In a session full of uncertainty thanks to changing weather conditions, it was championship leader Luke Browning who took pole position in the dying stages of qualifying. However, one of the teams that impressed the most was Jenzer Motorsport, with Max Esterson taking second place and the other two cars still in the top 10. Feeder Series spoke with the American driver and teammate Charlie Wurz after the session.

By Daniele Spadi

It was a day to remember for the Swiss outfit. Though it isn’t their first time near the front of the grid, it’s an impressive feat to place all three cars in the top 10. It’s a great result for a team that is currently in eighth position in the teams’ standings, having failed to score points since round two of the season in Melbourne.

That day, it was Charlie Wurz who took home an impressive fifth place in the feature race; on Sunday, the Austrian driver will line up sixth, though the 18-year-old felt that first place was not out of his reach. “The car was amazing today,” he told Feeder Series. “We definitely had the car for pole, and it’s really great after some very tough weeks.”

“To have a car that quick and the feeling so good was really nice, we’ve been working very hard, and the results weren’t really showing in the last [few] races – but it’s finally shown! I messed the lap up myself. I could have been on pole, but the whole team did a really good job.”

A front-row start

Jenzer have enjoyed two points finishes in 2024 so far, the other one belonging to Max Esterson in the first round of the season at Bahrain, where he fought for the podium in the sprint race before ultimately settling for sixth. Around Silverstone, however, the 21-year-old from New York City was able to set the second fastest time of the session, missing out on pole by just 45 thousandths of a second.

The American driver made his Formula 3 debut last year here at Silverstone, and he felt that the experience gained helped him achieve this impressive result. “For sure it helps a little bit,” he said to Feeder Series. “Obviously, it was my first ever F3 race, so I was taking things in very quickly then, and I didn’t have much time to really understand what was happening.”

Esterson has raced here on many occasions throughout his career, which is another factor that has played a big role in today’s qualifying. “I think overall, my experience at Silverstone has helped more than just last year – two years at GB3, lots of Formula Ford races even though it’s on the small circuit, so overall all the experience I think helped.”

A team effort

It was a great overall performance for Jenzer, with rookie Matías Zagazeta also scoring his first top 10 in qualifying thanks to his tenth place – and Wurz was quick to praise the Swiss team for their hard work. “We’re all in the top 12, it’s where we wanted to be anyway,” he told Feeder Series. “Let’s see how that goes, I think everyone in the team is really happy with that.

“In the past races we seemed to lack a bit in qualifying but have the pace in the races. Let’s see now, hopefully we have the same pace in the races but it doesn’t always work like that. Generally, our race pace is stronger than our quali pace, so it’ll be about managing the tyres.”

“We knew that we could do it; we just have to put everything together. Today the car was amazing. I’m pretty happy, but let’s see how it goes in the races.”

Additional reporting by Martin Lloyd

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency