FIA F3 European Championship: Blomqvist, Fuoco and Giovinazzi win as Ocon fails to score
Photo: FIA F3 European Championship
Tom Blomqvist, Antonio Fuoco and Antonio Giovinazzi took a win each in Spielberg on a dramatic and difficult weekend for Esteban Ocon?and Max Verstappen. The star pairing’s woes began when they clashed fighting for the lead of the first race.
Ocon could only recover to 13th, and then crashed out in race two. After starting race three with a grid penalty, he was then handed another penalty for not respecting yellow flags, leaving him 13th again. Given that he didn’t score any points, he was fortunate that his points lead over Verstappen was only eroded from 116 to 94.
Verstappen was originally third in race one but relegated to fifth for an off-track overtake. He was fourth in race two after starting back in seventh, and then finished fourth again in race three only to be pushed down to 12th for another illegal pass.
Jagonya Ayam-backed Carlin pair Blomqvist and Giovinazzi were on the pace from the get-go, and benefited from the Ocon-Verstappen clash to finish one-two in race one. Those positions were reversed in race three, with the Italian getting his first win. He should have won race two, but lost it because he didn’t stay close enough to the safety car during the last of three caution periods.
Fuoco’s move on Blomqvist for second early in the race was therefore enough to get his first win since the opening round at Silverstone, ahead of the Briton. Ferrari junior Fuoco was sixth in race one, but lost fourth late in race three when a hit from Verstappen forced him to pit. Jake Dennis made the podium in race two, and Lucas Auer finished third on home soil in races two and three.
| FIA F3 European Championship Round 8/11 ? Spielberg, Austria | |||
| Race 1 Report: Blomqvist wins first Spielberg race after Ocon and Verstappen tangle |
|||
| 1st: Tom Blomqvist | 2nd: Antonio Giovinazzi | 3rd: Jake Dennis | |
| Race 2 Report: Fuoco takes Spielberg race two win after Giovinazzi is penalised |
|||
| 1st: Antonio Fuoco | 2nd: Tom Blomqvist | 3rd: Lucas Auer | |
| Race 3 Report: Antonio Giovinazzi secures victory in Spielberg race three |
|||
| 1st: Antonio Giovinazzi | 2nd: Tom Blomqvist | 3rd: Lucas Auer | |
| Championship standings | |||
| 1 | Esteban Ocon | 379 pts | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | 285 pts | |
| 3 | Lucas Auer | 269 pts | |
| 4 | Tom Blomqvist | 242 pts | |
| 5 | Antonio Fuoco | 195 pts | |
| 6 | Jake Dennis | 152 pts | |
| Next round: Nurbugring (16-17 August) | |||
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC: O’Keeffe and Morris win, Deletraz edges ahead
Photo: Chris Schotanus/Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Louis Deletraz has moved to the top of a close Formula Renault 2.0 NEC title fight after the two races at Assen. A third place in race two – after an eighth in race two – was enough to move the Swiss driver ahead after his two chief rivals both suffered a non-finish during the weekend.
Ben Barnicoat had re-taken the points lead with second in race one and was leading race two when he suffered an engine failure. Erstwhile leader Steijn Schothorst was forced out of the first race by a lap-one incident and was only seventh in race two. The top three are covered by just four points with two weekends remaining.
Lotus F1 junior Callan O’Keeffe scored his first FR2.0 win in race one, before coming eighth in race two. Caterham-supported counterpart Seb Morris grabbed his second win of the campaign in race two, after a fourth in race one. Gustav Malja moved up to fourth in the standings with a third and a fifth, while Ryan Tveter?got his first European podium with P2 in race two, after an earlier sixth place.
| Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Round 5/7 ? Assen, Netherlands | |||
| Race 1 Report: O?Keeffe takes first Formula Renault victory at Assen |
|||
| 1st: Callan O’Keeffe | 2nd: Ben Barnicoat | 3rd: Gustav Malja | |
| Race 2 Report: Morris wins race two, Deletraz takes points lead |
|||
| 1st: Seb Morris | 2nd: Ryan Tveter | 3rd: Louis Deletraz | |
| Championship standings | |||
| 1 | Louis Deletraz | 184 pts | |
| 2 | Ben Barnicoat | 183 pts | |
| 3 | Steijn Schothorst | 180 pts | |
| 4 | Gustav Malja | 147 pts | |
| 5 | Callan O’Keeffe | 145 pts | |
| 6 | Seb Morris | 144 pts | |
| Next round: Most (30-31 September) | |||
Formula Renault 1.6 NEC: De Pasquale extends lead, Aron gets first win
Photo: Dirk Bogaerts
Anton De Pasquale extended his Formula Renault 1.6 NEC lead with a victory and a second place at Assen. The Australian led the opening race from start to finish, while in race two he was beaten off the line by first-time NEC winner Ralf Aron, who had been second in race one.
De Pasquale’s title rival Janneau Esmeijer could only finish fourth in the two races, meaning his deficit has now increased from 30 to 50 points with three events remaining. Aron’s strong weekend elevated him from eighth to third in the championship race, 34 behind Esmeijer.
