Felix Rosenqvist is quickly restoring his reputation that had been waning after a disappointing 2014 season, with the Prema Powerteam driver taking his second FIA European Formula 3 Championship victory of the season in race two at Hockenheim on Saturday.
Rosenqvist made a near-perfect getaway at the start and then gradually pulled away from second placed Charles Leclerc, eventually ending over nine seconds clear of the Monegasque driver, with his only issue being Motopark driver Mahaveer Raghunathan who did not realise he was being lapped late in the race.
“My race has been simply perfect,” reflected Rosenqvist. “I had a little bit of an hiccup at the start, but it lasted just for an instant. I held onto the lead and from that point on I pushed harder and harder, supported by a phenomenal car.
“I didn’t have any problem, the tyres were in great condition and the only difficult thing happened in the closing stages when a lapped driver didn’t see the blue flags and kept blocking me. I’ve been very careful to avoid making contact, and everything else worked flawlessly.
“I’m waiting for Race 3. I hope to trim the gap to championship leader [Antonio] Giovinazzi even further.”
Team-mate Brandon Maisano inherited tenth place and the final point on the final lap after Markus Pommer slowed significantly and dropped out of the points while running seventh. The Frenchman was happy to salvage a point following his disappointing qualifying session on Friday morning.
“Qualifying 2 didn’t go too well for me and I was forced to content with 16th place, but at the start of Race 2 I gained four positions,” revealed Maisano. “At the hairpin I was hit from the back and from behind so other cars got around.
“I didn’t back down though as the car was quick and lap after lap I managed to catch up, eventually making it to the points zone.
“Tenth place satisfies me quite a lot considering that I was starting from the back.”
The other two Prema Powerteam drivers were both left rueing the first few moments of the race, with Jake Dennis stalling on the dummy grid and being forced to start from the pit lane, and Lance Stroll being tipped into a spin at the hairpin on lap one by Santino Ferrucci of Mücke Motorsport. Stroll and Dennis both made dramatic inroads into the field, with the Canadian finishing fourteenth and the Briton fifteenth.
