With a one day test– the fifth official day of testing in the 2017 season – the young FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers could prepare for the forthcoming race meeting at Monza.
At the 5.793-kilometre long F1 circuit located not far from the Italian city of Milan, nobody could match the pace of rookie Lando Norris (Carlin) who crossed the line in 1m58.828s. In torrential rain, Tadasuke Makino (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m59.049s) secured second position on the time sheets, followed by the two experienced F3 drivers Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam, 1m59.471s) and Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam, 1m59.492s).
By winning a round of the season kick-off at Silverstone two weeks ago, 17-year old Englishman Lando Norris already demonstrated that he has got what it takes to make it to the very top in his first full F3 season. And now, the McLaren F1 junior demonstrated with his fastest lap in the wet at Monza that he also is one of the quickest of the field in wet conditions.
Behind him, Tadasuke Makino finished second. The Japanese made his debut in European motor racing just two weeks ago at Silverstone, after having proven his talent and his skills in the Japanese Formula 4 and Formula 3 series. “Prior to the season I didn’t know a single circuit on the FIA F3 European Championship calendar,” he revealed, “And today I have been driving at Monza for the very first time. This season represents a huge challenge for me as the tyres, the car and the entire European motor-racing environment also are new to me. To rise to this challenge represents an extraordinary motivation,” added the 19-year old Honda junior. He was happy about having finished second in the classification, but at the same time he was aware that the result wasn’t too significant. “It was just a test. Should the race meeting take place in dry conditions – what could happen according to the weather forecasts – we won’t be able to use the data and experiences we gathered today in the wet. Therefore I hope that the free practice session on Friday will be held in dry conditions. That would allow me to drive on track in dry conditions before having to contest the qualifying session.”
The positions behind Makino were secured by a trio of very experienced F3 drivers: Maximilian Günther, Callum Ilott and Jake Dennis (Carlin, 1m59.553s). Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m59.604s), Rookie Jehan Daruvala (Carlin, 1m59.721s) and Pedro Piquet (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m59.726s) finished sixth, seventh and eighth. Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin, 1m59.902s) came ninth on the time sheets but the Austrian was happy with his achievements, nevertheless. “In the morning session, in torrential rain, I completed a lot of laps and was among the three quickest drivers all the time. But when the rain temporarily eased I was standing in the garage and dropped back. But I don’t care as today’s result doesn’t count anyway. It’s far more important that I feel confident for the weekend. I like Monza and think that my strengths, particularly when it comes to braking, suit Monza’s track layout really well.”
China’s Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam, 1m59.969s), member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, completed the top 10.