Formula Three

F3 European Championship 2013

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  • #133695
    Nick
    Participant

    Considering this group isn’t the most active one around, I’d figure we could have a central topic for this year’s remaining races in the FIA F3 European Championship.

    This weekend they raced at Zandvoort and I happened to catch the majority of the 3 races live. Raffaele Marciello had a terrible weekend including a rather dull off in race 3. He had a massive lead in the championship early on, but Felix Rosenqvist finished 2-1-1 in this weekend’s races, scoring 75 points and bringing back his points deficit to Marciello to a mere 9.5 points. Daniil Kvyat won his maiden F3 race this weekend and looked pretty good in the other races as well.

    With 2 weekends remaining, Vallelunga and Hockenheim, things are getting pretty close. However, Marciello is by far the favorite for the Vallelunga weekend.

    Hopefully Motors TV will be broadcasting those races as well, I enjoyed seeing F3 live again.

    #242307
    wsrgo
    Participant

    Marciello dominated Hockenheim earlier in the year too. It’ll be tough for Rosenqvist..

    #242308
    Iestyn Davies
    Participant

    I’m surprised Rosenqvist took another year in F3, but if he had not then Marciello would have literally dominated the season. It could be said that Marciello could have moved up too if need be. I guess both wanted to have an FIA F3 title under their belt – perhaps for Rosenqvist it is essential for further racing advancement. Marciello at least has Ferrari backing.

    Kvyat has come on impressively through the year and it would be interesting to see if he can take it to the top two at the last two race weekends.

    #242309
    wsrgo
    Participant

    Prema are set to have another powerhouse lineup next year, with Lucas Auer, Esteban Ocon (Lotus Junior Team, 3rd in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0) and Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari Driver Academy, Formula Renault Alps champion) all but confirmed as 3 of the 4 drivers next year. Alex Lynn hasn’t said anything, which is a bit strange. Could he be heading off to GP3, then?

    #242310
    Iestyn Davies
    Participant

    He might as well, if he can secure a seat or the funding needed. He’s done very well in F3 and I found him impressive in Formula Renault UK, gaining pace and turning it into domination. I forget who he has driven for, but Ellinas’ seat at Manor would be a good landing spot.

    Auer has to be favourite for the 2014 title, but I’ll bet that Ocon and Fuoco are close to him by years end. He’s Berger’s nephew – perfect for the Red Bull junior team you would have thought. They are still a bit light behind Sainz Jr and Kvyat – Blomqvist is seemingly going through the teen-adult transition wobbles, Visser may or may not adapt to more Strength demands up the ladder, and O’Keefe isn’t beating her just yet.

    #242311
    wsrgo
    Participant

    @fastiesty Red Bull will be spoilt for choice. Auer’s there, then there are got the likes of Pierre Gasly (who was under observation by the Red Bull bigwigs last year), the 17-year-old Frenchman currently leading the FR2.0 Eurocup standings. O’Keeffe ‘s place in the Red Bull team could be taken by Swiss driver Ralph Boschung (beat O’Keeffe in BMW Talent Cup last year and in ADAC this year) or Norwegian single seater rookie Dennis Olsen, who’s backed by Red Bull Norway, and currently running 3rd in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC.

    #242312
    Nick
    Participant

    Marciello just won the first race at Vallelunga in front of Sims, who looked like he could have taken Marciello a couple of times. Rosenqvist had a terrible qualifying, but had a decent race still.

    @wsrgo How do you rate Dennis van der Laar? He’s virtually unknown here (apart from a few ads Discovery ran here last year), but he looked pretty helpless defending himself this race.

    #242313
    Nick
    Participant

    Results and standings: http://www.paddockscout.com/marciello-controls-race-one-at-vallelunga/

    Race 2 will see Marciello starting 2nd and Rosenqvist last again, race 3 has Marciello on pole and Rosenqvist starting 13th. Rosenqvist made it into the points from last today, so he will be looking to score some more points in race 2 and finish on the podium for the next race. If Marciello wins the other two races as well, he will need to score at least 7.5 points to remain in the championship battle. (Which would still mean having to win all 3 races at Hockenheim and Marciello scoring none.)

