This weekend, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship will contest the races 25, 26 and 27 of its 2017 season at the 4.326-kilometre long Red Bull Ring.

17-year old rookie Lando Norris (Carlin) would love to secure the title early in Austria this weekend, but his toughest rivals – Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam), Joel Eriksson (Motopark) and Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam) will try as hard as they can to take the battle for the title down to the season finale.

Briton Lando Norris travels to the penultimate race meeting of the season with a 73-point lead over second-placed Maximilian Günther, his gap on Sweden’s Joel Eriksson amounts to 116 points and Norris’ compatriot Callum Ilott is fourth, 121 points behind the championship leader.

The maximum of points that can be scored on a race weekend is 75, thus Norris – who celebrated nine race wins in the 24 races contested to date – has to extended his advantage to more than 75 points following the three races at Spielberg if he wants to secure the title early.

Norris would then succeed reigning champion Lance Stroll who was signed by the Williams F1 Team for 2017 after having won the FIA Formula 3 European Championship title last year. The only one of the four championship contenders who already has got a Red Bull Ring win under his belt is Callum Ilott who won the first race of the 2016 round at Spielberg.

In addition to the battle for the title, Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin) will also take centre stage – after all, he is the great-grandson of the last Austrian Emperor, Charles I and the only Austrian on the competitive FIA Formula 3 European Championship grid.

Habsburg, whose full first name is Ferdinand Zvonimir Maria Balthus Keith Michael Otto Antal Bahnam Leonhard, currently holds seventh position in the drivers’ championship. Two positions ahead of him is Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix) in fifth place.

The Briton stands for the progress of team Hitech Grand Prix, as he gave his squad the first race win in the 2017 FIA F3 European Championship season at the Nürburgring. Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix) also made it to the Eifel podium while Tadasuke Makino (Hitech Grand Prix) came close with finishing fourth in the second race.

Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin): “I’m really happy with my season to date. It’s my first on the FIA Formula 3 European Championship grid, I already won a race and secured another two podiums."

"I set myself the goal to finish fifth or sixth in the championship and I’m on target so far. I truly look forward to the race meeting in my home country, Austria.

"The penultimate corner of the Red Bull Ring is a true courage-testing corner that is big fun. I generally like racing at the Red Bull Ring and I think that Spielberg is the most beautiful place on the calendar. Additionally, a home race always boosts your confidence. Therefore, I hope that I will be able to show my rivals the ropes.."

At the 3.629 kilometres long Nürburgring sprint circuit, Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix) won from Lando Norris (Carlin) and Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam).

Hughes, who had already scored five podium finishes this season, led from the start and not only collected his maiden FIA Formula 3 European Championship victory, but also scored the first win of the season for his team Hitech Grand Prix.

With his 17th podium finish of the year, Lando Norris extended his lead in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers’ standings. Now, he has a total of 356 points and an advantage of 54 points over his main rival Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam).

Having started from pole position, Jake Hughes led the field into the first corner and immediately pulled a gap. Behind him, Callum Ilott had to defend his position against Lando Norris until the McLaren protégé overtook his compatriot on lap three.

However, it was only in the closing stages of the race that Norris was able to reduce the gap to race leader Hughes in such a way that he was able to put the latter under pressure. However, the Hitech driver didn’t let himself get forced into an error and collected his maiden FIA Formula 3 European Championship victory as a result.

Behind a buoyant Hughes, Lando Norris took the chequered flag in second place. Callum Ilott rounded out the podium with a clean sweep of the top three for British drivers.

Fourth across the line was Tadasuke Makino (Hitech Grand Prix), the best FIA Formula 3 European Championship result to date for the Honda protégé. His team-mate Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix) finished fifth after Chinese Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam), who was in fourth place in the opening stages of the race, had spun and dropped out of the top ten.

Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin), Joey Mawson (Van Amersfoort Racing), Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing), Joel Eriksson (Motopark) and Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) rounded out the top ten.

Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix): “This race was mega and my car was really good, too. I already started from the front row the first time I competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship during the season finale at Hockenheim last year, but I didn’t think that it would take so long for me to score that first win."

"At the start, I was able to take the lead and then I was able to keep my advantage for a long time. When Lando got closer and closer towards the end, I thought: ‘That black and yellow car better leave me alone’, but eventually, he didn’t have a chance to attack me.”

Lando Norris (Carlin): “My start was good and I managed to overtake Callum after a few laps. I reckon that the quick overtaking move was the key to second place."

"At the end, I was able to reduce my gap to Jake from over three to less than one second, which wasn’t too bad. Second place is a good result as it allows me to extend my points’ lead.”

Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam): “When starting from second place, you want to achieve more than finishing third. Throughout the weekend, we were having problems with the set-up of the car and in this race, it wasn’t perfect either."

"Nevertheless, third place gets me many points as well, which is positive, of course. Because Joel Eriksson only scored two points for finishing ninth, I was able to reduce my gap to third place in the drivers’ standings.”

At the 3.629 kilometres long Nürburgring sprint circuit, Lando Norris (Carlin) extended his lead in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers’ standings.

