Hockenheim F3 Euro: Felix Rosenqvist wins, Daniel Juncadella exits
Felix Rosenqvist won the opening Formula 3 Euro Series race of the Hockenheim season finale on Saturday, while a mechanical problem for Daniel Juncadella ensured that the title battle remains open
Juncadella challenged polesitter Rosenqvist for the lead at the Mercedes Arena on the opening lap, but was unable to pass the Swede, who defended strongly.
While Mucke Motorsport driver Rosenqvist was able to pull away to a 5.6-second victory - his second successive win in the Euro Series - Juncadella looked set for a comfortable runner-up spot that would have won him both the Euro Series and the FIA European Championship.
However, with four laps to go, his pace slackened sufficiently, the Dallara F312 passing the pits with a flat-sounding Mercedes engine.
His chief title rival Pascal Wehrlein immediately passed him for second, setting up a one-two finish for the Mucke squad and clinching the Rookie of the Year title as well.
Raffaele Marciello, who can also still win the title, passed his team-mate Juncadella for third as the Spaniard fell outside of the points positions and eventually retired.
Juncadella now leads the Euro Series by a reduced 17 points from Wehrlein and 21.5 from Marciello with 35 up for grabs from the two remaining races.
His lead in the FIA European F3 Championship now stands at 15.5 points over Marciello with only the 25 available from Sunday's final race available.
Tom Blomqvist was a fine fourth - and best of the Volkswagen-engined brigade - for Ma-con, the Briton benefitting when his team-mate Emil Bernstorff spun Carlos Sainz Jr around at the Mercedes Arena on the first lap.
Sainz then sustained a puncture when Fortec's unsighted Alex Lynn clipped his right-rear tyre while attempting to avoid the Carlin machine. While Sainz and Lynn pitted, Bernstorff was given a drive-through penalty for causing the collision.
Sven Muller, who put a strong move on Bernstorff before the Brit's penalty, was fifth for Prema with Will Buller, Euro Series debutant Lucas Auer and Lucas Wolf completing the top eight.
URD driver Wolf will start race two from pole position by virtue of the reversed-grid rule with Van Amersfoort Racing's Auer alongside him.
Results - 25 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 39m45.135s 2. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc + 5.658s 3. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc + 8.551s 4. Tom Blomqvist Ma-con Dallara-VW + 11.174s 5. Sven Muller Prema Dallara-Merc + 11.938s 6. Will Buller Carlin Dallara-VW + 24.386s 7. Lucas Auer Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW + 27.672s 8. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc + 33.938s 9. Michael Lewis Prema Dallara-Merc + 34.690s 10. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc + 39.717s 11. Emil Bernstorff Ma-con Dallara-VW + 40.045s 12. Andrea Roda Zeller Dallara-Merc + 54.952s 13. Daniel Juncadella Prema Dallara-Merc + 1 lap* 14. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW + 1 lap 15. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc + 1 lap Retirements: Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 21 laps Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 10 laps Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Merc 9 laps Luis Sa Silva Angola Dallara-Merc 4 laps Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW 1 lap * Not running at finish
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