“An OK weekend for us, where we’ve been quick enough to challenge for wins and podiums,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “I felt I was slightly faster than Nigel in Race 1, but it’s almost impossible to overtake here at Valencia and I also had to watch out for Roberto behind me for much of the race. It was great to give the team another 1-2, but after six second places this season I would obviously have preferred to win. I would also like to congratulate Roberto on winning the title – he has done the best job this season, and he is a very worthy champion.”

In Race 2, where the positions on the grid are based on the results of Race 1 but with the top eight reversed, Rosenqvist and Merhi treated the on-site fans to one of the most spectacular battles of the year with a wheel-to-wheel dice at over 220 km/h. After disputing fifth place side-by-side for more than half a lap, Merhi eventually managed to take the position and Felix crossed the line in sixth. Race 3 saw Rosenqvist again challenge for the podium as he finished in fourth place – just 1.5 seconds adrift of second-placed Daniel Juncadella.

“For me, the Race 2 fight with Roberto was the highlight of this weekend – extremely tough racing, but still with a lot of respect for each other and completely fair,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I have rarely found myself in real man-to-man situations in my career, so this was a very valuable experience. Race 3 was rather processional due to the difficulties of overtaking at this circuit, but all in all it’s been a good weekend. We have every chance of fighting for victory again at Hockenheim, and I am definitely ready to go for it!”

Following this weekend’s results, Felix Rosenqvist climbs to fifth overall in the championship standings. The Formula 3 Euro Series season finale takes place on October 21-23.

“We were among the quickest this weekend, but sometimes that’s just not enough in motor racing – things have to run smoothly,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “We didn’t have the most straightforward of times here, and an example of that is an issue we had at the start of the first race when the hand brake system we use failed. I quickly adopted an alternative start technique, but I still lost three places off the line. I managed to overtake my team-mate and Daniel Abt to come home fourth, and in the second race I got pushed wide by Laurens Vanthoor on the opening lap and had to fight my way up to seventh having re-joined last. I have learned a lot about racing in traffic this weekend, and it has definitely helped improve my race craft.”

As if Rosenqvist hadn’t already endured his fair share of incidents, a first-lap collision with Daniel Juncadella forced him to retire from the third and concluding race of the weekend on Sunday.

“I made a great start in the third race and was extremely close to Daniel at the first braking zone, but then, unfortunately, we clashed going into Turn 4,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I have spoken to Daniel and we agreed that it was a “race incident” – and I accept that I was partly to blame for what happened. I have already set my sights on the next race in Valencia, where we will hopefully be able to turn our pace into better results. The team has done a great job with the car, and we are in a good position to remain competitive in the final part of the championship.”

The eighth and penultimate round of the Formula 3 Euro Series season sees the championship travel to Spain and Valencia on September 30 – October 2.

“A good weekend for us, and it’s nice to return to the podium following our misfortune in the last two rounds of the championship” says Felix Rosenqvist. “I was two hundredths of a second adrift of the front row for both the first and third race in qualifying, and it was extremely close between the top four. It would’ve been great to make the podium in Race 3 as well; the pace was definitely there for it, but unfortunately, I made a rather stupid mistake shortly after I got past Nigel for third. Everyone within Mücke Motorsport has been working hard for this, and even though we weren’t able to stay with the Prema Powerteam cars this weekend, we should still be happy with our results.”

Felix Rosenqvist will return to the cockpit of his Mücke Motorsport Dallara already next weekend, when the Swede takes part in one of the highlights of the F3 season – the RTL GP Masters of F3. The race is considered one of the two most prestigious Formula 3 events on the calendar next to the Macau Grand Prix in November, and traditionally takes place at Zandvoort – where Rosenqvist claimed three podiums from three races during the Formula 3 Euro Series round at the venue back in May.

“I am really looking forward to getting back to Zandvoort next weekend,” Rosenqvist continues. “I felt really comfortable there last time out – despite it being my first visit at the track – and the car was competitive. All the best F3 drivers in the world will be participating, but I think we have every chance to challenge at the front.”

The RTL GP Masters of F3 weekend will commence with practice and qualifying on Saturday, with the all-important race taking centre stage on Sunday afternoon.

In spite of a one-month break since the previous round of the championship at Nuremberg’s Norisring street circuit, Felix has found himself with an intense schedule during the build-up to the Nürburgring races. A visit to the DTM Show Event at Munich’s Olympic Stadium – where he represented Mercedes’ F3 programme – was followed by a strong day of testing at a rain-drenched EuroSpeedway Lausitz, providing Felix and his Mücke Motorsport team-mate Nigel Melker with some valuable extra experience of conditions which, ironically, often play a central part in the infamous micro climate that is the Nürburgring.

