King’s raw speed cannot mask his qualifying issues

King travelled to the German Grand Prix venue off the back of a mixed weekend in the Silverstone curtain-raiser a fortnight earlier, feeling optimistic about his prospects and looking forward to returning to a track where he had set a new lap record last year in only his third F3 appearance.

Despite feeling under the weather, the gifted Warwickshire ace featured immediately up at the sharp end in practice but was disappointed to line up just tenth for race one on the 27-strong grid.

Undeterred, King displayed the benefit of his experience as a second-year competitor by storming through to fourth on the first lap, before finding himself embroiled in a three-way tussle for the runners-up spoils behind the wheel of his Carlin-prepared, Volkswagen-powered Dallara single-seater.

The Stoneleigh-based driver then stole third position on the final lap when championship leader Esteban Ocon slowed with technical issues, securing a richly-deserved second rostrum finish of the season for his efforts.

Engine woes in qualifying for races two and three left him a lowly 19th in the pecking-order.

However, the 20-year-old reacted quickly to the starting lights on both occasions to take the chequered flag ninth and seventh, respectively.

Those results ensured King consolidated his sixth position in the points table heading to the unforgiving French street circuit of Pau.

“I was pleased with my performance and progress - our pace was strong again, which went to show what might have been but for the issue in qualifying,” said King.

“The weekend was definitely a missed opportunity from that point of view and it was disappointing not to come away with the results we were capable of, but in the circumstances, it was a solid exercise in damage limitation.”

 Southam driver Alex Sedgwick was left to rue a lack of practice time after finishing 14th and 13th in rounds five and six of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Thruxton in Hampshire.

“On face value it could be seen as a disappointing weekend, but on reflection with having no previous experience of the track in the dry and having to learn everything in one 15 minute practice session, it is not as bad as I first thought,” said Sedgwick.

“At least I have now completed a total of 34 laps in the dry so returning next year should not be so difficult.”

With two points-scoring finishes, Sedgwick moved up into 12th place overall in the championship and sixth-placed rookie.

Sedgwick is back in action at Oulton Park next month and is hoping to find the budget to complete a test day beforehand.