Driver Database News

The 2011 Macau Grand Prix did not go according to plan for Felix Rosenqvist. The 20-year-old – who was one of several pre-event favourites following his RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 victory back in August – ran into trouble already in Thursday’s opening free practice session, where he encountered a long queue of standstill cars on the approach to the Melco hairpin and ran into the back of Estonian Marko Asmer. The Stewards held Rosenqvist responsible for the collision, and sent the Swede to the very back of the grid for Saturday’s Qualification Race. Already heavily compromised by his penalty, the Mücke Motorsport driver then crashed into retirement in Sunday’s finale after making contact with one of the unforgiving walls that line the Guia Circuit.

“This was simply an utterly disappointing weekend; there is no reason to call it anything else,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “My shot at a decent result more or less disappeared already on Thursday, but Macau is a very special venue and it’s never over until it’s over. Unfortunately, though, things didn’t get much better in the races, and although we had an efficient car on the straights, we struggled a bit with the set-up in the mountain section. We were fast enough to battle for a top five result if we would have stayed out of trouble, but at the end of the day things sometimes just don’t turn out the way you want them to.”

Rosenqvist posted the eighth-fastest time in Friday’s qualifying session – just one tenth shy of fifth place and 0.7 seconds adrift of Pole-setter and regular Formula 3 Euro Series rival Marco Wittmann – but had to see his efforts come to nothing due to the penalty from Thursday. The crash in the finale then brought the Swede’s event to a premature end. Victory in the classic street race outside of Hong Kong went to Spaniard Daniel Juncadella – another of Rosenqvist’s Formula 3 Euro Series competitors.

“I am obviously everything but satisfied with the outcome of Macau, but overall it’s still been a very good season,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I continue to learn something new every time I climb into the car, and we’ve been among the quickest in Formula 3 Euro Series more or less all through the campaign. I am now looking forward to a chance of recharging the batteries for an even stronger performance in 2012 – we will definitely be back!”

Felix Rosenqvist can look back at a season which, coupled with the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 triumph, has seen the Swede claim one victory, ten podiums and five fastest laps in his first Formula 3 Euro Series campaign.

Felix Rosenqvist will take part in the season-ending Macau Grand Prix – the most prestigious event on the international Formula 3 calendar – for the second successive year. The Swede, who finished ninth on his debut in the Asian street classic after an eye-catching drive in 2010, will represent his regular Formula 3 Euro Series team Mücke Motorsport with full support from engine manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. Rosenqvist’s team-mate over the weekend will be Macanese veteran Michael Ho. The Macau Grand Prix is widely regarded as the Formula 3 world finals, with 30 of the most promising young single-seater talents taking part in the race in November of each year.

“I will never forget the feeling I had when I drove out of the pitlane in Macau for the first time last year, and it will be absolutely great to be back there again for a second time,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “I learned so much there last year, but I’m well aware of the fact that many of my rivals have still been to Macau on more occasions than I have and I know how tough the Macau Grand Prix really is. The team will go there for the very first time, but I still believe we will have the chance to challenge close to the front – not least following our victory in the Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort earlier this year. Macau has become my favourite circuit, and I can’t wait for the start of practice.”

The Macau Grand Prix has been the single most important event of the Formula 3 season every year since its
inception in 1983. The list of previous winners includes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Sweden’s Rickard Rydell, with 20 out of the 28 drivers who have started a Formula 1 race in 2011 having driven at Macau at least once in their careers. At Mücke Motorsport, preparations are well underway as excitement for the race builds.

“Racing in the Macau Grand Prix for the first time ever will be a big challenge for the entire team, but with Felix behind the wheel I think we are well-placed to fight for the top five positions,” says team principal Peter Mücke. “Felix drove there very competitively last year, and we do have experience of street circuits from all the races we’ve done at the Norisring in Germany over the years. Adapting to a new track will not be a major problem, and the key to success at Macau will be to get everything together on the day – and some luck on the opening laps!”

The venue for the Macau Grand Prix is the temporarily erected Guia Circuit, which is made up of public roads in the city centre of the Chinese gambling metropolis outside of Hong Kong. The 2011 Macau Grand Prix takes place on November 17-20.