In order to stay in shape throughout a part of the season when the gap between races is extensive, Felix spent last week working on his fitness in the mountainous region of Åre in rural Sweden. A range of physical activities were undertaken, including hiking, swimming and mountain biking, and preparations for the job ahead – according to Felix himself – could not have gone better.

“I feel completely refreshed and am highly, highly motivated to get back behind the wheel of a racing car – I honestly can’t wait for this weekend’s action to get underway,” Felix says. “The last two rounds in Austria and Nuremberg have been less than perfect for us from a results point of view, but the Nürburgring is one of my absolute favourite circuits and I hope we can turn the tide here. One of the lessons I have learned this year is that nothing comes without effort at this level of motor racing, and there is absolutely no doubt that we will have to work hard if we are to haul ourselves back onto the podium – even though, on the back of the pace we have had in the first part of the season, that definitely has to be our target.”

The Nürburgring round, like many of the preceding events of 2011, will see Formula 3 Euro Series join the ranks of the DTM support programme. The track layout in use will be the 3.629 km Sprint Circuit, which shortcuts the full Formula 1 configuration shortly after the Mercedes Arena and leaves out the Ford and Dunlop corners at the far end of the lap. Last year’s German ATS Formula 3 Cup round at the Nürburgring Sprint Circuit saw Felix qualify less than one tenth from Pole Position, before going on to finish on the podium in both the two races contested.

Championship leader Roberto Merhi arrives at the Nürburgring fresh from having dominated the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy event at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. The “world cup” races were part of the British F3 series’ visit to the Belgian circuit, which meant that all entrants had to run on the brand of tyres used in Britain – and not on the Kumho rubber provided in Formula 3 Euro Series. That didn’t stop Merhi and his regular pan-European rivals to set the pace and prove their competitiveness on the international single-seater stage, however, as the Spaniard leapt away with Pole Position and victory in two out of the weekend total of three races. Meanwhile, fellow Prema Powerteam runner Daniel Juncadella wound up third in Race 2, while Marco Wittmann fared best of the Signature drivers with second behind Merhi in Race 3.

Mücke Motorsport might have chosen not to contest the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy campaign this year, but the outfit still travels to the Nürburgring well prepared following their GP3 commitments at the venue just two weeks ago. A spirited drive from Melker (who dovetails the F3 and GP3 championships) in drying conditions in the final race of the weekend saw the Dutchman set the fastest lap on his way to third place, and the Berlin squad will be aiming to carry a similar form into the up-coming Formula 3 event.

Weather forecasts for the weekend – surprise, surprise – speak of a considerable risk of rain, although the majority of the action currently looks set to take place under clear skies. As usual, Friday’s qualifying session and each and every minute of the weekend’s three races will be described through LIVE commentary at www.felixracing.se, which will also feature additional information – including picture galleries and all the latest results – to bring you as close as possible to the Eifel excitement.

Unfortunately for him, the asphalt started to dry up quickly and while his followers started to gain ground, he made it back to the pits for slick tires. A pit-stop miscue forced him to lose an additional spot, as he made his way back to the flag in 4th. On a rainy sprint race, Mehri fought hard with Wittmann, ending up right behind the German, while in the main race, hit by bad weather once again, he focused on taking some valuable points in standings. Daniel Juncadella, who ended up qualifying in 5th, managed to climb onto the sprint race’s podium. but did not score points in the other two heats, while the third Prema Racer, Gianmarco Raimondo, faced a tough weekend to score 6th place in race 1 as his personal best result.

Rene Rosin – Team Manager
“Overall it’s been a pretty positive weekend as we scored some extremely valuable poitns with Mehri, especially considered the really tough weather conditions we faced in all three races. Wittmann inched closer in standings with two wins but Roberto answered the bell as he focused on the championship. We feel for both Juncadella, who did not achieve what he deserved and for Raimondo, who still needs some more experience in the European context”.

circuit.
“We couldn’t get the car to where we wanted it this weekend, and my driving also left a bit more to wish for – but it
has definitely been valuable to race at the Norisring for the first time,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “Race 1 began in drying conditions, and we went for a set-up that we think would have worked out very well in the dry later in the race. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that far, and I made quite severe impact with the wall following the crash with Raimondo. The team did a great job in repairing the car, and I was able to make up nine places from my position on the grid in Race 2. The final race was then all about trying to bring the car home without making any big mistakes.”

