Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam, 1m36.001s) is ready for the battle for an early title win for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. The 17-year-old development driver of the Williams Formula 1 team claimed his tenth pole position of the season in a qualifying that remained thrilling until the final second and will thus be starting the 25th race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season from pole position. Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark, 1m36.120s) managed the second fastest time, but will start the race with a ten place grid penalty due to an engine change after the free practice session. Niko Kari (Motopark, 1m36.164s) and George Russell (HitechGP, 1m36.250s) followed in third and fourth place at the 4.909 kilometres long Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola. 

Lance Stroll made it exciting. The title favourite climbed up to first place on the timing screens early in the session, but soon was outpaced by faster rivals. Stroll countered twice, but had his lap times cancelled on both occasions for exceeding the track limits. Thus, he found himself in ninth place when David Beckmann (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport 1m36.627s) caused a brief interruption due to an accident.

With around seven minutes remaining, the action continued. With his first flying lap after the interruption, Stroll moved up to fourth and then reclaimed the lead after his next lap. However, he still wasn’t safe, as Niko Kari and then Sérgio Sette Câmera both went faster as the time had run out. Stroll, on the other hand, also managed to improve on his final attempt and claimed back first place from Sette Câmara. Kari ended up with the third fastest time.

Behind the battle for pole position, George Russell was classified fourth from Anthoine Hubert (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m36.262s), Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam, 1m36.507s), Joel Eriksson (Motopark, 1m36.544s), Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m36.551s), David Beckmann and Guanyu Zhou (Motopark, 1m36.631s).

Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam): “It was a good qualifying. Two of my laps that would have been fast enough for provisional pole were cancelled because of track limits. After the red flag, I was extremely cautious to avoid another cancellation. I knew that we were quick enough here, so that I would have a chance to claim pole position even when driving cautiously. So far, the Imola weekend has been very good from my perspective. My car has been excellent from first free practice onwards and I was able to find a good rhythm straight away.”