Joel will start the first FIA F3 European Championship race of the weekend at Spa from 12th on the grid, as the recent qualifying struggles struck again in the Belgian Ardennes.
After this morning’s free practice action took place in wet conditions, an improvement in the weather meant the first of Thursday’s two qualifying sessions was staged on a dry track, allowing the field to tackle the challenging F1 venue equipped with slick tyres.
Despite leading the Team Motopark attack by half a second, however, Joel could not upstage the frontrunners, ending up down in 12th on the Race 1 grid.
Carlin’s Lando Norris, who will test for the McLaren Formula 1 team at next week’s in-season F1 test in Budapest, claimed pole position.
Next session: Qualifying 2, 17.10 local time (GMT+02:00).
Comment, Joel:
“A poor session. I tried my all but we simply lacked pace. A few more tenths would have made a big difference in terms of positions, but it is what it is. We have some work to do ahead of second qualifying – which is the most important one – this afternoon.”
RESULTS – Qualifying 1
