Algarve European F3: Jake Dennis leads Prema qualifying sweep
Jake Dennis edged out Nick Cassidy and Lance Stroll for a dominant Prema Powerteam 1-2-3 in European Formula 3 Championship qualifying at the Algarve round
Dennis, who topped the second practice session, set his best lap of 1m42.217s in the final five minutes to knock Stroll from a shortlived spell at the top of the timesheets.
His advantage at that point was a mere 0.111 seconds, but Cassidy's flying lap in the final minute - which displaced Stroll from second - missed out on the race one pole by an even tighter 0.061s.
Cassidy had spent all but the final few minutes of the session languishing near the bottom of the order, before his late surge.
His performance typified the qualifying session, with a clutch of four cars alone on track for the opening five minutes before the championship frontrunners joined the action just before the halfway mark of the 20 minute session.
It led to a flurry of late charges into the top 10, with Marcus Pommer leading the advances, following the Prema trio into fourth place after briefly leading the session.
Another late climber was Signature's Alexander Albon, who steadily climbed the order with a run of quick laps and his best effort rewarded him with fifth.
Charles Leclerc was running as low as 21st but he and Felix Rosenqvist set late laps to secure sixth and seventh respectively.
The top 10 was then rounded out by early pacesetter George Russell, who gradually slid down the timesheets before recovering to eighth, ahead of championship leader Antonio Giovinazzi and Callum Ilott.
QUALIFYING ONE TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Dennis | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.217s | - |
| 2 | Nick Cassidy | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.278s | 0.061s |
| 3 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.328s | 0.111s |
| 4 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.442s | 0.225s |
| 5 | Alexander Albon | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.523s | 0.306s |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.615s | 0.398s |
| 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.625s | 0.408s |
| 8 | George Russell | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.672s | 0.455s |
| 9 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.684s | 0.467s |
| 10 | Callum Ilott | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.703s | 0.486s |
| 11 | Mikkel Jensen | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.748s | 0.531s |
| 12 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.762s | 0.545s |
| 13 | Santino Ferrucci | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.765s | 0.548s |
| 14 | Dorian Boccolacci | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.781s | 0.564s |
| 15 | Maximilian Guenther | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.810s | 0.593s |
| 16 | Alexander Sims | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.845s | 0.628s |
| 17 | Arjun Maini | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.853s | 0.636s |
| 18 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m42.896s | 0.679s |
| 19 | Ryan Tveter | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.962s | 0.745s |
| 20 | Sam MacLeod | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.967s | 0.750s |
| 21 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m42.994s | 0.777s |
| 22 | Gustavo Menezes | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.046s | 0.829s |
| 23 | Alessio Lorandi | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.068s | 0.851s |
| 24 | Raoul Hyman | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.085s | 0.868s |
| 25 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.194s | 0.977s |
| 26 | Michele Beretta | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.283s | 1.066s |
| 27 | Matt Solomon | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.320s | 1.103s |
| 28 | Tatiana Calderon | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.350s | 1.133s |
| 29 | Julio Moreno | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m43.507s | 1.290s |
| 30 | Zhi Cong Li | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.683s | 1.466s |
| 31 | Andy Chang | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.691s | 1.474s |
| 32 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m44.132s | 1.915s |
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