Hockenheim Euro F3: Felix Rosenqvist dominates qualifying
Formula 3 European champion Felix Rosenqvist dominated the opening qualifying session at the Hockenheim finale to claim pole position for the opening race
Rosenqvist and the flotilla of sister Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes circulated together and kept their powder dry for the first 12 of the 20 minutes, before the Swede unleashed four hot laps that were quicker than the best anyone else could manage.
He ended up 0.348 seconds clear of new team-mate Maximilian Gunther, with Lance Stroll and Jake Dennis completing a 1-2-3-4 for Prema.
"Most of the time we were in a good [track] position," said Rosenqvist, "although there was an awkward moment in the middle of the session when I caught the Carlin guys in front and I didn't want to disturb my team-mates behind."
Gunther, on his first outing with Prema after extricating himself from Mucke Motorsport, took the second front-row spot of his rookie season by a tiny fraction, with Stroll, Dennis and Alexander Sims all within six hundredths.
BMW GT factory driver Sims, on only his and the new Hitech Grand Prix team's second F3 outing together, set purple sector-two times on both his last two laps, but could not match the Prema drivers in the other two sectors so had to settle for fifth.
Mikkel Jensen took sixth place in his Mucke Motorsport car, edging out Charles Leclerc - the Van Amersfoort Racing driver in a battle for second in the championship with Dennis and Antonio Giovinazzi - by just five thousandths.
Markus Pommer was eighth fastest for Motopark, with Giovinazzi the fastest of the Carlin squadron in ninth, and Alexander Albon (Signature) pipping George Russell for the final spot in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Red Bull junior Callum Ilott anchored the times, stopping before he had chance for a hot lap with suspension damage.
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felix Rosenqvist | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m31.771s |
| 2 | Maximilian Guenther | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 0.348s |
| 3 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 0.354s |
| 4 | Jake Dennis | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 0.387s |
| 5 | Alexander Sims | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 0.401s |
| 6 | Mikkel Jensen | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 0.554s |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 0.559s |
| 8 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 0.646s |
| 9 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 0.718s |
| 10 | Alexander Albon | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 0.789s |
| 11 | George Russell | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 0.814s |
| 12 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 0.920s |
| 13 | Arjun Maini | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 0.949s |
| 14 | Raoul Hyman | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 0.950s |
| 15 | Gustavo Menezes | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1.032s |
| 16 | Alessio Lorandi | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1.054s |
| 17 | Dorian Boccolacci | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1.186s |
| 18 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1.244s |
| 19 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1.372s |
| 20 | Michele Beretta | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1.385s |
| 21 | Santino Ferrucci | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1.402s |
| 22 | Ryan Tveter | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1.433s |
| 23 | Tatiana Calderon | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1.475s |
| 24 | Julio Moreno | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1.547s |
| 25 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1.780s |
| 26 | Zhi Cong Li | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1.810s |
| 27 | Matt Solomon | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1.913s |
| 28 | Andy Chang | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 2.231s |
| 29 | Tanart Sathienthirakul | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2.273s |
| 30 | Nicolas Pohler | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2.430s |
| 31 | Harald Schlegelmilch | ArtLine Engineering | ARTTech/NBE | 2.707s |
| 32 | Marvin Dienst | ArtLine Engineering | ARTTech/NBE | 2.742s |
| 33 | Callum Ilott | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 6.140s |
Hockenheim European F3: Champion Felix Rosenqvist leads practice
Hockenheim Euro F3: Giovinazzi and Dennis take pole positions
Double F1 race winner Jean Pierre Jabouille has died
Former French Formula 1 driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille has died on Thursday at age 80, French media have reported.
IMSA champion Jarvis to contest full ELMS season with United Autosports
Reigning IMSA Sportscar Championship title-winner Oliver Jarvis will contest the European Le Mans Series with United Autosports alongside Formula 2 convert Marino Sato, in addition to the World Endurance Championship.
20 years on: Porsche’s 911 GT Daytona 24 Hours giant-killing relived
IMSA’s new GTP class for LMDh cars had a more auspicious debut last weekend than the Daytona Prototypes that arrived in 2003. Back then, they were humbled by a GT Porsche 911, which won the Floridian sportscar classic by nine laps.
Entries open for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award story
Entries have opened for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award, with budding motorsport engineers invited to apply for the revamped prize.
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
The ladder to F1 never gets any less slippery. But a strong cast of Formula 3 and Formula 2 aces proved sure of foot as they continued their climbs in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
Why the Formula 3 benchmark's 2022 season hinges on qualifying
Prema Racing has long dominated FIA Formula 3, taking the teams’ title in two of the past three seasons. But its start to 2022 has been trickier than usual, and the answers lie in its qualifying performance
How the ultra-tight F3 title fight is taking shape
With just five points separating the top five after two rounds, FIA Formula 3 looks set for another thrilling season in 2022. But who stands the best chance of pulling away from that pack, and who are the contenders bubbling under?
The F3 newcomer making good on his unusual career path
Joining the FIA Formula 3 grid as a rookie with a team new to the series could prove daunting for most, but then there aren't many drivers who have the extensive experience Franco Colapinto brings from his time racing sportscars. The Argentinian explains how his LMP2 experience is already helping him in 2022
The British trio hunting for F3 title glory
The 2022 FIA Formula 3 season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. British trio Zak O’Sullivan, Ollie Bearman and Jonny Edgar have all become proteges of Formula 1 teams, and are talents to watch this year
How an outsider demolished a rank of F1 juniors
His career has been a slowburner but Gregoire Saucy trounced a collection of F1 juniors in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, and now he’s preparing to do it again in FIA F3. Here’s how the Swiss caught the world by surprise in 2021 and how he plans to do it all over again
Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021
With a veritable feast of feeder series talent in 2021, FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 produced some of its most exciting racing yet. Although Prema Racing drivers once again dominated the respective series, drivers from other teams also stole the limelight to mark themselves out as stars of the future, or validate their highly-regarded standing
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.