Felix Rosenqvist scored the eighth podium of his maiden Formula 3 Euro Series season when he finished second in the opening race of the weekend at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. The Swede posted the second-fastest time overall in Friday free practice after having topped the first part of the session, and then overcame oversteering issues in qualifying to line up in third place on the grid for Race 1. A good start saw the 19-year-old out-accelerate home favourite Roberto Merhi – who later went on to claim the championship title in the final race of the weekend – into the first corner, and Rosenqvist then held on to second for the duration of the race and eventually shadowed Mücke Motorsport team-mate Nigel Melker by just 0.7 seconds at the chequered flag.

“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.

This weekend’s Formula 3 Euro Series round at Silverstone proved to be a case of mixed emotions for Felix Rosenqvist. The 19-year-old arrived at the British Grand Prix venue as one of the pre-event favourites following his Masters of Formula 3 victory at Zandvoort four weeks ago, and immediately showed his intentions by topping the timesheets in Friday free practice. After taking third in qualifying – where he was beaten only by the two leading cars of Italian squad Prema Powerteam – Rosenqvist found himself in a strong position for the rest of the weekend, but a range of technical problems and early-race incidents saw the Mücke Motorsport driver repeatedly having to fight his way back up through the field and eventually leave Silverstone with fourth place as his best race result.

“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.

Felix Rosenqvist became the first Swede ever to win the classic RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 race at Zandvoort last weekend, as he crossed the line five seconds clear of runner-up Marco Wittmann to add his name to a list of winners that includes the likes of Lewis Hamilton and David Coulthard.

After a couple of hectic days in the aftershock of his career’s biggest moment so far, Felix now shares his views on how he won a race in which he wasn’t even sure he would compete just one week earlier, and how he managed to overcome a high-speed crash to produce Mücke Motorsport’s second ever victory in one of the most important events on the single-seater calendar.

Mattias Persson: 2011 RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 winner – sounds OK, doesn’t it?
Felix Rosenqvist: It’s not too bad! It’s a good feeling.

Mattias Persson: You took the lead just seconds after the start when the Prema Powerteam guys collided on the run down to Turn 1, and then you controlled the race from the front. What thoughts were going through your head when you approached the chequered flag and realised that you were going to win?
Felix Rosenqvist: To be honest, I actually didn’t know it was the final lap, but when I saw the chequered flag it was a big relief. It’s always tough to run on your own at the front, as time just passes by so slowly when you are counting down the laps. Added to that, you are the one who has the most to lose from a mistake, so the pressure is quite intense – but that’s also something you always get better at handling.

Mattias Persson: You crashed on the fastest section of the lap during Saturday free practice, and the next time you returned to the cockpit was in the do-or-die setting of qualifying. How was your confidence for the car affected by that crash?
Felix Rosenqvist: You inevitably do become a bit concerned, but I really didn’t think about it at all during qualifying. I think it’s important that you’re able to put things like that behind you and move on, and also that you make sure to learn from it.

Mattias Persson: Many people have described this victory as somewhat of a breakthrough for you. Is that how you feel as well?
Felix Rosenqvist: My performance as a driver was about the same as in any other race this year. It’s all about getting the complete package together – engineers, mechanics, driver, and the co-operation between us. My job is to always give 110 % and extract everything from what I’ve got; sometimes it’s good enough for fourth, sometimes for eighth, and this time – when everything came together – it was enough to win.

Mattias Persson: If you could choose the three main factors that contributed the most to last Sunday’s success, what would they be?
Felix Rosenqvist: First of all, things were obviously made easier when Roberto (Merhi) and Daniel (Juncadella) clashed off the line, but I still feel I could have challenged them into Turn 1 since I made a very good start. Secondly, our car performed extremely well throughout an entire race, which is definitely one of the main keys. The third contributing factor was that I was able to do a clean race without any real mistakes, and managed to produce some “perfect” laps when we needed them. That enabled me to open up a gap of five or six seconds, which I could then control.

Mattias Persson: You have always seemed to enjoy racing in the Netherlands; last year saw you claim your first two F3 victories at Assen, and you took to the podium in all three Formula 3 Euro Series races at Zandvoort earlier this season. What’s the deal with you and tulips!?
Felix Rosenqvist: It’s actually pretty funny. I don’t know why, but things have just turned out in such a way that I’ve been on the podium every time I’ve raced in the Netherlands. I like the country, the people and the culture, but I don’t think that has any effect on my results. It’s probably just a mix of coincidences and the fact that I like both the Assen and Zandvoort circuits very much.