Rosenqvist now looks forward to the second half of the season, as the championship reaches a host of circuits that the 19-year-old has previous experience from – to the contrary of the last few rounds of the campaign.

“The Norisring is completely different to any other circuit I’ve ever driven at in my career, and both I and my teammate have been struggling a bit here this weekend,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I will probably never be entirely happy with two fifth places, but I’ve always known how competitive this championship is and it could certainly have been a lot worse. It will be interesting to get to some of the more traditional venues over the next few months, and I am definitely optimistic going into the next race at the Nürburgring. Everyone in the team wants to return to a position where we are able to fight for the podium again as soon as possible, and I am not afraid of working hard to succeed in doing that.”

The next round of the Formula 3 Euro Series season takes place on August 5-7.

Felix carried on with his competitive form which has catapulted him into a true frontrunner over the last couple of race meetings, as he ended up third-quickest in the opening morning session run under clear blue skies. Team-mate Nigel Melker topped the timesheets ahead of Marco Wittmann (Signature), with Felix’s best effort placing him 0.169s adrift of position one.

The afternoon session had only lasted for about 20 minutes when a heavy rain storm hit the circuit, virtually flooding the venue and washing away every opportunity of improving the times set during the morning. In the few laps of dry running early on, however, Felix went second overall behind Kimiya Sato after the Japanese fitted new tyres to his Motopark Academy car while Felix and the majority of the other drivers stayed on used rubber. Laurens Vanthoor went third-fastest in the afternoon, with Melker fourth. In total, Felix completed 48 laps in the concluding session – 35 of them in rain.

Testing draws to a close tomorrow.

COMMENT | FELIX
“We tried out a number of different things today, and managed to stick to our programme despite the rain in the afternoon. The first session was particularly productive, and I was among the two or three quickest throughout the day. I got a little bit untidy on my fastest lap, though, but it’s good to see that we continue to have good pace. I wasn’t quite as comfortable in the wet, however – much like at Spielberg a few days ago – but I think we will get there as confidence builds with added running.”

“This definitely wasn’t a great weekend from a results point of view, but I am actually not as disappointed as one might think,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “We have taken another step forward, and the second place in qualifying – where I was just a tenth away from Pole Position – was our strongest qualifying showing so far. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t turn my front row slot in Race 3 into a decent result, but Roberto has apologised for the clash and I think his respect for me has increased this weekend.”

In the opening race, Rosenqvist was recovering from a problematic start when he set the fastest lap of the race before crashing at Turn 1 and retiring with broken suspension. Race 2 literally wasn’t a sunnier story, as rain drenched the Styria mountains and forced the 20-minute sprint to be started behind the Safety Car. From dead last on the grid (a direct result of his Race 1 DNF), Felix took the chequered flag in tenth place having posted the third-fastest lap time, before the collision with Merhi then brought Race 3 to an early end.

“It’s obviously a shame not to score any points on a weekend when our pace was at least as good as at Zandvoort, where we came away with three podiums,” Rosenqvist concludes. “We had a few issues getting the car to where I wanted it here in Austria, and that led me to make a couple of mistakes that I shouldn’t have made. I want to highlight the efforts of my team, though; I didn’t give them the easiest of weekends, but they did a fantastic job. I will learn a lot from these few days – not least when it comes to driving in the rain – and I think this will make us an even stronger force over the up-coming races.”

Felix Rosenqvist currently lies in fifth place in the championship standings. The next round of the Formula 3 Euro Series season will take place on the German streets of Nuremberg (Norisring) on July 1-3.

The Red Bull Ring, as the name would lead you to expect, is the result of one of the energy drinks giant’s numerous projects. The existence of the circuit was at the centre of intense speculation following Formula 1′s departure in 2003, until Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz and his empire finally decided to refurbish the site. This weekend’s Formula 3 Euro Series round – which is once again part of the popular DTM package – will be the inaugural race meeting at the venue under its new era. While the facilities have undergone significant updates, the circuit layout itself still remains unchanged since the A1-Ring days.

