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Once again in bright sunshine, the young drivers from the FIA Formula 3 European Championship decided the starting grid positions for the fifth and sixth race of the season at the 5.793 kilometres long Monza Grand Prix circuit.

Joel Eriksson (Motopark) was fastest in second qualifying, ahead of Lando Norris (Carlin). Both young talents are currently tied on points in the lead of the drivers’ standings. With third place ahead of Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam), Mick Schumacher (Prema Powerteam) scored his best FIA Formula 3 European Championship qualifying result to date.

In the ranking of the second-fastest lap times, used to determine the starting grid positions for the third race of a weekend, the order in front was Eriksson from Norris, Ilott and Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam). 

Starting grid race two

In the opening minutes of qualifying, the young drivers still remained in the pit lane. Mick Schumacher (1m43.824s) was the first driver to head out on track.

Behind him, nearly all drivers got their qualifying underway as well. Halfway through the session, Callum Ilott (1m43.846s) ranked in first place, but he wasn’t able to hold on to this position until the end. With his final fast lap, Mick Schumacher was the next driver to move up into first place, only to surrender it to Lando Norris (1m43.786s) just a few seconds later.

The McLaren junior driver, who had already won the first FIA Formula 3 European Championship race at Monza, was also unable to secure the leading position for good, because Joel Eriksson (1m43.720s) posted an even faster lap time than the Carlin driver at the track in Monza’s royal park. Thus, Eriksson ended up fastest from Norris and Schumacher.

Also with his final attempt, Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin, 1m43.993s) still moved up into fifth place behind Ilott. Jake Dennis (Carlin, 1m44.002s), Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam, 1m44.065s), Guanyu Zhou (1m44.095s), Nikita Mazepin (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m44.101s) and Jehan Daruvala (Carlin, 1m44.102s) rounded out the top ten.

Starting grid race three

In the ranking of the second-fastest lap times, Joel Eriksson (1m43.790s) also came out on top and thus also claimed pole position for the third race of the weekend.

Lando Norris (1m43.859s), Callum Ilott (1m43.967s), Guanyu Zhou (1m44.109s), Ferdinand Habsburg (1m44.156s), Maximilian Günther (1m44.186s), Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m44.204s), Jehan Daruvala (1m44.214s), Nikita Mazepin (1m44.266s) and Jake Dennis (1m44.293s) rounded out the top ten.

Due to inconsistencies in the reporting of track limit infringements, the FIA Stewards of the Meeting carried out further investigations and decided not to take these reports into account for this session. The issues have been addressed and measures have been taken to prevent any such inconsistencies for tomorrow’s two races.

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The Carlin team dominated proceedings in first qualifying of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the 5.793 kilometres long Grand Prix circuit of Monza.

Rookie Jehan Daruvala (Carlin, 1m44.105s), a protégé of the Force India Formula 1 team, secured his maiden FIA Formula 3 European Championship pole position ahead of his team-mate, McLaren junior driver Lando Norris (Carlin, 1m44.135s) and Jake Dennis (Carlin, 1m44.202s).

Behind Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam, 1m44.370s), Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin, 1m44.552s) followed as the fourth Carlin driver in fifth place. Joel Eriksson (Motopark, 1m44.554s), who came to Italy as the leader in the drivers’ standings, was classified sixth in the first qualifying of the Monza weekend. 

At the Italian circuit near Milan, the youngsters from the FIA Formula 3 European Championship staged a thrilling qualifying. Just before the end of the session, Callum Ilott was on top, but the British driver of the Italian Prema Powerteam wasn’t able to hold on to this position until the end.

In the final moment, two rookie drivers moved up ahead of the stalwart. Ilott is one of three drivers who already were present when the FIA Formula 3 European Championship last raced at Monza in 2015. On his final flying lap, Jehan Daruvala was 0.030 seconds faster than Lando Norris, which made the Indian secure his maiden Formula 3 pole position.

Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg completed the success for British team Carlin with fifth place, his best FIA Formula 3 European Championship qualifying result to date. Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam, 1m44.922s), Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m44.922s), Mick Schumacher (Prema Powerteam, 1m44.925s) and Joey Mawson (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m44.996s) rounded out the top ten in a qualifying session that was briefly interrupted with the red flag after Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m57.543s) had spun.

Jehan Daruvala (Carlin): “I am really happy to have claimed my maiden Formula 3 pole position here. In free practice, I already had a good pace and the team made yet another step forward for qualifying. The first half of the session, prior to the scheduled pit stop, was relatively hectic for me."

"Then, with six or seven minutes remaining, I headed back out again and first of all tried to find a good track position. Once I had managed to do so, I was able to get another two laps in. The first lap was okay, but the second one was really good. A good slipstream certainly helped me as well, something you need at Monza. Now, I am particularly looking forward to tomorrow’s race in which I will be able to start from first place on the grid.”

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In the fourth race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season, British driver Lando Norris (Carlin) came out on top against Indian Jehan Daruvala (Carlin), who had started from pole position. At the 5.793 kilometres long Monza Grand Prix circuit, Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin) finished third.

While 17-year-old Norris already scored his second win of the season, 18-year-old Daruvala and 19-year-old Habsburg both scored their maiden FIA Formula 3 European Championship podium finishes. In the drivers’ standings, Norris and Joel Eriksson (Motopark) are now tied on points, but based on his two victories against the single win for the Swede, the British rookie currently is the championship leader. 

In bright sunshine in Monza’s royal park, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers started into their fourth race of the season. Jehan Daruvala, a protégé of the Force India Formula 1 team, took the lead from the best starting grid position while Lando Norris initially slotted into fourth place behind Daruvala, Jake Dennis (Carlin) and Ferdinand Habsburg.

Soon, however, the McLaren junior started making his way up to the front and already showed up in second place after lap three. Later on, the two rookie drivers Daruvala and Norris became involved in a duel in which Norris overtook his team-mate for the lead on lap 16. Even though he was unable to pull clear from the Indian, Norris’s second win of the season was not under threat anymore.

Behind Norris and Daruvala, Habsburg and Eriksson battled for the final slot on the podium. The Swede was in third place for some laps, but with three laps remaining, the Austrian overtook the best rookie from 2016 again so that Eriksson eventually finished fourth.

Jake Dennis, who had to defend his fifth place from charging Prema drivers for many laps, even had more work to do. He eventually had to park his car in the pits after contact with an opponent.

Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam) was classified fifth from Mick Schumacher (Prema Powerteam) and Maximilian Gunther (Prema Powerteam). Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix), Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam) and Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix) rounded out the top ten in an entertaining race with many position fights.

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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.

 

         

 

 

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