    I think Marciello has this one in the bag, to be honest. I don’t think Rosenqvist can finish in front of him this weekend at all and should be happy to keep his point deficit under 50 this weekend.

    #242314
    Nick
    Participant

    Race 2 saw Marciello retiring with mechanical issues, Rosenqvist finished 9th, Lynn won. http://www.paddockscout.com/lynn-dominates-hectic-race-two-at-vallelunga/

    Race 3 was won by Marciello with Rosenqvist in 6th. http://www.paddockscout.com/lynn-dominates-hectic-race-two-at-vallelunga/

    Standings:

    1 Raffaele Marciello 434,5
    2 Felix Rosenqvist 389

    Daniil Kvyat had a pretty good weekend, but is ineligible to score points. I wonder if he’ll take Felix da Costa’s place in FR 3.5.

    Marciello can win the championship in the first race if he scores 5 more points than Rosenqvist, unless I’m mistaken.

    #242315
    Iestyn Davies
    Participant

    @wsrgo I really like the look of these guys – Olsen has a very good karting record apparently. Gasly is ahead of Rowland who surely must have wanted to dominate the Eurocup this year, after finishing third last year. Surprised Rowland didn’t move up this season to the next level up. Interesting who will win next year – maybe de Vries will come good, along with whoever is still there from the front this year.

    Marciello looks to have the title wrapped up – shame for Rosenqvist he lost it in qualifying rather than in the race. RB should give Kvyat 2 years in FR 3.5, one alongside Sainz Jr, next as team leader, and 2 YDTs to be ready for F1 in 2016. Sainz to replace Vergne in 2015 and Kvyat to replace Felix da Costa in 2016. The next RB prospect would then have to be ready for 2017 – at least 3 years from now to get ready.

    So, the door is wide open here. Blomqvist and O’Keeffe could be going through the adult transition wobbles, they have dominated before being average and continuing that this season. But O’Keeffe must have been dominant before that to get the RB backing, unless he has gone downhill since getting the backing. Visser is the best female hope so far, and I wouldn’t be surprised if RB Junior team hire some more drivers for next year.

    #242316
    wsrgo
    Participant

    @npf1 Great weekend coverage! I couldn’t comment before as I’d been away for a few days, and have had no electricity and no net connection, so it hasn’t been possible for me to see this.
    As regards to your question, van de Laar clearly isn’t dead-beat (he was comfortably beating Mans Grenhagen, his van Amersfoort teammate and fellow Euro F3 rookie, who finished third in F3 Open last year). But he isn’t very good either, with a 7th place finish in FR2.0 NEC in 2011 and only 9th in German F3 last year. He is probably being limited by his team (van Amersfoort aren’t really a crack squad), but his performances this year certainly do not make him the first in line among the Euro F3 regulars to make steps up to better teams. That would be Antono Giovinazzi, who has done respectably in the Double R squad this year, and finished 2nd in British F3 with the same team.

    #242317
    wsrgo
    Participant

    According to Autosport, Kevin Korjus will replace Alexander Sims at T-Sport, Nick Cassidy will replace Daniil Kvyat at Carlin (as a guest driver) and Stefano Coletti will drive for EuroInternational alongside Red Bull junior Tom Blomqvist, for the final round of the season at Hockenheim.

    #242318
    Nick
    Participant

    @wsrgo Thanks, I watched race one on live streaming and figured I might as well! van der Laar made a really poor move trying to defend himself sometime in race 1, making a move that the guy chasing him foresaw and passed him on the outside. I looked at his results and they aren’t all that either. Van Amersfoort racing has a bit of a name here, but it’s been years since they last won any F3 titles.

    I figure Stefano Coletti will do so in preparing for Macau? How do you rate his odds at a good result at Hockenheim?

    #242319
    wsrgo
    Participant

    Many apologies…Coletti will do Euro F3 with ma-con as teammate to Andre Rudersdorf.

    #242320
    wsrgo
    Participant

    @npf1 He’ll be with EuroInternational, who aren’t really a crack squad in F3 Euro, so he’ll struggle to beat the Premas, the Carlins and possibly the Fortecs, despite his vast experience. It’ll be interesting to see if he can overcome those limitations and take the fight to Marciello, Sainz, Kvyat, Lynn, Rosenqvist, Korjus, Sims among others…

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