Mattias Persson: You have already said that this achievement – as important as it may be – will not get in the way of your preparations for the rest of the campaign. Next up is the Formula 3 Euro Series meeting at Silverstone in about three weeks – what are your thoughts going into that weekend?
Felix Rosenqvist: No, I think it’s vital to stay focused on the Formula 3 Euro Series season – that’s the most important thing in my career at the moment. We have three rounds to go and things look very positive. Silverstone is a circuit which I haven’t driven at a lot – I just did a short low downforce test there ahead of Macau last year – so I can’t say too much about it. Having said that, though, I know that most drivers enjoy going there, and the section around Copse through to Maggotts and Becketts is brilliant. It will be a big challenge, but also lots of fun!

Mattias Persson: Finally, is there anything you would like to say to all those who followed you last weekend?
Felix Rosenqvist: I just really want to thank them all, and I hope they feel part of this success. The support I’ve had throughout the season, and especially following my victory, has been absolutely fantastic. I received so many messages and congratulations after Zandvoort that I simply couldn’t answer them all. Unbelievable! It really means a lot to see how much people want you to succeed, and I am enormously thankful for all the support I get from my fans!

Felix Rosenqvist claimed the most significant victory of his career so far when he became the first Swede ever to win the prestigious RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort on Sunday afternoon. Rosenqvist led the race, which is considered as one of the two most important on the international F3 calendar, from lights to flag and took the chequered flag more than five seconds clear of second-placed Marco Wittmann (Germany). To underline his performance even further, the Mücke Motorsport driver also set the fastest lap of the race on his debut in the classic event.

“A great feeling, and easily the sweetest victory so far in my career,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “It is fantastic to have been able to give the team this success following all the hard work they have undertaken to help get us to this level, and the car felt supreme all weekend. Furthermore, I didn’t exactly make their situation easier by a 180 km/h crash in Saturday practice, so I really have to thank the team for their contribution to this victory. Our race pace enabled me to open up a gap shortly after the start, and then it was all about controlling the race and taking the car home.”

The 19-year-old Värnamo resident qualified in third place on the grid for Sunday’s 25-lap race, but took the lead after just a handful of metres as he managed to steer clear of a multi-car pile-up on the run down to Turn 1. Rosenqvist then extended his lead with as much as one second per lap in the beginning of the race, and the victory places him on the same list of Masters of Formula 3 winners as the likes of Lewis Hamilton and David Coulthard.

“We will now celebrate this the way it should be celebrated, but then our focus will shift very quickly towards the next round of the Formula 3 Euro Series championship at Silverstone,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I will remain in the Netherlands together with my team tonight, and I am already looking forward to getting back in the car again. It is great to have won this important race.”

The Formula 3 Euro Series round at Silverstone (Great Britain) takes place on September 9-11.

Felix Rosenqvist battled his way to a double podium result when the Formula 3 Euro Series season resumed at the Nürburgring this weekend. The Mücke Motorsport driver finished third and second respectively in the two races run on Saturday, before challenging for a further place on the rostrum in Sunday’s Race 3. Rosenqvist overtook team-mate Nigel Melker for third place after having chased the Dutchman hard for the majority of the race, only to drop back to fifth following a mistake in the Mercedes Arena on the subsequent lap. The 19-year-old, however, managed to power his way back up into fourth after having emerged victorious from a spectacular wheel-to-wheel dice with Laurens Vanthoor.

“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.

Few racing circuits – if any – are steeped in the same indisputable tradition as the Nürburgring. Seamlessly located among the hills and valleys of the German Eifel mountains, the legendary Grand Prix venue is considered one of the world’s top motorsport arenas – and despite the modern incarnation fading in comparison with the 20 km Nordschleife constructed back in 1927, there are no doubts that Felix Rosenqvist and his Formula 3 Euro Series rivals will take to truly illustrious grounds for the sixth round of the season this weekend.

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.

Felix Rosenqvist finished in fifth place in two out of three races as the Formula 3 Euro Series season resumed at the Norisring in Germany this weekend. The Swede was forced to retire from the opening race of the event after colliding with Gianmarco Raimondo (Canada), but fought back in emphatic fashion in Race 2 as he made up nine places from 14th and last on the grid. The Mücke Motorsport driver then crossed the line in fifth once again in the third and final race of the weekend, after surviving appalling conditions as rain hit the Nuremberg street circuit.

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.

After the jinx of Austria last weekend, Felix returned to the cockpit of his Mücke Motorsport Dallara as official Formula 3 Euro Series mid-season testing commenced at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany today.

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.”