F1 News
Niels Koolen granted chance to impress in F3 after 'failed' F2 cameo
Dutch driver Niels Koolen, who competed in Formula 2 at Monza and Baku, will be in action in Formula 3 machinery this week. The Dutchman will drive on behalf of the AIX team after his unimpressive short F2 stint, where he was made into a laughing stock my many fans due to his shockingly poor outright pace in comparison to his competitors.
In Formula 2, Koolen managed to make little impression. Especially in Azerbaijan, Koolen demonstrated that he was by no means F2 material. During free practice, he was ten seconds slower than first-placed Enzo Fittipaldi. The Dutchman didn't exactly show us what he could do in qualifying either, with a gap of almost seven seconds to the leader. In the sprint race, the AIX driver was 77 seconds behind the leader at one point until the safety car brought the field closer together. Koolen didn't finish the feature race after sustaining damage.
After the weekend in Baku, AIX decided to not put Koolen in the car for the final two race weekends of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. His short-lived F2 campaign was a memorable one for the wrong reasons.
Koolen granted Formula 3 chance:
Still, Koolen's formula racing career is not over yet. AIX has put him, the Dutchman, on the entry list for this week's Formula 3 test. The test will take place in Jerez on 8 and 9 October this week.
This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!