October 2017

Joel is set to start the final two races of the FIA F3 European Championship season from sixth and fifth respectively, following a tricky second qualifying session this evening at Hockenheim.

Several teams and drivers appeared to be caught out by a change in grip levels between the two grid-deciding sessions, which (atypically) take place on the same day this weekend. 

It meant anticipated set-up directions ultimately proved wide of the mark, producing a somewhat uncharacteristic outcome.

After battling for pole in Qualifying 1, Joel felt the new conditions affected the handling of his Team Motopark car and was unable to stage a similar charge in Q2. 

As it was, he wound up sixth on the overall timesheets, which were headed by a trio of Prema Powerteam drivers as the Italian squad came to the fore.

With Callum Ilott, Maximilian Günther and Guan Yu Zhou comfortably out front, Joel joined fourth-placed Jake Hughes (Hitech) and fifth-placed Pedro Piquet (Van Amersfoort Racing) as “best of the rest”, simultaneously leading the way among the Volkswagen-engined entries.

Also out of order on the Race 2 grid will be championship leader Lando Norris, who reported a similar fate to Joel and will line up seventh.

On second-fastest times, used to shape the Race 3 grid, Joel was fifth, with Günther taking pole ahead of Ilott, Zhou and Hughes.

Next session: Race 1, 10.50 local time (GMT+02:00) on Saturday.

Comment, Joel:

“We went in the wrong direction for this session, unfortunately, and I think several others did the same. We normally don’t have both qualifying sessions on the same day, and I think we misjudged the effect of the DTM rubber laid down before Q2. It meant we set up the car wrong and suffered from poor balance. A shame, but not a disaster.

“Driving-wise, I have to say that I’m actually really pleased with my performance. I did a series of very consistent laps within a matter of hundredths, so I firmly believe I got everything out of what we had this evening. It’s just sad that it wasn’t enough for P1. Prema seem to have pretty much nailed it, which makes things a little more difficult for me in terms of the championship, but I will never give up!”   

RESULTS – Qualifying 2

Outright times (grid for Race 2)

Second-fastest times (grid for Race 3)

Joel has qualified third on the grid for the opening race of the weekend at Hockenheim, while main rival for second in the championship, Maximilian Günther, struggled to 12th.

The first qualifying session of the day (the second will follow suit in a few hours) proved a highly competitive affair, as 19 out of the 21 drivers present lapped within a second of pole-setter Callum Ilott’s benchmark time. 

Like in practice this morning, the top three once again comprised Ilott, championship leader Lando Norris (who qualified second) and Joel – the latter two separated by a mere 0.006 of a second.

Joel will share the second row of the Race 1 grid with Norris’ Carlin team-mate Jehan Daruvala. 

Günther, meanwhile, could only manage 12th, handing Joel the early advantage as the duo continues to dispute second in the 2017 FIA F3 European Championship. The German currently leads that battle by six points going into tomorrow.

Joel headed the Team Motopark charge by a significant margin in Qualifying 1, out-pacing nearest stablemate David Beckmann by more than seven tenths. Beckmann will start Race 1 from 17th, with fellow team-mates Keyvan Andres Soori, Marino Sato and weekend newcomer Juri Vips in 19th, 20th and 21st respectively.

Next session: Qualifying 2, 17.10 local time (GMT+02:00).

Comment, Joel:

“A good session, I think. It’s really close out there, which is always nice. I spent the majority of the session running behind Zhou, but then I closed in on him a little sooner than I expected and had to back off and wasted a lap. The track was peaking at that moment, so I knew I had to nail the next lap, which luckily I pretty much did. I still think we need a bit more traction, but third is not a bad place to start from and I’m relatively pleased.”   

RESULTS – Qualifying 1

Joel got the FIA F3 European Championship finale at Hockenheim underway in promising fashion by going a close second quickest in practice on Friday morning.

The leading times all came in the second of two 40-minute sessions at the German Grand Prix track, with Joel lapping just 0.034s slower than Prema Powerteam rival Callum Ilott who set the pace with a 1m31.891s. 

Championship leader Lando Norris was third, just over a tenth adrift of Joel, while just three quarters of a second covered the top 16.

Joel and Norris found themselves sandwiched by Prema’s full quartet of cars, with Ilott’s team-mates Mick Schumacher, Maximilian Günther and Guan Yu Zhou taking fourth, fifth and sixth.

Practice took place in lovely autumnal weather conditions, expected to stay largely unchanged throughout the remainder of the weekend. There were no red flags or other significant incidents.

Due to an issue with his own helmet, Joel completed practice wearing one normally used by team-mate Keyvan Andres Soori. 

Next session: Qualifying 1, 13.25 local time (GMT+02:00).

Comment, Joel:

“A good start to the weekend. It was a pretty straightforward couple of sessions with no particular drama, which allowed us to complete the things we wanted to. The car feels alright, even though – like always – there is room for improvement. We could use some more traction out of the slow corners, for example, but in general I’m pleased with the baseline we seem to have. Now, we will make the finishing touches to the set-up ahead of qualifying, and try to get the job done there.”   

RESULTS – Free Practice