Carlos Sainz Jr takes double pole as F3 Euro Series commences at Hockenheim
Carlos Sainz Jr took a brilliant double pole position at the opening round of the F3 Euro Series at Hockenheim on Friday
The 17-year-old Spaniard, who drives for British squad Carlin, was embroiled in a dogfight at the head of the timesheets with his countryman Daniel Juncadella for most of the 30-minute session.
Prema Powerteam driver Juncadella looked to have done enough to end up on top with 90 seconds remaining as he lapped in 1m33.995s. But Sainz, the British Formula 3 points leader, responded on fresh Hankook rubber with first 1m33.774s and then 1m33.709s on his final lap to secure both poles.
Juncadella's best time was 0.286 seconds adrift of Sainz's, but was enough to secure him second on the grid for Sunday's third race. However, with drivers' second best times setting the starting spots for Saturday's season-opener, he is a spot further back.
That is because pre-season pacesetter Felix Rosenqvist's second best lap time was 0.004s quicker, giving him a front row spot for race one in addition to third for race three.
The best of the series debutants was Prema's Michael Lewis, who will start fourth in both races. British teenager Alex Lynn, making a one-off appearance this weekend, was Fortec's fastest driver and will start sixth and fifth for the two races, while his team-mate Hannes van Asseldonk secured fifth and seventh spots.
Carlin's British driver Will Buller was eighth quickest overall and will start race one from seventh while late ma-con signings Tom Blomqvist and Emil Bernstorff, who only drove their cars for the first time two days ago, will start each race 16th and 18th, separated by GU's Philip Ellis.
Grid for race one: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m33.774s 2. Felix Rosenqvist Prema Dallara-Merc 1m34.047s + 0.273s 3. Daniel Juncadella Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m34.051s + 0.277s 4. Michael Lewis Prema Dallara-Merc 1m34.386s + 0.612s 5. Hannes van Asseldonk Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m34.491s + 0.717s 6. Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m34.579s + 0.805s 7. Will Buller Carlin Dallara-VW 1m34.581s + 0.807s 8. Sven Muller Prema Dallara-Merc 1m34.603s + 0.829s 9. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 1m34.615s + 0.841s 10. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m34.900s + 1.126s 11. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m35.097s + 1.323s 12. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 1m35.460s + 1.686s 13. Luis Sa Silva Angola Dallara-Merc 1m35.603s + 1.829s 14. Sandro Zeller Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m35.825s + 2.051s 15. Andrea Roda Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m36.003s + 2.229s 16. Tom Blomqvist ma-con Dallara-VW 1m36.101s + 2.327s 17. Philip Ellis GU Dallara-Merc 1m36.614s + 2.840s 18. Emil Bernstorff ma-con Dallara-VW 1m36.870s + 3.096s Grid for race three: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m33.709s 2. Daniel Juncadella Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m33.995s + 0.286s 3. Felix Rosenqvist Prema Dallara-Merc 1m34.045s + 0.336s 4. Michael Lewis Prema Dallara-Merc 1m34.259s + 0.550s 5. Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m34.371s + 0.662s 6. Sven Muller Prema Dallara-Merc 1m34.446s + 0.737s 7. Hannes van Asseldonk Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m34.469s + 0.760s 8. Will Buller Carlin Dallara-VW 1m34.505s + 0.796s 9. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 1m34.591s + 0.882s 10. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m34.687s + 0.978s 11. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m34.979s + 1.270s 12. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 1m35.429s + 1.720s 13. Sandro Zeller Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m35.453s + 1.744s 14. Luis Sa Silva Angola Dallara-Merc 1m35.533s + 1.824s 15. Andrea Roda Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m35.880s + 2.171s 16. Tom Blomqvist ma-con Dallara-VW 1m35.962s + 2.253s 17. Philip Ellis GU Dallara-Merc 1m36.463s + 2.754s 18. Emil Bernstorff ma-con Dallara-VW 1m36.619s + 2.910s
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