The circuit, which seamlessly melts into the undulating Alpine landscape around the village of Spielberg, represents somewhat of a compromise for the Formula 3 Euro Series teams. In stark contrast to the flowing nature of Zandvoort, the Red Bull Ring is made up of a more aggressive mixture of fast straights, areas of heavy braking and tight hairpin corners – placing a higher emphasis on engine reliability and top-register performance. Felix and his team, Mücke Motorsport, will be aware that Austria provides them with an altogether different set of challenges than Zandvoort, but still enter the weekend with a positive mind-set following Felix’s podium appearances in all three races in the Netherlands.

“Zandvoort was possibly the best weekend so far in my career,” Felix said after becoming the top points scorer on his first acquaintance with the Dutch circuit. “I didn’t expect to be on the podium in every race over the weekend – particularly not with the reverse grid rules in Race 2. I am obviously very happy about what we achieved, but we can’t afford to rest on our laurels if we want to continue like this for the rest of the campaign.”

With the Red Bull Ring not having hosted any high-level racing over the last seven years, none of the drivers in the Formula 3 Euro Series field have raced at the Styria venue before. The championship has visited the Austrian mountains on one previous occasion, though; in 2003, when the list of participants included names like Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg and Timo Glock. The lap record at the 4.326 km circuit is held by F1 star Rosberg at 1m27.427s – can anyone better that time this year? Before the first practice session has been completed, it will be impossible to guess how the tarmac has reacted to the very limited running that has taken place here lately. To add to the uncertainty, early weather forecasts predict a high risk of rain over the weekend…

In the championship, Felix’s third place has come despite the drive shaft failure which forced him to retire from the concluding race of the weekend at the Paul Ricard season-opener. Experienced F3 racer Roberto Merhi continues to lead the title chase in what is now his third year in Formula 3 Euro Series – 23 points ahead of second-placed Marco Wittmann (who won the classic F3 race on the streets of Pau two weeks ago), and 33 ahead of Felix. It remains exceptionally close, though, with Felix’s team-mate and current GP3 leader Nigel Melker just one further point adrift and waiting to capitalise on every potential mistake from the top trio.

As per usual, the weekend kicks off with free practice on Friday morning, before qualifying – which might just turn out to be slightly less important than normal due to the relatively good overtaking opportunities at the Red Bull Ring – commences a few hours later. Felix Racing’s live commentary feed will once again take you through all the action in qualifying and the races as it happens at www.felixracing.se, where you will also find the latest pictures, news and reactions to motor racing’s long-awaited return to Spielberg.

Formula 3 Euro Series – Red Bull Ring
TIMETABLE (local time – GMT+02:00)

Friday 3/6
FP: 09.50-11.55 (60 min – 5 min pause – 60 min)
Q: 16.30-17.00

Saturday 4/6
R1: 11.15-11.55
R2: 18.00-18.20

Sunday 5/6
R3: 11.15-11.55

Felix Rosenqvist took to the podium in each of this weekend’s three Formula 3 Euro Series races at Zandvoort. As a result, Rosenqvist scored more points than any of his rivals, and now holds third place in the overall championship standings. The Swede was involved in a gigantic scrap for Pole Position during an intense qualifying session – which saw the fastest F3 lap times of all time at the Dutch circuit – before he went on to finish third, second and third respectively in the three races as he took to the former Grand Prix venue outside of Amsterdam for the first time.

“This was possibly the best weekend so far in my career,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “I didn’t expect to be on the podium in every race here this weekend, particularly since I had never driven here before and knew that it would be tough to adapt to such a challenging circuit. The team has done a fantastic job, though, and the car has felt near to perfect all through the event. I am obviously very happy about the outcome of this weekend, but we can’t afford to rest on our laurels if we want to continue like this for the rest of the campaign.”

Rosenqvist qualified in second place for the opening race of the weekend, and finished in the same position after having momentarily led a Formula 3 Euro Series race for the first time. In Race 2, which sports a reverse-grid format among the top eight from the first race, Felix went from seventh to third – and posted the fastest lap of the race – before coming home in second place once again in the concluding 40-minute event on Sunday after overtaking team-mate Nigel Melker at the start.

“It has been extremely close all weekend, and I am particularly pleased with my reverse-grid drive in Race 2,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I lost out on Pole Position for Race 1 by 28 thousands of a second, and the rest of the weekend really carried on with that sort of time differences. I did do a couple of mistakes here at Zandvoort, most notably in the first race, and I will work hard to try and minimise that during the forthcoming races. All-in-all, though, this has been an absolutely fantastic weekend.”

The next round of the Formula 3 Euro Series championship takes place at the Red Bull Ring in Austria – previously known as the A1 Ring – on June 3-5.