Photo: Diederik van der Laan/Dutch Photo Agency

Jake Hughes returned to the cockpit of a Formula 3.5 V8 car to set the best time at the end of the first of two days of testing at Barcelona.

In a ‘private’ test attended by eight teams, it seemed as if AVF recruit Tom Dillmann had picked up where he left off at Aragon last month but his time was bettered by Hughes by 0.275 seconds inside the last five minutes.

The Briton was the only driver into the 1m29s around the Catalan circuit, which returns to the calendar for 2016.

Hughes was testing in a third series in as many weeks, driving for the same Carlin team with which he sampled Formula 3 last week, having also run in GP3 for a trio of teams the week before.

Two-time 2015 race-winner Egor Orudzhev, set to stay on with Arden for next year, was third ahead of Pietro Fittipaldi, who has joined Hughes in moving over from F3 to F3.5V8 with Carlin for a second taste of the series, having tested with DAMS at the same circuit 12 months ago.

Fifth was Roy Nissany for Lotus, the Israeli lapping five thousandths of a second quicker than he had done to top the morning session.

His fellow Lotus tester Kevin Jorg and Fortec?s Jack Aitken both returned to F3.5V8 after looking at GP3 since the last test and rounded out the top seven ahead of Dillmann?s AVF team-mate Celis.

European Formula 3 race-winner Markus Pommer drove for Arden and was ninth in front of Formula 4 graduate Vladimir Atoev (Spirit of Race).

Aitken had been second in the morning ahead of Fittipaldi, Hughes, Celis and early Fortec signing Louis Deletraz.

RP Motorsport made its F3.5V8 debut with its 2014 and ?15 Euroformula Open champions Sandy Stuvik and Vitor Baptista, while Pons ran one car for AVF FR2.0 regular Josef Zaruba.

Matevos Isaakyan, who topped sessions at Jerez and Aragon with Pons and has since contested two GP3 rounds, joined fellow SMP protege Atoev at Spirit of Race, but his running was limited to eight laps in the morning.

Strakka Racing and Tech 1 Racing are absent from the test, as is Teo Martin Motorsport, which has yet to run since taking over the DAMS entry.

Combined day one testing times

The post Jake Hughes back to F3.5V8 to top first day of Barcelona test with Carlin appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: CGPM

Formula 3 veteran Felix Rosenqvist capped his successful 2015 season with a second straight Macau Grand Prix victory after a great duel with rookie Charles Leclerc.

A good launch put Leclerc straight onto Rosenqvist’s tail through the first corner and he pulled off an outstanding overtake around the outside of Lisboa.

The field made it through most of the first lap unscathed, but a big crash after Fisherman’s triggered a red flag.

Gustavo Menezes, Ryan Tveter and Mitsunori Takaboshi were involved but all got out of their cars quickly and seemingly unharmed.

Just before the race was halted, Rosenqvist passed Leclerc through the first corner on lap two, but the Monegasque driver slipstreamed his way back into Lisboa.

Leclerc was swamped in the same location on the restart though, being passed not only by Rosenqvist but also Sam MacLeod.

That would be the pivotal moment of the race, with Rosenqvist able to open up a two-second lead before Leclerc repassed MacLeod with yet another out-braking move into Lisboa two laps later.

Leclerc set fastest laps in his pursuit of Rosenqvist but the Swede always had an answer before backing off a little in the last couple of laps, winning by 1.1s.

The magnitude of the achievement of second place for 18-year-old Leclerc was reinforced by him being sandwiched by two drivers in their mid-20s on their sixth starts in Macau.

It was Alexander Sims in third for Double R, replicating the podium from the qualification race.

He took the place when MacLeod – who impressed all week for West-Tec after scoring points just once during the European campaign – lost the rear of his car at Police and slapped the barrier.

MacLeod was forced to pit, but did rejoin towards the rear.

Antonio Giovinazzi came back from 10th place after the controversial penalty that robbed him of pole position to finish fourth, not quite able to do anything about Sims.

Markus Pommer took fifth ahead of Santino Ferrucci, improving upon his eighth place from 2014 with another trouble-free run.

Ferrucci was the first of four 17-year-olds in bottom half of the top 10.

Leclerc’s single-seater rookie team-mate Alessio Lorandi completed a drama-free week with seventh ahead of Lance Stroll, while Arjun Maini was 10th behind Jake Dennis.

Dorian Boccolacci was yet another 17-year-old with two clean races on his way to 11th ahead of last year’s podium finisher and Japanese champion Nick Cassidy after a challenging week for TOM’s.

Boccolacci’s Signature team-mate Alex Albon was 13th from the penultimate row of the grid ahead of Macau’s Chang Wing Chung.

Red Bull junior Callum Ilott, who was second-fastest to Rosenqvist in Thursday’s first qualifying before crashing on Friday and being caught up in Saturday’s first-lap pile-up, had another incident, skating down the escape road at Police.

Sergio Sette Camara and MacLeod set laps faster than anyone else after pitstops.

Dani Juncadella was a non-starter as a result of tub damage sustained in the aftermath of his incident with Giovinazzi on the first lap of the qualification race, having qualified second to his fellow former winner Rosenqvist.

Race results

The post Rosenqvist beats Leclerc to win Macau Grand Prix again appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: CGPM

Antonio Giovinazzi came from fourth on the grid to pass Felix Rosenqvist and win the Formula 3 qualification race at the Macau Grand Prix, only to be penalised for first-lap contact as he took the chequered flag.

Giovinazzi had tangled with Dani Juncadella between Lisboa and San Francisco as they fought over second place, with the Italian’s front-right wheel hitting the Spaniard’s left-rear.

