Marciello storms to victory in opening race at Monza

Photo: FIA F3

Raffaele Marciello emerged victorious in the first race of the 2013 F3 European Championship season at Monza, escaping unscathed in an incident-packed race.

Pascal Wehrlein, who is set to become the youngest driver in DTM history this year, started the race from pole, but both he and fellow front row starter Lucas Auer were beaten into turn one by Marciello, who held the lead for the remainder of the race.

Wehrlein initially kept second, but was passed by Auer in the latter stages of the race, only finishing third in the end.

Outside of the podium, Will Buller and Harry Tincknell entertained the audiences with a race-long fight for fourth, with Buller emerging on top in the final laps.

Fortec’s Felix Serralles and Carlin’s Jordan King switched positions several times for sixth with the Puerto Rican prevailing in the fight. The other two Prema drivers besides Marciello and Auer – Alex Lynn and Eddie Cheever, Jr. – finished in the top ten, with Dennis van de Laar taking ninth between them.

It was a very mistake-heavy race that saw multiple people retire. Roy Nissany and Mans Grenhagen were forced to call it a day after some turmoil on lap one, while Tom Blomqvist took Felix Rosenqvist out of the race while fighting for fifth and received a drive through.

The same outcome awaited Antonio Giovinazzi, who spun Sven Muller on the last lap and ended up retiring, while a major toss-up for tenth saw Lucas Wolf make contact with Jann Mardenborough, ending the race for both.

Races two and three will take place on Sunday with Wehrlein and Marciello on pole.

Race results