Ilott Promoted to Pole for Race 1

At the 4.326 kilometres long Red Bull Ring, 17-year-old Brit Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:23.969 minutes) celebrated his maiden FIA Formula 3 European Championship pole position. Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam, 1:23.987 minutes), by one year his senior, qualified in second place from Ilott’s 19-year-old compatriot Ben Barnicoat (HitechGP, 1:24.024 minutes) and 17-year-old Canadian Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam, 1:24.058 minutes). Thus, young drivers from three different teams qualified on the first four starting grid positions for the tenth race of the season. In total, the lap times of 15 drivers were within one second of Günther’s fastest time.

First qualifying of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring turned out to be a highly varied affair on track already, as many drivers alternated in the lead. At the end of the session, initially, Joel Eriksson (Motopark, 1:24.092 minutes) was on top, but the Swede was disallowed his fastest lap time for crossing the track limits, as had been the case with some other drivers before. Then, Maximilian Günther moved up into first place, but he was dropped to second for a yellow flag infringement, after which Callum Ilott inherited first position. Rookie driver Ben Barnicoat, who already racked up a pair of outright race wins this seasons, confirmed his good performance with his third place ahead of stalwart Lance Stroll.

Behind Mikkel Jensen (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, 1:24.091 minutes), rookie Joel Eriksson, George Russell (HitechGP, 1:24.156 minutes), Pedro Piquet (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1:24.328 minutes), rookie Ralf Aron (Prema Powerteam, 1:24.406 minutes) and Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark, 1:24.551 minutes) rounded out the top ten. For Brazilian driver Piquet, the son of three times’ Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet and a two times’ winner of his domestic Formula 3 championship, ninth place was his best FIA Formula 3 European Championship qualifying result to date.

Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing): “With the new tarmac, it wasn’t easy to warm up the tyres. Therefore, it took me a while before they had the right working temperature. Moreover, every one of us was looking for track position to get a clean lap. Eventually, however, I still got a good lap in. Initially I was third and was quite happy with that result, but now, I am all the way up front, which is making me even more happy. I didn’t expect this first place, but it is a nice surprise.”

 

Grid, Race 1

1^st – No. 6, Callum Ilott, GBR, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

2^nd – No. 17, Maximilian Günther, GER, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

3^rd – No. 24, Ben Barnicoat*, GBR, HitechGP, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

4^th – No. 1, Lance Stroll, CAN, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

5^th – No. 22, Joel Eriksson*, SWE, Motopark, Dallara F312, Volkswagen

6^th – No. 12, George Russell, GBR, HitechGP, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

7^th – No. 5, Pedro Piquet, BRA, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

8^th – No. 7, Mikkel Jensen, DEN, Kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz^^

9^th – No. 16, Ralf Aron*, EST, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

10^th – No. 2, Nick Cassidy, NZL, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

11^th – No. 20, Harrison Newey*, GBR, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

12^th – No. 8, David Beckmann*, GER, Kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

13^th – No. 10, Niko Kari*, FIN, Motopark, Dallara F312, Volkswagen

14^th – No. 23, Guan Yu Zhou*, CHN, Motopark, Dallara F312, Volkswagen

15^th – No. 9, Sergio Sette Camara, BRA, Motopark, Dallara F312, Volkswagen^

16^th – No. 3, Ryan Tveter, USA, Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen

17^th – No. 21, Anthoine Hubert*, FRA, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

18^th – No. 4, Alessio Lorandi, ITA, Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen

19^th – No. 14, Arjun Maini, IND, Threebond with T-Sport, Dallara F312, ThreeBond

20^th – No. 11, Nikita Mazepin*, RUS, HitechGP, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

21^st – No. 19, Weiron Tan, MYS, Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen

22^nd – No. 18, Zhi Cong Li, CHN, Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen^^

 

^ Car 9 – drop of 5 grid positions

^^ Cars 7 and 18 – drop of 3 grid positions

 

• Rookie