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Prema rookies Stroll and Maisano top practice sessions at F3 opener

by Peter Allen
Brandon Maisano

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Prema Powerteam’s Italian F4 graduates Lance Stroll and Brandon Maisano topped the two free practice sessions ahead of the opening FIA F3 European Championship at Silverstone.

F4 and Toyota Racing Series champion Stroll set the pace in the first of the 40-minute sessions, taking top spot away from fellow rookie George Russell inside the final five minutes.

Carlin driver Russell had held top spot for over 20 minutes and his lap was good enough to finish up second, just 0.013 seconds behind Stroll.

Antonio Giovinazzi, the highest-placed driver from last season to return, was third ahead of F3 veteran Felix Rosenqvist.

Alex Albon was an impressive fifth for Signature, followed by Maisano and Jake Dennis, who made it all four Prema cars inside the top seven.

Charles Leclerc, who topped four out of six pre-season testing sessions, was eighth and the lead Van Amersfoort Racing driver, while Markus Pommer and Mikkel Jensen completed the top ten for German squads Motopark and Mucke respectively.

Maisano secured first place in the second session with a time of 1m51.677s, nearly half a second faster than Stroll’s earlier benchmark.

The Frenchman forced his more experience team-mate Rosenqvist to settle for second, 0.066s behind.

Russell pipped fellow Carlin driver Giovinazzi to P3, with Leclerc, Stroll and Dennis following them. Karting graduate and Red Bull recruit Callum Ilott was eighth, while Jensen was this time ahead of Pommer at the bottom of the top ten.

Combined session results
Pos. Driver Team Session 1 Session 2
1 Brandon Maisano Prema Powerteam 1:52.448 1:51.677
2 Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam 1:52.292 1:51.743
3 George Russell Carlin 1:52.136 1:51.957
4 Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin 1:52.256 1:51.958
5 Charles Leclerc Van Amersfoort Racing 1:52.514 1:51.997
6 Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam 1:52.123 1:52.065
7 Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam 1:52.504 1:52.078
8 Callum Ilott Carlin 1:52.770 1:52.338
9 Mikkel Jensen Mucke Motorsport 1:52.756 1:52.342
10 Markus Pommer Motopark 1:52.736 1:52.362
11 Alex Albon Signature 1:52.367 1:52.622
12 Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec Motorsports 1:52.925 1:52.549
13 Sergio Sette Camara Motopark 1:52.840 1:52.594
14 Maximilian Gunther Mucke Motorsport 1:53.235 1:52.614
15 Ryan Tveter Carlin 1:53.603 1:52.651
16 Gustavo Menezes Carlin 1:53.298 1:52.664
17 Raoul Hyman West-Tec 1:53.166 1:52.792
18 Alessio Lorandi Van Amersfoort Racing 1:53.260 1:52.798
19 Michele Beretta Mucke Motorsport 1:53.560 1:52.818
20 Matt Solomon Double R Racing 1:52.888 1:53.121
21 Nabil Jeffri Motopark 1:54.050 1:52.909
22 Nicolas Beer Eurointernational 1:53.222 1:52.938
23 Tatiana Calderon Carlin 1:53.409 1:52.991
24 Arjun Maini Van Amersfoort Racing 1:53.076 1:53.449
25 Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports 1:53.379 1:53.080
26 Fabian Schiller West-Tec 1:53.644 1:53.183
27 Sam MacLeod Motopark 1:53.244 1:53.923
28 Peter Li Fortec Motorsports 1:53.319 1:53.810
29 Kang Ling Mucke Motorsport 1:53.980 1:53.322
30 Dorian Boccolacci Signature 1:53.349 1:54.073
31 Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports 1:53.713 1:53.418
32 Julio Moreno T-Sport 1:53.560 1:53.567
33 Nicolas Pohler Double R Racing 1:53.795 1:54.032
34 Santino Ferrucci Mucke Motorsport 1:54.065 No time
35 Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark 1:54.713 1:54.371

Personal best time in bold
Session best time in italics