Marciello on top in both qualifying sessions at Vallelunga

Photo: FIA F3

European F3 championship leader Raffaele Marciello crucially secured pole position starts for races one and three of the Vallelunga round, topping the timesheets in both sessions as his title rival Felix Rosenqvist hit trouble.

A mixture of damp track conditions and frequent stoppages produced very close fights in both sessions. The first run saw two red flag periods, the second one caused by Rosenqvist going off – which, combined with the changing weather, will see him line up 27nd for the first two races.

While the Fortec drivers had an early lead in the first session, late efforts from Prema drivers soon saw them in charge. The final lead change occured when Marciello overhauled teammate Alex Lynn for first, with the Briton subsequently settling for third, as he also lost out to Alex Sims.

Carlin’s Daniil Kvyat was fourth, ahead of Felix Serralles, Eddie Cheever and early session leader Pipo Derani. Jordan King led Lucas Auer in eighth, the latter making it four Prema cars in the top ten, as Antonio Giovinazzi completed the first five rows.

Despite missing out on the timesheet-topping honours, Lynn will be starting race two from pole on second-best times. The top ten on the grid will be made up by Marciello, Kvyat, Sims, Cheever, Derani, Serralles, King, Auer and series debutant John Bryant-Meisner.

The second qualifying followed a similar pattern, with the top teams leaving their best laps until mid-session. Again, Fortec duo Serralles and Derani ran the show early on, but it was soon Marciello’s ballgame again, as the Italian confidently claimed another pole.

With the championship leader in first, it’s Derani who will take the other spot on the front row. Serralles will start from third, ahead of Sims, Lynn and King. Sven Muller will line up in seventh, with Kvyat in eighth, while Auer and Cheever round out the top ten.

Race grids