Schumacher takes third straight pole position
PREMA Theodore Racing continued to move full steam ahead at Red Bull Ring. In the penultimate round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, the team delivered another spectacular result in qualifying 1, locking out the top-3 and celebrating the third straight pole for Mick Schumacher. The 19-year-old German made another step in his exciting chase for the championship at the Austrian venue, and posted a sensational lap to top his closest contender by more than two tenths of a second. For PREMA Theodore Racing, this is the 12th pole position of the season and a good way to head into the first day of racing at the Styrian venue.
Ending up behind Schumacher were the team’s two Ferrari Driver Academy-supported rookies, Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong. Eventually, the Russian got the nod on his team-mate by just 4 hundreds of a second.
It was a tougher day than expected for Ralf Aron and Guanyu Zhou. The Estonian suffered for some balance issues, while the Chinese racer also struggled a bit with traffic. In the end, they finished in P10 and P11 respectively.
Guanyu Zhou, Car #1
“In practice we were looking good, but qualifying definitely wasn’t a good one. We faced some traffic issues and also struggled a bit with the balance. I hope for some rain for race 1 to help me move forward…”
Mick Schumacher, Car #4
“It’s amazing to get my third straight pole here at Red Bull Ring. We are gaining more and more momentum and for sure starting off with a result like this is really motivating for the rest of the weekend. The car is great and we are competitive in every condition so whatever whether we will find tomorrow, we will give our 100 percent to take home the win.”
Ralf Aron, Car #7
“Today we have been struggling with some balance issues and we still have to figure out how to get the nod of the situation. We aren’t far away though. I hope to fight back in race 1 and then have a good qualifying 2 to finish the weekend on a high note.”
Marcus Armstrong, Car #8
“The car is good and overall third place is a good way to start the weekend. I also had a great lap deleted and I’m not sure I did something wrong. But anyway we are competitive and definitely can’t complain.”
Robert Shwartzman, Car #10
“We have been fast straight away and the balance was there from the beginning. I tried to be easier on the tires as I knew that the lap time would come at the end, and the pace was good. It’s a bit of a pity because I got stuck in the final lap but we definitely started the weekend well.”