In race one, Ferdinand Habsburg returned to the podium for the first time since the Zandvoort opener, while his Lechner team-mate Florian Janits took third position in race two.
| Formula Renault 1.6 NEC Junior Round 4/7 ? Assen, Netherlands | |||
| Race 1 Report: De Pasquale grabs win in first FR1.6 NEC race at Assen |
|||
| 1st: Anton De Pasquale | 2nd: Ralf Aron | 3rd: Ferdinand Habsburg | |
| Race 2 Report: Aron fends off De Pasquale to take maiden 1.6 NEC win |
|||
| 1st: Ralf Aron | 2nd: Anton De Pasquale | 3rd: Florian Janits | |
| Championship standings | |||
| 1 | Anton De Pasquale | 168 pts | |
| 2 | Janneau Esmeijer | 138 pts | |
| 3 | Ralf Aron | 102 pts | |
| 4 | Max Defourny | 98 pts | |
| 5 | Florian Janits | 87 pts | |
| 6 | Ferdinand Habsburg | 85 pts | |
| Next round: Zolder (30 August) | |||
Italian F4: Stroll and Maisano get a win each, and collide
Photo: ACI Sport
Italian F4 leading duo Lance Stroll and Brandon Maisano fought closely once again at Magione, with the Prema pair claiming a win each but also clashing in the second race of the weekend. They took a pole each for the two feature races, and Stroll led Maisano home in the first race and Maisano kept Stroll behind in the third race. But in race two they took each other out on lap four as they attempted to make progress from the reverse grid.
With maximum points in the two main races, Stroll still saw his points lead over championship rival?Andrea Russo increase from 84 to 87. Russo was seventh, second and fourth in the three races. Leonardo Pulcini completed the podium behind the Prema two in the main races, and was seventh in the other.
His Euronova team-mate Andrea Fontana claimed victory in the reverse grid encounter from pole, after coming tenth in race one. He was sixth in race three. Mattia Drudi scored a trio of fourth places, finishing behind debutant Matteo Desideri in race two.
| Italian F4 Championship Round 4/7 ? Magione, Italy | |||
| Race 1 Report: Stroll leads Prema 1-2 in Magione opener |
|||
| 1st: Lance Stroll | 2nd: Brandon Maisano | 3rd: Leonardo Pulcini | |
| Race 2 Report: Fontana controls reverse-grid Magione race from pole |
|||
| 1st: Andrea Fontana | 2nd: Andrea Russo | 3rd: Matteo Desideri | |
| Race 3 Report: Maisano keeps Stroll at bay to win race three at Magione |
|||
| 1st: Brandon Maisano | 2nd: Lance Stroll | 3rd: Leonardo Pulcini | |
| Championship standings | |||
| 1 | Lance Stroll | 232 pts | |
| 2 | Andrea Russo | 145 pts | |
| 3 | Leonardo Pulcini | 122 pts | |
| 4 | Alain Valente | 100 pts | |
| 5 | Mattia Drudi | 89 pts | |
| 6 | Takashi Kasai | 50 pts | |
| Next round: Vallelunga (13-14 September) | |||
Formula Ford GB: Sutton succeeds twice at Snetterton
Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Ashley Sutton continued his recent rise to prominence in Formula Ford with two wins at Snetterton. He could only manage third in an adventurous first race, but in race two he claimed an early lead and ran away into the distance, while in race three he led from pole position to chequered flag.
Harrison Scott didn’t win a race, but a second, a third and a fourth were enough to extend his championship lead over nearest rival Jayde Kruger from nine to 14 points. Kruger began race one from pole but, after losing the lead on lap one after a clash with Sutton, later fell back to sixth with car issues. He was fourth in race two and second in race three.
Kruger’s JTR team-mate Max Marshall benefited from the contact in front of him to claim his first win in race one, following that with a fifth and a third. He’s moved up from fifth to third in the standings after disappointing weekends for Radical pairing?Juan Rosso and?James Abbott. Ricky Collard scored his best result yet with a comfortable second place behind Sutton in race two.
| Formula Ford GB Round 6/10 ? Snetterton, UK | |||
| Race 1 Report: Marshall wins first Snetterton race as Kruger falls back |
|||
| 1st: Max Marshall | 2nd: Harrison Scott | 3rd: Ashley Sutton | |
| Race 2 Report: Ashley Sutton runs away with race two at Snetterton |
|||
| 1st: Ashley Sutton | 2nd: Ricky Collard | 3rd: Harrison Scott | |
| Race 3 Report: Ashley Sutton wins again in Snetterton race three |
|||
| 1st: Ashley Sutton | 2nd: Jayde Kruger | 3rd: Max Marshall | |
| Championship standings | |||
| 1 | Harrison Scott | 435 pts | |
| 2 | Jayde Kruger | 421 pts | |
| 3 | Max Marshall | 364 pts | |
| 4 | Juan Rosso | 361 pts | |
| 5 | James Abbott | 343 pts | |
| 6 | Ashley Sutton | 328 pts | |
| Next round: Knockhill (23-24 August) | |||
Star Driver: Antonio Giovinazzi
It was far from a perfect weekend for the Italian – his safety car error that took away the race two win made sure of that. But he put a difficult first half of the season behind him to be right on the pace all weekend, beat his rivals to a double pole on Sunday and then moved on from the disappointment of race two to take his maiden victory. Hopefully he can keep it up for the rest of the campaign.
Photo: FIA F3 European Championship