This weekend, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship is going to contest the final race meeting of its 2014 season. At the 4.574-kilometre Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, the spectators will witness the decision in both the battles for the vice-championship and the team title. Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) are the two drivers who will battle it out for the runner-up position in the championship, with Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) also still having a chance of finishing the season as vice-champion. In the team standings, Prema Powerteam currently holds the lead, followed by Jagonya Ayam with Carlin. Meanwhile, the fight for the drivers title came to an early end, with 18-year old Lotus Formula 1 Junior Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam) prevailing on the penultimate race weekend, held in Imola. During the course of the three races at the Italian circuit he extended his lead to an extent that none of his rivals will have a chance on closing the gap, at Hockenheim. And in the rookie ranking, the Frenchman also already has secured the title.

With 30 FIA Formula 3 European Championship races contested, the lead of Toro Rosso protégé Max Verstappen over Tom Blomqvist amounts to just three points. At Imola, a week prior to the season finale, they both succeeded in celebrating a race win. Altogether, 20-year old Tom Blomqvist secured five races, this season, while his three years younger opponent Verstappen even has got nine race wins under his belt. With a 63-point gap to Verstappen, 20-year old Lucas Auer also still has got theoretical chances of finishing the season as voice-champion as there still are 75 points to be awarded.

With his successes, Blomqvist also helped his team, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, to establish as second in the team standings. Blomqvist and his team-mates, Antonio Giovinazzi and Sean Gelael, scored a total of 609 points, meaning the currently second position in the battle for the team title. Only one team has out-performed Jagonya Ayam with Carlin to date: Prema Powerteam, with 716 points on their tally. The Italian squad is contesting the 2014 season with the line-up Esteban Ocon, Antonio Fuoco, Nicholas Latifi and Dennis van de Laar. Both teams still may hope for winning the team title but with the big 107-point lead over the British squad, Prema Powerteam is in the clearly better position. When it comes to the team ranking, two drivers per team have to be nominated prior to a race weekend and only those two drivers can score points for the team. With a perfect result in all the three races, a team could score a maximum of 143 points.

The grid for the season finale will feature a guest driver: Stefano Coletti (Eurointernational). The current GP2 driver who contested his first Formula 3 race back in 2008 is making his F3 comeback at Hockenheim. The 25-year old Monegasque will contest the Hockenheim meeting for the Italian Team Eurointernational.

Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing): “There is an important goal I want to realise at Hockenheim: I absolutely want to finish second in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. I will give my very best to achieve this goal – just as I previously did in the battle for the title. Our pace was really good at Imola and I hope that we will be just as fast at Hockenheim. Should this be the case, I should have a chance of winning all the three races, there.”