Event: 04 Zandvoort
Session: Race 2
Track: Circuit Zandvoort / NL
Pole position: Daniel Ticktum (Motopark)
Race winner: Ralf Aron (PREMA Theodore Racing)
Weather: sunny, 22.0 °C

For Ralf Aron (PREMA Theodore Racing), today at Zandvoort was a perfect day: after victory in the tenth race of the season in the morning, the Estonian also won the eleventh race of the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship in the afternoon. At the 4.307 kilometres long former Formula 1 track on the North Sea coast, Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Theodore Racing) and Guanyu Zhou (PREMA Theodore Racing) claimed second and third place respectively. With his result, Aron moved up into second of the drivers’ standings, he is currently 4.5 points down on Armstrong, who remains the championship leader. 

Daniel Ticktum (Motopark) started from pole position, but he was unable to convert this into the race lead. The Brit raced towards the first corner alongside Ralf Aron and Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing), but it was Aron who ended up in first place. Ticktum slotted into second place while Schumacher’s race came to an untimely end in the gravel trap after contact with the Red Bull junior driver. As Enaam Ahmed (Hitech Bullfrog GP), Ben Hingeley (Hitech Bullfrog GP) and Ameya Vaidyanathan (Carlin) also retired after collisions on the opening lap, race control sent the safety car out.

After the restart, Aron remained at the front of the field. Armstrong and Zhou attacked second-placed Ticktum, who then dropped back to fourth as a result. Eleven laps later, Ticktum then also lost fourth place to Alex Palou (Hitech Bullfrog GP) and another position when Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin) went past. Thus, the Brit eventually took the chequered flag in sixth place.

Ahead of Ticktum, race winner Aron, second-placed Armstrong, Zhou in third and Palou and Habsburg crossed the finish line. Robert Shvartzman (PREMA Theodore Racing), Jüri Vips (Motopark), Fabio Scherer (Motopark) and Marino Sato (Motopark) rounded out the top ten. Ferrari-backed Armstrong received the prize for the best rookie in the field.

Ralf Aron (PREMA Theodore Racing): “I knew that I would need a really good start and thus, I was able to put Daniel under pressure straight away. There was slight contact between our cars, but that turned out to be no problem in the following laps. At the restart, I kept cool and I was happy to see my two teammates Marcus and Guanyu overtake Daniel. This repeated clean sweep of the podium for the Prema drivers shows that the team is working very well.”

Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Theodore Racing): “For me, the race included quite some action. The duel with Dan reminded me of our accident at Budapest: I have learned from that. My goal was to score maximum points today, because I am only second to last on the grid for tomorrow, so scoring more points then will be rather difficult.”

Guanyu Zhou (PREMA Theodore Racing): “It was an interesting race. My start was good and the restart after the safety car wasn’t too bad either. Thus, I was also able to overtake Daniel. After that, I tried to drive as consistently as possible and adapt my driving style to ensure that the tyres wouldn’t degrade to much.”

Event: 04 Zandvoort
Session: Race 3
Track: Circuit Zandvoort / NL
Pole position: Daniel Ticktum (Motopark)
Race winner: Nikita Troitckii (Carlin)
Weather: sunny, 25.6 °C

The twelfth race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season produced the maiden victory for Nikita Troitckii (Carlin). Guanyu Zhou (PREMA Theodore Racing) and Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) came second and third at the 4.307 kilometres long Circuit Zandvoort. Rookie driver Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Theodore Racing), who finished 16th in the race, remains in the lead of the drivers’ standings.

At the start, Daniel Ticktum (Motopark) moved up into the lead, but the Brit had jumped the start. Behind him, Nikita Troitckii and Guanyu Zhou battled for second with the Russian having the upper hand. After Ben Hingeley (Hitech Bullfrog GP) retired in the gravel trap, the safety car came out. Soon after the restart, Ticktum was given a drive-through penalty for his jump start, he went on to park his car in the pit lane one lap later.

Meanwhile, Troitckii led an FIA Formula 3 European Championship race for the first time in his career, followed by Zhou, Jehan Daruvala and Marino Sato (Motopark). After Julian Hanses (ma-con) had crashed his car into the barriers, the safety car came out for the second time followed by a red flag shortly after that. The race was called and thus, Troitckii celebrated his maiden victory in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Zhou and Daruvala joined in the podium celebrations in second and third place, followed by Sato, Fabio Scherer (Motopark), Alex Palou (Hitech Bullfrog GP), Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin), Jonathan Aberdein (Motopark), Artem Petrov (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Enaam Ahmed (Hitech Bullfrog GP). For Petrov, racing for the only Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing, these were his first FIA Formula 3 European Championship points.

The next race weekend will take place in a fortnight at the legendary Belgian Formula 1 track of Spa-Francorchamps.

Nikita Troitckii (Carlin): “My maiden victory in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship is a really great feeling. I think that we have deserved this victory because we are working really hard as a team. I had a good start and I was able to move up into second place. Then, I put race leader Daniel Ticktum under pressure until he headed into the pit lane because of his drive-through penalty. After that, I was in the lead. My car was great, so that I was even able to pull a slight gap to Guanyu.”

Guanyu Zhou (PREMA Theodore Racing): “At the start, I didn’t want to take maximum risk, so Nikita slotted in in front of me. For me, this race was mainly about scoring as many points as possible. Initially, I was having some issues with the tyres, but things got better as the race went on. At the restart, I tried to attack Nikita, but it wasn’t enough for me.”

Jehan Daruvala (Carlin): “I am delighted that we are here on the podium with two Carlin drivers. This shows that we are on the right way. We have found a couple of things here, so that I am hoping for a better second half of the season. Nikita drove really well here, but my race wasn’t too bad either. At the start, I was able to make up positions and I ended up on the podium thanks to Daniel Ticktum’s penalty.”