Successful second day of testing at the Hungaroring

On the second day of the official FIA Formula 3 European Championship tests at the Hungaroring, the experienced Formula 3 drivers Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, 1:36.080 minutes) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, 1:36.214) succeeded in fending off the onslaught of the fast rookies to finish first and second on the time sheets, followed by Formula 3 newcomer Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:36.219).

On Saturday, the teams and their young drivers had some seven hours time for continuing their preparations for the forthcoming season. In the closing stages of the afternoon session, many drivers pushed and tried to set a new fastest lap time but in the end, they all failed to beat the time Rosenqvist had set in the morning session. “I could complete a lot of laps and we tested a lot of things,” revealed Rosenqvist, “But we also know the areas we still have to work on. I think that we have got a lot of potential if we succeed in correctly assembling all the jigsaw pieces.”

The position behind Rosenqvist also was clinched by an experienced Formula 3 driver. “I’m delighted with having finished second, said the Italian. “The two days of testing offered us the chance of trying a lot of things and we also could work on the set-up. And although I didn’t really mind the ranking I’m happy about having finished second, on day two.”

Max Verstappen, the quickest on day one, once again proved to be the fastest rookie. In front of the eyes of his father, former Formula 1 ace Jos Verstappen, the single-seater racing newcomer was just 0.139 seconds slower than Rosenqvist. Jake Dennis (Carlin, 1:36.275 minutes), Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, 1:36.288 minutes), the two rookies Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam, 1:36.353) and Jules Szymkowiak (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:36.379) as well as Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, 1:36.395), Jordan King (Carlin, 1:36.405) and Edward Jones (Carlin, 1:36.622) completed the top 10. Incidentally, even the 18th-placed driver was less than a second slower than the quickest.

The first two of the total of four days of pre-season testing also represented the first official days of use for the new engine generation. And the new engines provided by the Mercedes, Neil Brown Engineering (NBE), Renault and Volkswagen successfully passed this crucial test.

FIA F3