Juncadella was spun around, and a safety car was required once some drivers from further back got caught up as they tried to funnel past, with Alex Albon?rear-ending?Mikkel Jensen,?Ryan Tveter tagging the stationary Juncadella and Callum Ilott was left with nowhere to go.

While Jensen made it back to the pits and continued after a delay, Albon, Tveter and Ilott were eliminated.

Giovinazzi survived the clash, and after one lap behind the safety car, he was right behind his season-long rival Rosenqvist at the restart and slipstreamed into the lead before the braking point for Lisboa.

His lead was 1.7 seconds halfway through the 10-lap race but Rosenqvist had brought that down to 0.8s with a lap to go and was close enough to have a look into Lisboa, but not to really make a move.

Rosenqvist lost time later in the lap gave Giovinazzi a two-second margin at the line, but the Italian was immediately handed a drive-through penalty for the first-lap incident.

With that to be converted to a 20-second time penalty, Rosenqvist inherits the win, half a second ahead of Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque rookie had challenged Juncadella with a better start off the line before Giovinazzi got ahead before the Mandarin right-hander.

He then stuck with the more experienced front-two after the safety car and was soon joined to make a four-car fight by a charging Alexander Sims.

Macau F3 veteran Sims started 13th after a low-key start to the event with Double R Racing but a great start had put him up to sixth by the time he passed the stranded Juncadella and a lap after the restart he took fourth from qualifying surprise Sam MacLeod into Lisboa.

He then set consecutive fastest laps to ensure he went with the lead trio as they pulled away, but couldn’t challenge Leclerc, who scored his first podium since the Norisring event in June.

MacLeod was fifth at the line in front of Markus Pommer, who started seventh instead of fifth because of a penalty – for the qualifying incident in which he slowed dramatically at the Melco hairpin to make space and impeded others – but got ahead of his Motopark team-mate?Sergio Sette Camara at the start of lap six.

Santino Ferrucci took eighth at the line after moves on first Arjun Maini and then Alessio Lorandi between restart and chequered flag.

Twenty seconds added to Giovinazzi’s race time will put him 10th. The penalty could be argued to be harsh on the Italian, who got very close to Juncadella but then kept his car straight parallel to the line down the middle of the road, and contact was only initiated by Juncadella moving ever-so-slightly to his right.

Rosenqvist’s Prema team-mates Jake Dennis and Lance Stroll could not progress into the top 10 and finished 11th and 13th respectively, either side of Dorian Boccolacci.

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Photo: Macau Grand Prix

Felix Rosenqvist will bid for back-to-back Macau Grand Prix wins from pole position for the qualification race after topping an enthralling qualifying session.

There was drama before anybody had even set a time when Callum Ilott, after impressively being second to Rosenqvist on Thursday, crashed out at San Francisco and caused a red flag.

On the first lap after the restart, Rosenqvist went underneath his benchmark from the first session, and improved further on his next attempt.

He didn’t have it all his own way though, and his early-season nemesis Charles Leclerc was able to go one hundredth of a second quicker.

Rosenqvist reclaimed top spot with 10 minutes left though as the first driver to go into the 2m10s this week.

2011 winner Juncadella went second and came within 0.046s of Rosenqvist but the Swede then improved further to open up a margin of 0.213s.

That was just before Antonio Giovinazzi crashed at Hospital bend to trigger a red flag. There was 3m44s left on the clock, but with the programme having already been delayed by GT crashes, the decision was taken not to restart.

That left Rosenqvist on pole with his fellow past winner Juncadella alongside him, and Leclerc set to lead Giovinazzi off on row two.

Markus Pommer couldn’t find his pacesetting form from the earlier practice session and had to settle for fifth for Motopark, while Sam MacLeod proved his fourth place in Friday qualifying was no fluke as he set another quick time to be sixth for West-Tec.

The top 10 was completed by four impressively-fast Macau first-timers; Sergio Sette Camara, Arjun Maini, Alessio Lorandi and Lance Stroll.

They outpaced Santino Ferrucci, Mikkel Jensen, Alexander Sims, Jake Dennis and Alexander Albon.

The second-day improvement was such that Ilott’s Thursday time will only be good enough for 18th on the grid, but that will be six places ahead of 2014 podium finisher Nick Cassidy, struggling with TOM’s.

Second qualifying results

The post Felix Rosenqvist claims Macau pole in thrilling qualifying appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: CGPM

Markus Pommer topped the second free practice session at the Macau Grand Prix, setting a rapid pace to beat provisional polesitter Felix Rosenqvist.

Rosenqvist led the way early on with a series of improvements but Pommer then took charge inside the second half of the session with a time of 2m11.688s.

He led through the session’s solitary red flag period and then set two faster laps either side of the chequered flag, working down to a 2m11.102s.

Rosenqvist and Charles Leclerc both went underneath Pommer’s earlier benchmark with late improvements but ended up three and five tenths down respectively.

Rosenqvist holds provisional pole ahead of the second qualifying session on a time of 2m11.841s.

Antonio Giovinazzi was eight tenths down in fourth as the last driver within a second of Pommer.

Lance Stroll recovered from losing his front wing when he nosed into the tyre barriers at the Melco hairpin prior to the red flag to take fifth late on, ahead of 2011 winner Dani Juncadella.

After a torrid Thursday, Jake Dennis showed some pace with seventh ahead of Mikkel Jensen.

Rounding out the top 10 were Sam MacLeod and Callum Ilott, who were the standout performers in first qualifying with fourth and second positions respectively.

Alex Albon and Nick Cassidy took 11th and 12th, improvements from their subdued first qualifying performances.

It was Albon’s Signature team-mate Dorian Boccolacci who triggered the stoppage when he slid into the barriers at San Francisco after the rear of his car got away from him.

Another driver to hit the barriers was Hongwei Cao, who crawled his way back to the pits with two right-hand punctures after getting out of shape at Paiol.

Alexander Sims had his second unlikely drama of the weekend when he went deep at the top of Moorish Hill and stalled as he attempted to rejoin.

Second practice results

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Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

European Formula 3 champion Felix Rosenqvist topped Thursday’s opening qualifying session at the Macau Grand Prix, responding to a challenge from an impressive Callum Ilott.

Last year’s winner Rosenqvist was the first driver to get a time on the board and led the session from there.

After spending the middle part of the session in the pits, the Swede returned to the track to increase the margin between himself and rival Antonio Giovinazzi to a quarter of a second.

After crashing in practice, car racing rookie Ilott was showing well throughout the session and then, after going quickest of all in the middle sector, moved up to second quickest in the final minute.

He was just 0.084 seconds off Rosenqvist, but the veteran replied by pulling out a gap of eight tenths on his final lap.

Giovinazzi took third after pitting before the end, while Sam MacLeod claimed a surprise fourth at the finish for West-Tec.

2011 winner Dani Juncadella recovered from difficulties in practice to take fifth for Fortec ahead of Motopark’s Markus Pommer, who ran as high as third.

After all four Japanese entries made the top 10 in practice, experienced B-Max campaigner Yuhi Sekiguchi was the sole representative this time after taking seventh on his last lap.

That put him ahead of Mikkel Jensen, who sat third during the middle of the session for Mucke Motorsport.

Gustavo Menezes and Alexander Sims made the top 10 before the end, forcing Charles Leclerc to settle for 11th.

Behind Yu Kanamaru was Lance Stroll, with the other Prema driver Jake Dennis 16th after his puncture-induced practice crash.

He was behind European series team-mates Arjun Maini and Alessio Lorandi, who both had spells inside the top 10, as did fellow rookie Dorian Boccolacci in 17th.

The TOM’s pairing of Kenta Yamashita and Nick Cassidy wound up 18th and 20th, either side of Mucke’s Santino Ferrucci.

It was a remarkably clean session, with the only incident of note being Sergio Sette Camara coming to a halt at Donna Maria late on.

The drivers will have a second chance to qualify on Friday, with the best times from the two sessions counting towards the grid for the qualification race.

First qualifying times

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Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

European Formula 3 runner-up Antonio Giovinazzi set the early pace in a first practice session for the Macau Grand Prix interrupted by crashes for British first-timers Jake Dennis and Callum Ilott.

Prema driver Dennis was the first to cause a red flag when he crashed in the Esses early in his maiden running on the circuit.

Red Bull Junior Ilott later crashed further along the track to cause the second stoppage, and the session restarted with only a few minutes left on the clock.

Ilott’s Carlin team-mate Giovinazzi was by then at the top of the times, heading the session with a best lap of 2m13.829s.

His season-long rival and 2014 Macau winner Felix Rosenqvist took second for Prema, 0.754 seconds adrift.

Motopark’s Markus Pommer was third ahead of a trio of Japanese racers; TOM’s racer Kenta Yamashita, B-Max veteran Yuhi Sekiguchi and late Carlin call-up Yu Kanamaru.

The other TOM’s and B-Max entries of Nick Cassidy and Mitsunori Takaboshi respectively also made the top nine, sandwiching lead rookie Lance Stroll, while Alex Albon completed the top 10 for Signature.

Charles Leclerc was 13th, one spot ahead of Alexander Sims. Ilott finished up 19th, Dennis was 23rd and 2011 winner Daniel Juncadella was 27th of the 28 drivers, 12.892 seconds off the pace.

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Photos: FIA F3 European Championship

The European F3 series wasn’t always in the spotlight for the right reasons in 2015, and was won by a driver in his fifth season at this level. Yet it was still full of many future stars, as reviewed in-depth by Peter Allen.

Whenever the FIA Formula 3 European Championship caught mainstream racing attention in 2014, it was for the right reasons: Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen defied their lack of experience to mark themselves out as future megastars.

In 2015, the series was often making headlines for the wrong reasons, when a large field of exuberant young drivers overstepped the mark with sometimes frightful results.

But to see that as the main story about European F3 in 2015 would be to be disregard the potential on show. Last season had great quality in the top 10, but the number of quick drivers was arguably double that this year.

Many lacked experience, and a struggle to prove themselves was probably both cause and effect of the high number of incidents, but no series could claim to have more promise in its ranks.

Particularly impressive were the six F3 newcomers that were able to get results regularly and finish the year in the top 10. They were led by Charles Leclerc, who produced some Ocon-esque results out of the box to keep veteran Felix Rosenqvist and the not-quite-so-experienced Antonio Giovinazzi quiet and led the standings into the second half of the year.

That Rosenqvist won out in the end in his fifth year in the series was perhaps not the most exciting outcome, but no less than he deserved and a lesson in perseverance. Indeed, he had to work hard for it and only took charge late on leading a purple patch for the Prema team.

Adding the investment of Lance Stroll’s billionaire father to the leading team in a category open to development was always going to be a potent mixture, and it showed in the closing stages of the campaign.

Indeed, if there’s a pessimistic note to end on for the future, it’s the fear of F3 becoming an arms race, with two other teams believed to be linked to investment by mega-rich parents for next season.

But for now it remains a popular destination for some of the best young drivers around – whatever headlines and tweets might say to the contrary.

We do like to look further down the order in these season reviews, and to write in-depth about each of the top 20 drivers on this occasion was certainly justified because they all have talent.

1. Felix Rosenqvist

Sweden, Prema Powerteam, age 24

508 points, 13 wins, 24 podiums, 17 pole positions, 13 fastest laps

Rosenqvist?s win in the season finale came from his 32nd start at Hockenheim in an F3 car, but his title win was convincing.

For the second straight year he unexpectedly remained in the category but this time – recruited by Prema Powerteam to be its fifth straight champion – there was nowhere to hide.

For much of the year it wasn?t easy. After winning the first race at Silverstone, a qualifying exclusion left him playing catch up and after a rough events at Spa and the Norisring he was nearly 70 points adrift.

From there he was relentless though, never off the podium and winner of seven of the next 12 races to take the title with a round to spare.

It?s easy to knock Rosenqvist but he?s always been a frontrunner in his five years at European level and he only kept coming back because the bigger opportunity he deserved never came.

With an increasing number of sponsors appearing on his car towards the end of the year and the well-funded Prema now expanding into GP2, he might just avoid another return in 2016. Season rating: 9/10

2. Antonio Giovinazzi

Italy, Carlin, age 21

412.5 points, 6 wins, 20 podiums, 4 pole positions, 4 fastest laps

Like Rosenqvist, Giovinazzi had deserved to graduate from F3 already and so this was a ?must-win? season for him too, but losing out should not be regarded as a failure.

Carlin had been the team to beat over the latter part of 2014 but that form was never really carried over. He therefore did a fantastic job to make the podium in all of the first nine races, but he then never visited the rostrum in the next six after getting too involved in the Monza and Spa scraps.

Impressively matching Rosenqvist entirely over the Zandvoort and Spielberg rounds gave him a 20.5-point lead ahead of the last three rounds, and he was rewarded with a very fortunate but deserved Audi DTM debut at Moscow.

He suffered a terrible return at Portimao a week later though, to the point that he was now relying on a Rosenqvist slip up that never came.

Fundamentally, his rival had more experience and a faster car, so second is really the best Giovinazzi could have done. He deserves a place in GP2 or the DTM next year, but is relying on the support of the Gelael family or the Volkswagen group. 9/10

3. Jake Dennis

United Kingdom, Prema Powerteam, age 21

377 points, 6 wins, 16 podiums, 6 pole positions, 5 fastest laps

When Dennis made the switch from Carlin to Prema early in the off-season there were definite title ambitions, but those took a hit when Giovinazzi and Rosenqvist returned.

He was going to need his more experienced rivals to be inconsistent, but perhaps understandably it was the Briton who struggled on that front.

After a poor start, double wins at Pau (it should have been three but damage handed the GP win to Giovinazzi) and Spa briefly put him second ahead of both of his expected rivals, only for him to then fail to score completely in an incident-filled Norisring nightmare.

Further wins at Spielberg and Portimao demonstrated he could be the class of the field on his day, either from pole or from alongside Rosenqvist on the front row, but those days didn?t come often enough. In salvaging third, there?s little to be ashamed about though.

Dennis certainly has some refinement to do still, but Racing Steps Foundation support should give him that chance. GP3 seems to be next step, and he’ll undoubtedly be at the sharp end there too. 8/10

4. Charles Leclerc

Monaco, Van Amersfoort Racing, age 18

363.5 points, 4 wins, 13 podiums, 3 pole positions, 6 fastest laps

Leclerc matched Ocon?s efforts from 2014 by taking two wins and five podiums from the first six rounds. Both were 17, but Leclerc wasn?t driving for Prema and only had one year?s Formula Renault 2.0 experience rather than two.

Another win at Spa and a stronger weekend than his rivals moved him into the championship lead, which he strengthened to 42.5 points with a repeat performance at the Norisring.

He didn?t finish on the podium again.

VAR, like most, couldn?t keep up with Prema in the later part of the season but Leclerc seemed to lose some individual sparkle too.

That?s forgivable for a teenage rookie though, particularly with the early-season highs becoming impossible to match. And no young racer should have to say goodbye to a life-long friend and mentor mid-season.

Leclerc might not have been champion but he was F3?s standout talent in 2015.

Mid-season a step up to GP2 seemed inevitable, but now GP3 is the obvious and sensible next move. A second season in F3 doesn?t make sense. 9/10

5. Lance Stroll

Canada, Prema Powerteam, age 17

231 points, 1 win, 6 podiums

While the top four were really in their own class, Stroll performed quite a miraculous turnaround to end up as best of the rest.

Arriving in F3 with Italian F4 and Toyota Racing Series titles freshly under his belt, he had a perfectly reasonable beginning to the season.

But then came Monza and a frightening crash after giving Giovinazzi the squeeze, and Spa where he contrived to take himself, Rosenqvist and Jensen out as they fought for the lead.

He was rightly given a race ban but it wasn?t long afterwards when improvements became clear to see.

A breakthrough podium (after five previous P4s) came at Spielberg and he capitalised on Prema?s Portimao pre-eminence to add another two, something he did again at the Nurburgring. The maiden victory at Hockenheim was handed to him on a plate by Rosenqvist, but it wasn?t undeserved.

We?ve said before that Stroll?s combination of funding and potential means getting to F1 will just be a matter of time, and an imminent deal with Williams brings him a step closer. Staying in F3 with Prema in 2016, he ought to be champion. 8/10

6. George Russell

United Kingdom, Carlin, age 17

203 points, 1 win, 3 podiums

Russell and Leclerc had begun the season by colliding even before the first racing lap, but they ended the Silverstone weekend as winners and looking like title contenders.

