Photo: FIA Formula 3 European Championship
Prema Powerteam’s Esteban Ocon was untouchable in the first qualifying session of the European F3 round at Moscow Raceway as he claimed his 11th pole position of the season.
The Frenchman took over at the top with seven minutes remaining in the session and remained in first until the checkered flag. Ocon’s pole was virtually uncontested by the end as the Lotus junior was three tenths quicker than anyone else in sector one alone.
With Ocon being the only driver to go below 1:27, it was Jordan King who was best of the rest, finishing six tenths down in P2. His teammate Tom Blomqvist finished right behind the Brit and will be joined by Van Amersfoort Racing’s Max Verstappen on row two.
Lucas Auer maintained his form as the best Mucke driver by securing fifth, leading RSF-backed rookie Jake Dennis and Ferrari junior Antonio Fuoco.
Jules Szymkowiak took eighth place, going narrowly quicker than Nicholas Latifi and Felix Serralles.
The session saw a brief last-minute yellow flag due to EuroInternational youngster Santino Ferrucci going off at turn seven.
UPDATE: Jake Dennis had previously been handed a five-place grid penalty for his role in the turn one incident in race three at Norisring. He will start in P11, with Felix Rosenqvist promoted to the top ten.
Qualifying results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Esteban Ocon | Prema Powerteam | 1:26.530 | 8 | |
| 2 | Jordan King | Carlin | 1:27.149 | 0.619 | 10 |
| 3 | Tom Blomqvist | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:27.341 | 0.811 | 9 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:27.361 | 0.831 | 11 |
| 5 | Lucas Auer | kfzteile24 Mucke Motorsport | 1:27.422 | 0.892 | 10 |
| 6 | Antonio Fuoco | Prema Powerteam | 1:27.516 | 0.986 | 10 |
| 7 | Jules Szymkowiak | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:27.643 | 1.113 | 10 |
| 8 | Nicholas Latifi | Prema Powerteam | 1:27.676 | 1.146 | 10 |
| 9 | Felix Serralles | Team West-Tec F3 | 1:27.684 | 1.154 | 11 |
| 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | kfzteile24 Mucke Motorsport | 1:27.724 | 1.194 | 10 |
| 11* | Jake Dennis | Carlin | 1:27.496 | 0.966 | 10 |
| 12 | Dennis van de Laar | Prema Powerteam | 1:27.819 | 1.289 | 10 |
| 13 | Gustavo Menezes | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:27.929 | 1.399 | 10 |
| 14 | Roy Nissany | kfzteile24 Mucke Motorsport | 1:28.039 | 1.509 | 11 |
| 15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:28.052 | 1.522 | 11 |
| 16 | Tatiana Calderon | Jo Zeller Racing | 1:28.253 | 1.723 | 10 |
| 17 | Santino Ferrucci | EuroInternational | 1:28.498 | 1.968 | 9 |
| 18 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:28.506 | 1.976 | 11 |
| 19 | Hector Hurst | Team West-Tec F3 | 1:28.791 | 2.261 | 10 |
| 20 | Michele Beretta | EuroInternational | 1:29.103 | 2.573 | 11 |
* – five-place grid penalty