Felix brought the official in-season FIA Formula 3 European Championship test at Imola to a close with the second-fastest time in the concluding session on Wednesday afternoon.
On a day which handed teams and drivers a final chance to fine tune their cars ahead of this weekend’s up-coming races, Felix was on the pace on the majority of his outings, although a late red flag in the dying moments of the quicker morning session denied him the chance to challenge for the best overall times of the day. An off at the Variante Alta chicane also cost him some track time as his car was being retrieved by the marshals and returned to the pits.
In the afternoon, however, he racked up more than twice as many laps as in the morning (56 compared to 27), going second fastest behind F1-bound Max Verstappen (who also topped the overall times with a 1m36.553s before lunch). Felix set the outright fastest time in the final sector, but again lost several tenths in the ultra-short, seven-second straightline burst that marks sector one.
The day was marred by countless red-flag interventions, with all four Mücke Motorsport drivers bringing running to a halt at various points. Worst off was Tatiana Calderon, who was launched over the aggressive kerbs at Tamburello and suffered a cracked monocoque.
Combined over the two days of testing, Felix set the fourth best time thanks to his 1m37.007s of yesterday, leaving him half a second behind overall pace-setter Verstappen’s ultimate benchmark.
Thursday will give drivers a day off, before they return to action at Imola on Friday as the penultimate round of 2014 takes centre stage.
“It’s been a good test,” Felix says. “The pace has been strong – although it’s just testing – and we’ve worked our way through an extensive programme. Let’s hope we can keep it up when the real running begins on Friday!”
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RESULTS – COMBINED OVER BOTH DAYS