Fewtrell on pole for the sixth time

This morning, the Group A drivers were first on track. Yifei Ye set best time of the session with a lap of 1:37.539s ahead of Christian Lundgaard (MP Motorsport) and Oscar Piastri. The Chinese driver’s benchmark time was then bested by Max Fewtrell, who Group B with a time of 1:37.249s.

Group A - Group B

Max Fewtrell lined up on pole ahead of Yifei Ye, Victor Martins (R-ace GP) and Christian Lundgaard. Oscar Piastri and Lorenzo Colombo (JD Motorsport) shared row three after the application of the two place penalty from the Nürburgring to Neil Verhagen (Tech 1 Racing) Logan Sargeant (R-ace GP), Thomas Maxwell (JD Motorsport) and Charles Milesi (R-ace GP) completed the top ten.

Starting grid

A perfect outcome for the Briton

Behind pole winner Max Fewtrell, the start was hectic. Christian Lundgaard and Victor Martins were too aggressive in their attack on Yifei Ye and made contact at turn two. A bit later, the Dane went straight at the hairpin, while the Frenchman came into the pits at the end of lap two with front-wing damage. The safety car was then sent out to allow for the removal of the car of Najiy Razak (JD Motorsport).

When the safety car came in, Max Fewtrell still led from Yifei Ye, who in turn was closely followed by Oscar Piastri, Neil Verhagen, Thomas Maxwell, Logan Sargeant and Alex Peroni (MP Motorsport). For the next three laps, the five drivers put in a fantastic battle for third place, using the draft and some late braking moves. Oscar Piastri held on to the position ahead of Thomas Maxwell, Logan Sargeant, Alex Peroni and Neil Verhagen

At the midway point of the race, the hierarchy was established. Max Fewtrell wasn’t able to pull away from Yifei Ye, but the Chinese driver was never close enough to try an overtaking move. Further back, Logan Sargeant wrested fourth place from Thomas Maxwell.

Resisting the pressure from Yifei Ye, Max Fewtrell went on for his fifth win of the season ahead of his rival in the general classification and rookie Oscar Piastri. Logan Sargeant finished just off the podium ahead of Thomas Maxwell, Alex Peroni and Neil Verhagen. Alexander Smolyar (Tech 1 Racing) was eighth, followed by Raúl Guzmán (Fortec Motorsports) and Charles Milesi, who took the final point on offer away from Clément Novalak (R-ace GP) despite an early race off circuit excursion. Winner among the Formula Renault NEC field, Doureid Ghattas (Anders Motorsport) sealed the NEC title today.

Race 1 - Drivers standings - Teams standings

Quotes

Max Fewtrell (R-ace GP) : “It was pretty close with Yifei ! He pressured me all the way to the end and I didn’t make things easy for myself when I flat-spotted a tyre during the race. I managed to hold on to the lead and I am delighted with this. We’ve seen that anything can happen in this category. I was quite far back and now I am leading the championship. Let’s just focus on our job for the remaining races.”

Yifei Ye (Josef Kaufmann Racing) : “We have known since the winter tests and collective tests yesterday that Hockenheim is one of the tracks that best suits us. I set the fastest time in my qualifying group and did everything I could to hold on to second place. Max had a solid pace. I tried to close in as much as possible, but the closer I got the more grip I lost in the fast corners. There wasn’t much more I could do today, but I hope to get the pole tomorrow !”

Oscar Piastri (Arden Motorsport) : “I got an excellent start on the outside and tried to attack Yifei after turn one. I didn’t find an opening and thought that I would have a quieter race after that. Following the safety car period, the restart was a bit crazy, but I am thrilled to have held on to third place and to be back on the podium. We are fast in race conditions, so I hope to continue to improve in qualifying and continue to get some good results as the season comes to an end.”

*Results subject to confirmation following technical and sporting verifications.