But the Briton then suffered a prolonged qualifying struggle and didn?t start a race inside the top eight again until round six.

There was then evidence of a slight step forward but he was still starting too far back to make the podium regularly. And when he was the only driver close to Rosenqvist at the Nurburgring, he lost three front row slots to the FIA?s draconian engine-change penalties.

Disappointing raw pace is not the take-home message from Russell?s season, though. For a 17-year-old with a single year?s car racing experience who started most races in the mid-pack of a championship full of needless contact, his ability to stay out of trouble was incredible.

It was not until race 33 of 33 that he failed to finish, when a backmarker took him off. It was only his fifth non-score – matching the top two – despite frequently starting in the teens.

Look beyond his one obvious weak-spot this year and it?s clear Russell is a star. A possible switch to Hitech for 2016 would be a gamble, but it might just give him the complete package. 8/10

7. Alex Albon

Thailand, Signature, age 19

187 points, 5 podiums, 2 pole positions, 1 fastest lap

While Leclerc and Russell made the headlines, Albon also had an impressive debut at Silverstone. And while he had two years on his fellow rookies (both on Earth and in a racing car), he was the lead driver for what was essentially a new team in F3, even if Signature had won titles in the past.

He seemed to spend much of the season glued to Russell but one difference between the pair was qualifying, where Albon provided some giant-killing laps.

At the Norisring he beat form-man Leclerc to two poles and got one at Portimao against the otherwise unbeatable Prema (then lost it for not being underfueled).

It?s a shame Rosenqvist wasn?t as charitable to him in the finale at he was to Stroll, because Albon deserved a win just as much and pushed the champion hard early in the race.

His three years in Formula Renault 2.0 were underwhelming but Albon demonstrated his class this year.

He?s shown outstanding pace on a couple of 3.5 try-outs too and would fly if he got a proper chance. Annoyingly, the bigger picture between Lotus, Gravity and Renault means he could face a long wait over his 2016 fate just as he?d built some momentum. 8/10

8. Maximilian Gunther

German, Mucke Motorsport, age 18

152 points, 1 win, 2 podiums (10/11 rounds)

The twice runner-up in ADAC Formel Masters got a deserved chance to step up to F3 with Mucke and quickly defied the size of the jump to qualify third on the grid for all three races at the Hockenheim (which he knew well) and then again at Pau (which he didn?t know at all).

That it took until the last of those six races to make the podium was down to quite a bit of raggedness, but he got it together to take second in the GP.

Not long later came his Norisring victory, not from the front row of race one but from 12th in race two, capitalising on errors from those ahead.

But after spending most of the subsequent races mired in the midfield, he split with his team of three-and-a-half years.

There was a hint he?d be back for the finale though, with a convenient vacancy at Prema. He promptly joined Rosenqivst on the front row for his first race for the team.

A poor start kept him off the podium but he demonstrated he could be an ideal 2016 team-mate for Stroll: at least as fast but maybe not refined enough (yet) to snatch the title. 8/10

9. Mikkel Jensen

Denmark, Mucke Motorsport, age 20

117.5 points, 2 podiums, 1 pole position

Having unexpectedly but convincingly beaten Gunther to the ADAC title, Jensen transferred over to Mucke for his graduation to F3.

While Gunther appeared to be the quicker of the pair and obviously scored more points, Jensen was competitive throughout the season and scored at every round.

His best weekend was undoubtedly Monza, where from the third row of the grid he gave Rosenqvist and Dennis a race in the opening two encounters to finish second and then third as other youngsters lost their heads behind.

He did end the weekend in the gravel after getting too close to bad-boy Stroll but showed further potential at Spa to put it on pole in tricky conditions in second qualifying. He was innocently taken out of race two by Stroll?s sideswipe, and led again in race three before spinning off while side-by-side with Dennis.

The remainder of his season was spent mostly further back in the top 10 but Mucke was another team that struggled to keep up and Jensen did well to remain on-pace. Like Gunther, Jensen should go well next season wherever he ends up. 8/10

10. Markus Pommer

Germany, Motopark, age 24

116.5 points, 1 win, 2 podiums, 1 fastest lap

He might have started racing F3 cars earlier than even Rosenqvist did (in 2009) but Pommer?s run to the German title last year meant he warranted the chance to step up to the European series together with the returning Motopark team.

Generally he did well, ensuring the outfit was on the pace from the off and gradually building form until a fine Zandvoort weekend that began with a podium and ended with a win ahead of Giovinazzi and Rosenqivst.

Such form wasn?t kept up, but frequent top-six finishes ensured he maintained a top-10 place in the standings until the end of the season.

While his performance level was good for a driver outside the established top teams, it was disappointing for his relative maturity and experience in a racing car that he was involved in so much contact.

He even earned a black flag at Spa ? when stewards? patience was strained ? for spinning Rosenqvist around just after being handed a drive-through for squeezing him under breaking.

It remains to be seen what Pommer does next, but it?s probably time he moved on from this level. 7/10

11. Santino Ferrucci

United States, Mucke Motorsport, age 17

91 points, 1 podium, 1 fastest lap

Having had to wait until he turned 16 in mid-2014 before he could make his debut, Ferrucci then showed flashes of real promise with Eurointernational and Fortec over the following months, so a move to Mucke for this year promised much.

Disappointingly, the start of his season was very low key, trailing rookie team-mates Gunther and Jensen. There were then strong drives at Monza and Spa though, yielding a pair of fourths and a maiden podium with second in the chaotic race two in Belgium.

