2013 FIA F3 European Championship
Round 29, Hockenheimring, Germany, October 18th/20th 2013
© Lynne Waite and Stella-Maria Thomas
At Hockenheim this afternoon, Prema Powerteam‘s Raffaele Marciello finally clinched the 2013 championship in fine style after spending the second half of the season locked in a titanic struggle for the title with Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile-24 Mücke Motorsport).
The Swede did everything he could to halt the Swiss-born Ferrari-backed Italian’s march to victory, which had looked like a foregone conclusion in the early stages as he pulled out a massive points lead, but Marciello knew what he needed to do to clinch it and drove an intelligent race doing only what was necessary.
An improvement in form for the Mücke team after a somewhat shaky start meant Rosenqvist kept him honest all the way to the wire, winning two of the final three races, but all Marciello needed to do was finish in the top four this afternoon, and he duly finished 4th after ceding 3rd to team-mate Auer in the second half or .Round 29.
Rosenqvist stormed to his 10th victory of the season with an impeccable drive, but it wasn’t enough and the title is now “Lello’s” as a superb season winds to a close with one more race tomorrow. The battle will recommence a month from now at the 60th Macau Grand Prix where no doubt Rosenqvist will be looking for revenge.
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