Qualifying Sessions
November 22, 2003
Weather: Dry, clear

HAMILTON GRABS POLE FOR KOREAN SEASON-CLOSER

British ace Lewis Hamilton clinched pole position for the International Formula 3 Korea Super Prix with the fastest lap ever recorded around the Changwon Raceway.
The McLaren F1 team protégé set a time of 1m 09.989s to establish his place on the front of the grid for Sunday's race. Brazilian Nelson Piquet Junior lines up alongside Hamilton on the front row, while Piquet's team-mate Richard Antinucci starts third, just ahead of Menu Motorsport's Robert Doornbos.

Manor Motorsport's Lewis Hamilton believes that on Sunday he can convert pole position into his first victory, in only his third ever F3 start: "I think we have a very good chance of winning, we've been quick in practice and qualifying and I just need to stay calm and collected to come away with the win," said Hamilton.

Despite his lack of experience, the 18-year-old was delighted with the balance of his Dallara Mugen-Honda, "We put the new tyres on and the car felt really good. I made a few changes in my driving style and the quick times just came. I don't have a lot of experience on street tracks," he added, "but my experience of Macau has really helped me this weekend."

Second on the grid was Hitech Racing's Nelson Piquet Junior, "I've found it a difficult weekend so far, I've been struggling to get used to the track as the corners are very tight and the chicane is risky. Yet in qualifying, I cooled the tyres down and then on my last lap I took a risk at the chicane and made up all my time there but I don't know if I could have gone faster than Lewis," said Piquet.

The Brazilian struggled on the streets of Macau last weekend, but has learnt to adapt his driving to the streets of Changwon. "In Macau it was a lack of experience, I wanted to go fast straightaway and I shunted early on, but here I've kept off the wall and slowly built up my confidence."

Third on the grid overall was the American Richard Antinucci. He lost his times from the morning session after his Dallara Renault was found to be underweight by the scrutineers, however Antinucci set a time in the second qualifying session that puts him on the second row for Sunday's race. He said, "This afternoon I was five kilograms overweight which proves that we've been genuinely quick all weekend," said Antinucci.

Robert Doornbos was fourth quickest for Menu Motorsport and he hoped his luck will be better than Macau, where he retired while running third, he said: "The car worked well yesterday, we changed some things on the car and in the last 20 minutes it felt really good, it was just a shame that Piquet pipped us in the last minute. I'm going push hard tomorrow."

The Polish driver Robert Kubica starts fifth, just ahead of the two TOM's cars of Tatsuya Kataoka and James Courtney. Adam Carroll lines ups eighth on the grid for Carlin Motorsport after crashing on his final lap in the morning session. Macau Grand Prix winner Nicolas Lapierre will start in 13th after clipping the tyre wall at the chicane in the first session.

Qualifying was stopped as soon as it started after Spaniard Pedro Barral hit the wall in the fast sweeps after the start. He destroyed his Swiss Racing Dallara and was taken to the hospital where he will remain overnight for observation.

The International Formula 3 Korea Super Prix 2003 will take place tomorrow (November 23), over two legs of 25 laps each.

Among the major corporations backing the event are LG Engineering & Construction, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, Posco Engineering & Construction, GM Daewoo, BAT Korea, and SK Engineering & Construction. Kumho Tires, official tire supplier to the Formula 3 Euroseries and a long-time supporter of its home event, is once again Official Tire Supplier to the Super Prix. Hyundai Oilbank is the Official Fuel Supplier.