It would be his only podium of the season, but his fade matched the trend of Mucke’s season. He did capitalise on improved form at the Nurburgring to take a trio of sevenths, though.

That showed that Ferrucci was making progress in getting a solid weekend together, but at Hockenheim there was a repeat of the sort of incidents that peppered his season and reminded you that he still lacks experience.

Indeed, having jumped out of karts at 14 and not raced in a European F4-level series either, he’s arguably still learning compared to many of his peers despite having past F3 mileage.

There’s clear potential there, next year he needs to just add some refinement. 7/10

12. Callum Ilott

United Kingdom, Carlin, age 17

65.5 points, 1 podium

Ilott had the unenviable task of following Max Verstappen in making the leap up from karts to F3 with the pressure of driving in Red Bull colours from the start. He got nowhere near the level reached by Verstappen but compared well against more ‘normal’ expectations.

He came off the back of a Toyota Racing Series campaign in which he was fast but incident-prone, and there were some more scrapes along the way in F3.

And yet, remarkably, he was classified in every one of the 33 races, an feat unmatched by any other driver. That must have taken some luck, but also great maturity and car control.

His pace was good enough for the top 10 at Silverstone and then the top five at Hockenheim and Pau, but he then went missing for much of the summer – though that’s understandable in the context of team-mates struggling similarly in qualifying.

When Russell got back to the podium at Spa, Ilott was one place behind him in fourth, and when Russell was quick but penalised at the Nurburgring, he benefited to start and finish third.

Spectacular results may otherwise have been lacking but Ilott hasn’t done much wrong either, and so it would be silly for Red Bull to drop its support already. He’s got potential and will be in demand for 2016 regardless. 7/10

13. Gustavo Menezes

United States, Carlin, age 21

65 points, 1 fastest lap

Menezes made an off-season switch from Van Amersfoort to Carlin for his second year but it didn’t yield an improvement in results. In fact, he dropped two places compared to 2014.

He didn’t manage to repeat his pair of podiums from last year, and he was also a less frequent top 10 finisher this campaign. But when he was there, he was more often than not in the top seven.

That inconsistent form often fluctuated with Carlin’s – for instance he nearly made the podium at Silverstone after a flying start, only to have a last-lap fuel pressure issue. And yet, it was an otherwise torrid weekend for the team at Portimao when he matched that best finish of fourth.

Qualifying was a clear issue with far fewer top-10 starts than finishes, but that seemed to be a trend for every Carlin driver.

It’s never good to go backwards in a junior series, and Menezes should arguably have been able to use his two years of F3 mileage to his advantage in a series full of rookies. But it was also a field 20-deep with promise, and his results still showed ability even if they weren’t what he wanted.

The savvy Menezes is the sort who could do anything next: he’s already dabbled in sportscars, could return to the US or even try rallycross. 6/10

14. Sergio Sette Camara

Brazil, Motopark, age 17

57.5 points, 2 podiums

The surprise package of the season? He might have only been 14th, but that was a lot more than could ever have been predicted for a driver whose car racing experience was limited to little more than a handful of Brazilian F3 events last year, and lacked the karting pedigree of Ilott.

To make European F3 his first full campaign seemed a step too far but he was quick from the off and on the fringes of the top 10 very early on.

His two podiums came with plenty of luck – the first in chaos at Spa, the second in a race that never was at Spielberg – but were fair reward for impressive progress during the year.

He’d broken into the top 10 in Belgium, was there again at Zandvoort and his third place in Austria came because he qualified there, ahead of his veteran team leader Pommer. He went on to star at the Masters, and kept scoring series points.

Sette Camara would be a tempting proposition for any team next year, but sticking with Motopark looks likely and makes sense. 7/10

15. Brandon Maisano

France, Prema Powerteam, age 22

53 points (8/11 rounds)

Maisano beat Rosenqvist to the best time in the opening practice session of the season at Silverstone, yet ended his campaign at the start of August, splitting with Prema in the middle of the Spielberg event.

The ex-Ferrari protege had been recruited by Prema and the Strolls for Italian F4 last year and was rewarded for his good work by being handed a chance in European F3. With two previous seasons in Italian F3 under his belt and five TRS wins at the start of the year, things were looking good.

After a good start at Silverstone, Hockenheim and Pau were not so strong, but he then went well at Monza and Spa. He was just one point behind Stroll at this stage, with both at the bottom of the top 10.

But while his team-mate then took great strides forward, Maisano went backwards. He failed to score at all at Zandvoort and parted by mutual consent with the team after dropping to the back of the pack in the first Spielberg race.

That was of course swiftly followed by the first of Stroll’s many podiums, and Maisano’s car joined the other Prema entries at the front at subsequent rounds.

Maisano was quickly given a one-race shot in GP3 by Campos Racing, but it’s difficult to see where his career goes from here. A shame, because his record below F3 is pretty impressive. 5/10

16. Nick Cassidy

New Zealand, Prema Powerteam, age 21

43 points, 2 podiums (2/11 rounds)

Cassidy was the probably the obvious man to replace Maisano for Portimao – partly because just about every other European single-seater series was in action that weekend.

But after a handful of chances with other F3 teams in 13-14 culminated a podium at Macau, Cassidy had been given a full-season chance in Japan and was making the most of it.

Cassidy was quickly and unsurprisingly on the pace of the other Prema cars, qualifying on the front row for the first two races.

Various dramas meant he scored just two points that weekend but put things right at the Nurburgring, finishing second to Rosenqvist in the opener and on the podium again in the finale.

He missed the final round due to a clash with the Japanese F3 decider, where he clinched the crown.

Cassidy’s usual funding shortfall means he’d be relying on well-resourced Prema again to return to European F3 next season, but he could well have good offers on the table from both Toyota (for his Japanese success) and BMW (where he’s been on their junior programme this year). Rating n/a

17. Pietro Fittipaldi

Brazil, Fortec Motorsports, age 19

32 points

Stepping into European F3 from a dominant campaign in Formula Renault BARC in the UK was always going to be a different world for Fittipaldi, but he showed more flashes of his clear promise in a challenging campaign.

He was almost single-handedly leading a Fortec team that, for all its success in other categories, has struggled to cement itself in European F3 and he was its only driver to show real competitiveness.

He made the points on his debut at Silverstone and bounced back from a hand injury at Pau to score twice at Monza and again at Spa, where he was a fine fourth in first qualifying.

The second half of the season was largely a nightmare, save for a brilliant pair of sixth places at Portimao, perhaps capitalising on the pre-event test.

There were plenty of incidents, but Fittipaldi has the potential and the backing to go well in the future. He could star next season in the right team. 6/10

18. Arjun Maini

India, Van Amersfoort Racing, age 17

27 points

Maini was making a significant step up from BRDC F4, but having run Russell close to the title there and then had an impressive run in the Toyota Racing Series, it seemed to be the right move.

It was a challenging season, though. A fantastic weekend in Pau, where he finished fourth and fifth in two races, suggested he had got it together, but that was a one-off. Beyond a 10th place in the next race at Monza, he would only score in one further race.

Unlike some other youngsters, the vast majority of his races did at least pass by without incident, but there was just a serious lack of pace during the middle of the year before a small upturn in the final two rounds. Some of this could be put down to the team’s form, even though he struggled to get close to Leclerc.

The Pau performance though, along with those from before F3, suggest he has great potential, he just needs to unlock it in an F3 car on a regular circuit. Perhaps a move to Carlin for 2016 could do just that. 6/10

19. Dorian Boccolacci

France, Signature, age 17

27 points

Boccolacci had to make a bigger step than many in going to F3. French F4 doesn’t have teams, and almost without fail it takes its graduates a year to adjust to the next level, even if that’s just Formula Renault 2.0.

While team-mate Albon (with his three years in FR2.0) ran at the front from the off, Boccolacci didn’t trouble the scorers in the early rounds – not even in Pau, his star circuit in F4.

Things did suddenly come together at Spa, where a strong second qualifying and clean race two delivered a fifth place – his best finish of the season. There was more of the same at the Norisring, starting sixth and scoring in all three races.

He would only score one further point though, on one of Signature’s strongest weekends at Portimao.

Boccolacci did a perfectly decent job, but just needs more time to be a success in F3. Even 12 months ago, conventional wisdom said it was too early for him to be there.

Politics probably played its part, and with uncertainty over the Gravity development scheme going forward, it’s now a worry as to whether he’ll get further seasons. He’d be perfect for Renault… if only he hadn’t skipped its own series. 6/10

20. Alessio Lorandi

Italy, Van Amersfoort Racing, age 17

26 points

Ilott might have been Verstappen’s successor in terms of Red Bull backing, but it was his 2014 karting rival Lorandi that made the step to F3 with Van Amersfoort. In fact his first contact came via the Dutch driver.

Fortunately, expectations were played down. After struggling in the opening rounds he joined Maini in flying around Pau, scoring twice from three top-10 starts.

Where he then bettered his team-mate was in keeping up some form into the summer, scoring in all three races at Spa and in two at the Norisring. The points came from poor grid slots, showing some great racing skill.

Then came a drop off in pace for VAR and the pressure to maintain form seemed to tell on Lorandi, who was involved in an increasingly silly number of incidents and never returned to the points (although he was close across the final weekend).

A frustrating end to the season, but the middle of it was very promising and he can build on that next year whether he returns with VAR or with another team. 6/10

The rest

Raoul Hyman was good enough to be grouped with the drivers above but fell just outside of the top 20. He acquitted himself well after a late deal to step up from BRDC F4 and had an impressive weekend inside the top dozen at Monza. Maintaining that form was difficult, especially once he was left in a one-man West-Tec team by Fabian Schiller departing with three rounds to go having failed to get results from some decent pace.

Schiller was one of five other drivers to score points, all doing so with a solitary ninth place finish. The first to achieve it was Sam MacLeod in Pau but the multiple race-winner in the British and German series in 2014 struggled with Motopark and left before the finale.

His team-mate Nabil Jeffri didn?t fare any better. He did qualify sixth at Zandvoort and although he carried over a grid penalty from a Norisring crash, he picked up his points there.

Also scoring at Zandvoort was Ryan Tveter. Stepping up to this level with limited experience was always going to be difficult, even in a Carlin car. He was surprisingly quick at Silverstone but only repeated that sort of form in the Dutch dunes.

Michele Beretta should have had a better second season in F3 after switching to Mucke but it took him until the final race ? his 65th start ? to score.

Of those who failed to score, Tatiana Calderon was the major surprise. Last year she scored points at each of the last seven events, so it?s a mark of the depth of quick drivers in F3 in 2015 that a move to Carlin and a more stable pre-season yielded nothing.

The size of Fittipaldi?s task at Fortec is emphasised by the fact that none of his team-mates scored. That included the top two from the last British F3 season, Hong Wei Cao and Matt Rao. Rao saw out the season but was too incident-prone, Cao was reliable but only lasted five rounds.

His place was taken by Macau?s Wing Chung Chang, who could make progress if he does a full season in something better suited to his experience level. Li Zhi Cong drove Fortec?s fourth car either side of four events missed due to family/business reasons.