The Brit scored his ninth victory of the season and now has an advantage of 73 points from Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam), who is second in the drivers’ standings. Next to McLaren protégé Norris, British driver Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix) and Estonian Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix) stood on the podium for the prize-giving ceremony.

The third FIA Formula 3 European Championship race at the Nürburgring had a turbulent start. Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam) took the lead from Norris and Hughes while Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam) and Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin) collided in the first corner.

For both drivers involved in the accident, the race was over and the safety car was deployed. Also on the opening lap, there was contact between Joey Mawson (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Tadasuke Makino (Hitech Grand Prix), after which both drivers had to turn into the pits for quick repair works on their cars.

Racing resumed on lap four and Norris overtook Ilott. Later on, the Prema driver lost further positions and he was fourth at the end of the fifth lap. Further down, meanwhile, newcomer Max Defourny (Van Amersfoort Racing) overtook David Beckmann (Motopark) and moved up into the top ten.

The Belgian gained another position as Nikita Mazepin (Hitech Grand Prix) had a brief excursion into the gravel trap and he eventually finished ninth.

Further up, Lando Norris was first across the line from Jake Hughes and Ralf Aron. Callum Ilott took the chequered flag in fourth from Jehan Daruvala (Carlin), Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing), Maximilian Günther and Joel Eriksson (Motopark). Newcomer Sacha Fenestraz (Carlin) claimed the point for finishing tenth.

Lando Norris (Carlin): “My start wasn’t particularly good, but my opponents around me weren’t much better. I wanted to overtake Callum on the opening lap, but I didn’t manage until the safety car came out. Right after the restart, I got past. Because I wanted to avoid a collision with him, I briefly came off the track. I am very happy with the victory and the 25 points.”

Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix): “My start wasn’t good, enabling Ralf to attack me in the first corner, but I was able to stay in front. After the safety car had left the track again, I overtook Callum and I was second."

"For Hitech Grand Prix, the Nürburgring weekend was the best of the entire season so far. We have been working hard for this and I hope that it will now continue like that.”

Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix): “I had a good start and I even was almost able to overtake Jake. Because of the pit stops by Tadasuke Makino and Joey Mawson, I was third after five laps. For me, this position wasn’t good enough, so I wanted to close up to the drivers in front of me."

"I made a slight mistake while doing so and got my tyres dirty. After that, I had no more opportunity to attack Jake and Lando. Our speed was similar and when nobody is making a mistake, you don’t have a chance in such a situation. Unfortunately, nobody but me made a mistake in this trio, so it didn’t particularly help me…”

Nobody was faster than Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix) in second qualifying of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the 3.629 kilometres long Nürburgring sprint circuit.

With Callum Ilott (Prema Powertam) and points’ leader Lando Norris, two of his compatriots followed the Brit in second and third place. Hughes’s team-mate Tadasuke Makino (Hitech Grand Prix) ended up fourth in the rain ahead of Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin) and Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix).

In the ranking of the second-fastest laps, used to determine the starting grid positions for the third race of the weekend, Ilott came out on top from Norris, Hughes, Aron, Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam) and Habsburg.

Starting grid race two

 
Jake Hughes (1m37.002s) quickly found his way at the rain-soaked Nürburgring and was already on top after a few minutes.

Whenever he was toppled from first place during the session, he always found the right answer and was able to move back up into the lead every time. That also was the case when Callum Ilott (1m37.312s) progressed from 19th to first place in the final minute.

A little bit later, Jake Hughes managed to post an even better lap time so that he claimed back first place. Behind Hughes and Ilott, Lando Norris (1m37.445s), who previously had claimed seven consecutive fastest qualifying times in a row, had to make do with third. Tadasuke Makino (1m37.502s), Ferdinand Habsburg (1m37.539s), Ralf Aron (1m37.710s), Guanyu Zhou (1m37.735s), Joey Mawson (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m37.777s), newcomer Max Defourny (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m37.805s) and Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m38.060s) rounded out the top ten.

Starting grid race three

As usual, the second-fastest lap time of every driver was used to determine the starting grid positions for the third race of the weekend. First place in the ranking went to Callum Ilott (1m37.386s) from Lando Norris (1m37.548s), Jake Hughes (1m37.577s), Ralf Aron (1m37.744s), Guanyu Zhou (1m38.038s), Ferdinand Habsburg (1m38.069s), Tadasuke Makino (1m38.114s), Joey Mawson (1m38.219s), Max Defourny (1m38.298s) and Jehan Daruvala (Carlin, 1m38.330s).

Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix): “It was a great qualifying, even if I perhaps only had three or four really clear laps. Initially, I was stuck behind Joel Eriksson, but I was unable to overtake him. When I then had some space in front of me, I immediately racked up three fast sector times that brought me to the top of the time sheets. I reckon that the clear track was the key to success. Thus, visibility was also better than when I was in the spray from the driver in front all the time.”

Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam): “I am happy with my result, even though qualifying didn’t start well for me. Conditions in the rain weren’t particularly easy and in the early stages, we even had aquaplaning, especially on the back straight. At that time, it was rather difficult for me, but when the weather slightly improved, it went considerably better. As a result, I also posted my fastest lap times towards the end of the session.”