Hockenheim European F3: Champion Felix Rosenqvist leads practice
Newly crowned champion Felix Rosenqvist kept up his domination of the end of the Formula 3 European Championship season by topping free practice for the Hockenheim finale
The Swede took his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes around the chilly Baden-Wurttemberg track 0.405 seconds clear of rookie team-mate and Ferrari protege Lance Stroll.
Conditions were slippery in the wake of a soggy Thursday when the field emerged on slicks, with Red Bull junior Callum Ilott stamping in a late time at the end of the first session in his Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen to pip the Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-VW of Charles Leclerc to first position.
The second-session pace was three seconds quicker.
"It was still a bit damp in sector two," said Rosenqvist, "but I just tried to drive the best I could - no dramas."
Leclerc was in the frame again in the second session and ended up third fastest from another Prema driver, Briton Jake Dennis.
Mikkel Jensen was quickest of the depleted three-car Mucke Motorsport contingent to end up in fifth place, narrowly edging out former team-mate Maximilian Gunther, who has moved across to Prema for the finale and made it all four of the Italian squad's cars in the top six.
Carlin's George Russell was seventh ahead of Alexander Sims, representing the Hitech Grand Prix team as it continues its warm-up for a full 2016 campaign with its second outing.
The Signature car of Alexander Albon was ninth, with Ilott completing the top 10.
Antonio Giovinazzi, who is defending a slender runner-up advantage in the championship this weekend, was fourth fastest in session one but dropped it on an out-lap midway through the second session, ending up in the gravel at the Sachskurve and causing a red flag.
The Carlin team elected not to send him out for the rest of the session as a precautionary measure, choosing instead to make sure all the gravel is removed from the car instead of risking the engine.
In a further change to the entry, Indian backmarker Mahaveer Raghunathan has stood down from his Motopark drive (he contested the recent Euroformula Open round at Monza) and has been replaced by Thailand's Euroformula frontrunner Tanart Sathienthirakul.
PRACTICE ONE TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Callum Ilott | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m35.106s | - | 23 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m35.149s | 0.043s | 22 |
| 3 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m35.259s | 0.153s | 20 |
| 4 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m35.262s | 0.156s | 22 |
| 5 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m35.348s | 0.242s | 20 |
| 6 | Dorian Boccolacci | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m35.571s | 0.465s | 20 |
| 7 | Alexander Sims | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m35.604s | 0.498s | 19 |
| 8 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m35.689s | 0.583s | 21 |
| 9 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m35.884s | 0.778s | 20 |
| 10 | Maximilian Guenther | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m36.022s | 0.916s | 22 |
| 11 | Mikkel Jensen | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m36.144s | 1.038s | 20 |
| 12 | Tatiana Calderon | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m36.172s | 1.066s | 23 |
| 13 | Gustavo Menezes | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m36.390s | 1.284s | 21 |
| 14 | Jake Dennis | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m36.630s | 1.524s | 21 |
| 15 | Michele Beretta | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m36.728s | 1.622s | 20 |
| 16 | Felix Rosenqvist | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m36.868s | 1.762s | 19 |
| 17 | Nicolas Pohler | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.002s | 1.896s | 22 |
| 18 | Arjun Maini | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.053s | 1.947s | 13 |
| 19 | Alexander Albon | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.160s | 2.054s | 19 |
| 20 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.172s | 2.066s | 19 |
| 21 | Julio Moreno | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m37.203s | 2.097s | 22 |
| 22 | George Russell | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.213s | 2.107s | 22 |
| 23 | Alessio Lorandi | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.215s | 2.109s | 20 |
| 24 | Ryan Tveter | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.471s | 2.365s | 21 |
| 25 | Matt Solomon | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.878s | 2.772s | 22 |
| 26 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.379s | 3.273s | 21 |
| 27 | Raoul Hyman | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.446s | 3.340s | 21 |
| 28 | Zhi Cong Li | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.723s | 3.617s | 20 |
| 29 | Andy Chang | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.808s | 3.702s | 22 |
| 30 | Tanart Sathienthirakul | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.222s | 4.116s | 19 |
| 31 | Marvin Dienst | ArtLine Engineering | ARTTech/NBE | 1m39.807s | 4.701s | 14 |
| 32 | Harald Schlegelmilch | ArtLine Engineering | ARTTech/NBE | 1m40.482s | 5.376s | 12 |
| 33 | Santino Ferrucci | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m41.404s | 6.298s | 7 |
PRACTICE TWO TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felix Rosenqvist | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m32.241s | - | 17 |
| 2 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m32.646s | 0.405s | 17 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m32.669s | 0.428s | 18 |
| 4 | Jake Dennis | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m32.775s | 0.534s | 17 |
| 5 | Mikkel Jensen | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m32.787s | 0.546s | 16 |
| 6 | Maximilian Guenther | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m32.810s | 0.569s | 17 |
| 7 | George Russell | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m32.866s | 0.625s | 19 |
| 8 | Alexander Sims | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m32.893s | 0.652s | 17 |
| 9 | Alexander Albon | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m32.898s | 0.657s | 19 |
| 10 | Callum Ilott | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.064s | 0.823s | 17 |
| 11 | Gustavo Menezes | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.253s | 1.012s | 15 |
| 12 | Alessio Lorandi | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.289s | 1.048s | 20 |
| 13 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.313s | 1.072s | 17 |
| 14 | Arjun Maini | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.334s | 1.093s | 19 |
| 15 | Dorian Boccolacci | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.438s | 1.197s | 16 |
| 16 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.543s | 1.302s | 14 |
| 17 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.635s | 1.394s | 15 |
| 18 | Ryan Tveter | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.715s | 1.474s | 17 |
| 19 | Raoul Hyman | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m33.762s | 1.521s | 19 |
| 20 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m33.800s | 1.559s | 17 |
| 21 | Tatiana Calderon | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m33.824s | 1.583s | 16 |
| 22 | Santino Ferrucci | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m33.909s | 1.668s | 10 |
| 23 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m33.949s | 1.708s | 17 |
| 24 | Michele Beretta | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m33.987s | 1.746s | 15 |
| 25 | Zhi Cong Li | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m34.251s | 2.010s | 17 |
| 26 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m34.355s | 2.114s | 7 |
| 27 | Julio Moreno | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m34.414s | 2.173s | 16 |
| 28 | Andy Chang | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m34.468s | 2.227s | 17 |
| 29 | Matt Solomon | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m34.727s | 2.486s | 17 |
| 30 | Nicolas Pohler | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m34.991s | 2.750s | 17 |
| 31 | Tanart Sathienthirakul | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m35.004s | 2.763s | 15 |
| 32 | Harald Schlegelmilch | ArtLine Engineering | ARTTech/NBE | 1m35.588s | 3.347s | 12 |
| 33 | Marvin Dienst | ArtLine Engineering | ARTTech/NBE | 1m37.619s | 5.378s | 11 |
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