Completing the Chinese contingent was Kang Ling at Mucke, whose pace was decent given his past record but failed to finish too often and left with three rounds to go. His car was driven by the returning Felix Serralles at the Nurburgring.

Hong Kong?s Matt Solomon had a steep learning curve jumping up from Formula Masters China in a Double R team that lacked a qualified leader. Team-mate Nicolas Pohler had F3 experience but not speed and missed two rounds to injury, with MSA Formula frontrunner Matheus Leist filling in at Spielberg.

Julio Moreno performed decently for a driver with an uninspiring FR2.0 record in a one-car team, but T-Sport deserved more after its Macau 2014 podium.

The last regular was Motopark?s Mahaveer Raghunathan, who never looked comfortable at this level despite promising Italian F4 results and stepped back before the final round. Tanart Sathenthirakul took over and brought the car up the order as expected for a driver with two Euroformula Open seasons under his belt.

Nicolas Beer raced the likes of Jensen and Ilott at Silverstone and would have gone well had Marvin Kirchhofer turned up as his Eurointernational team-mate from Hockenheim as expected. He didn?t and so the Dane departed after a tough second round.

The team gave a street-circuit debut to Gustav Malja in Pau and then drafted in Facu Regalia and Artur Janosz for Monza but Regalia gave up before even racing and the team?s season ended there.

Alexander Sims returned with the new Hitech team at Portimao and was a Prema challenger at Hockenheim but ineligible to score.

The Artline team arrived with its Arttech chassis for the Nurburgring, with Latvian veteran Harald Schlegelmilch joined by new ADAC F4 champion Marvin Dienst for the finale.

The post 2015 FIA F3 European Championship season review appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

Antonio Giovinazzi has won the second FIA Formula 3 European Championship race at the Hockenheim season finale to secure?himself the runner-up position in the drivers championship.

Giovinazzi held off tough competition from both Felix Rosenqvist and Jake Dennis in the safety car-affected race that eventually went to the time limit.

Dennis got a much better start than the Italian from second on the grid, diving down the inside of him into turn one, but Giovinazzi was able to hold position by running wide into the run-off area on the outside.

Dennis wasn?t finished however, as he made two more attempts to pass Giovinazzi on the first lap alone; once into the hairpin, and then again into the Mercedes corner, but the Brit wasn?t able to get by.

Coming into lap two, Alexander Albon dipped a wheel in the grass on the outside of turn one and spun into the wall at high speed, bringing out the safety car.

When the race resumed, Giovinazzi was able to rocket off ahead of Dennis, only for another safety car to be deployed thanks to a crash involving Nabil Jeffri and Tatiana Calderon at the hairpin.

The second restart was much closer between Giovinazzi and Dennis, but not close enough for the Brit to make a real challenge. Rosenqvist then surprised Dennis into the hairpin on the restart and took second position.

The Swede went after Giovinazzi, but when it became obvious that Rosenqvist could not get past, he gave the position back to Dennis as the Brit is still in the hunt for third in the championship.

Further back, Alexander Sims tried to make a move past?Maximilian Gunther for fourth?but went wide into the gravel at turn 11, allowing?Mikkel Jensen?to get past him.

Gunther took fourth, with Sims, Jensen and race 1 winner?Lance Stroll not far behind.

A multiple lap scrap between Sergio Sette Camara and George Russell took place in the middle of the race, with the Brazillian eventually winning that battle for eighth position.

Markus Pommer rounded out the top 10 while Charles Leclerc could only manage 11th, and drops to fourth in the championship behind Dennis with one race to go.

UPDATE: Sims has been excluded from fifth place after scrutineering found that additional air was able to enter his engine through a hole. HitechGP boss David Hayle explained this was a result of stones thrown up in Albon’s off.

Race results

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Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

Lance Stroll took his first FIA Formula 3 European Championship win in the first race at the Hockenheim season finale.

Though the Canadian had started sandwiched between his more experienced team mates, he was able to get ahead of pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist on lap one, and kept it for 22 laps as Prema Powerteam took another podium lockout, as well as their 19th win of the season.

The action started?before the race had even begun as Alexander Sims made a mistake on the formation lap, pitching his car into a spin on the grid as he exited the last corner. He was able to catch the car and join the rest of the field for the start.

As the lights went out, newly-signed Prema driver Maximilian Gunther had a slow start from the front row, which allowed Stroll and Jake Dennis to get ahead of the German by the first corner.

There were numerous incidents across the first half of the lap involving several drivers, eventually bringing out the safety car for Andy Chang?s stricken Fortec car.

Just before the safety car was deployed however, Stroll made a decisive pass down the inside of the Mercedes corner on Rosenqvist, giving him the lead just as the safety car boards were shown.

Stroll led the field when the safety car pulled in and was able to keep enough of a gap behind him to hold off the Swede despite locking up heavily into the hairpin.

Rosenqvist himself was then passed for second position into the hairpin by a late-braking Dennis.

The fight for fifth position was heating up between Antonio Giovinazzi, Sims and Charles Leclerc, with Sims eventually managing to pull off a move into the Mercedes corner on Giovinazzi despite failing a lap beforehand.

George Russell was able to then catch up to this battle and pass Leclerc with the switchback into the hairpin, relegating the Monegasque driver into eighth.

Despite Dennis pressuring Stroll for the lead for most of the race, the four Prema cars held station until the end.

The quartet of Stroll, Dennis, Rosenqvist and Gunther were followed by Sims in fifth, Giovinazzi, Russell and Leclerc.

Markus Pommer and Santino Ferrucci took the final two top-10 positions.

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