake and I dropped back to ninth. After the safety car, I was able to make up a few places again. However, I didn’t want to take too many risks, because I didn’t want to risk a non-score.”

Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam) “In fact, my start was quite good, but then my car was stuck in first gear and I lost a few positions. After the safety car had left the track again, I was able to move up to the front, together with my team-mate Raffaele. I am very happy with third place.”

FIA F3