Mucke Motorsport have announced their decision to retain Felix Rosenqvist for a third consecutive season in European F3, finalising their four-car lineup for the 2013 season in the category.
At 21, the Swede is already somewhat of a junior single-seater veteran. He graduated from karting in 2007, mostly partaking in different Formula Renault categories until 2010. That year, he joined Performance Racing for a full-time campaign in German F3 and finished fifth, taking two wins along the way.
In 2011, Rosenqvist continued his ascension through the junior single-seater ranks by securing a spot with Mucke in the F3 Euro Series. The relatively inexperienced Swede produced a formidable rookie campaign, finishing fifth with a reverse-grid win at Hockenheim as well as taking the win in the prestigious standalone F3 Masters race at Zandvoort.
Rosenqvist entered the 2012 season of the F3 Euro Series as one of the title favourites, but couldn’t quite keep up with the leaders during the beginning of the season, struggling for pace and with bad luck when it came to accidents. He took his first victory of the year six rounds into the season at Zandvoort but was very quick after that, scoring an additional three wins, all of which came in feature races. The late-season return to form allowed the Swede to take fourth in the standings, behind champion Dani Juncadella, teammate Pascal Wehrlein and Raffaele Marciello. The drastic improvement in his performances was confirmed when he took second at the highly prestigious F3 Macau race, losing out only to Antonio Felix da Costa.
“It feels great to finally be able to announce my plans for 2013, and to continue my association with the guys at Mucke Motorsport for another year,” said the 21-year-old. “It?s been a long winter with several flattering offers to consider, but at the end of the day, there is no doubt in my mind that this is the best option for my career. The FIA Formula 3 European Championship will ensure that all the best F3 teams and drivers race side-by-side in a united and strong series, and that is highly compelling to me. The competition will be even tougher than previously, but ? on the back of our results at the end of last year ? my sole target has got to be to win as many races as possible; and I?m here to fight for the title”.
Team owner Peter Mucke added: “We are really looking forward to continue our successful relationship with Felix for a third straight year. Felix is exceptionally fast and fits in perfectly with the team on a human level, and he is definitely one of the favourites for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship title. We now have an ideal package in place for the new season, and I?m convinced that our four drivers will complement each other and drive the team forwards”.
In the 2012 F3 Euro Series, Mucke Motorsport took second in the teams’ championship, running Wehrlein and Rosenqvist. The two have been retained for 2013 and will be joined by ADAC Formel Masters graduate Roy Nissany and German F3 graduate Mitchell Gilbert.