Lando Norris (Carlin) remained unfazed by the rainy Eifel weather in the opening stages of the race at the 3.629 kilometres long Nürburgring sprint circuit and dominantly won the 22nd race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season from Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix) and Joey Mawson (Van Amersfoort Racing).

For McLaren junior driver Norris, it was his eighth win in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season while Australian Mawson scored his maiden podium finish in the junior single-seater series.

Norris extended his lead in the drivers’ standings to 338 points and thus is 36 points clear of second-placed Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam). The German, who is backed by Mercedes-AMG, had to make do with 13th place after an early pit stop following a collision with Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix).

The race went underway in the rain. British driver Lando Norris was unaffected by the precipitation and he took the lead at the start.

Behind him, his compatriots Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam) and Jake Hughes followed in second and third place, but Hughes overtook Ilott in the opening stages of the race. On lap three, newcomer Sacha Fenestraz (Carlin) missed his braking point and ran into the rear of Nikita Mazepin’s car (Hitech Grand Prix).

The Russian, who was fourth at the time, retired and the Frenchman incurred a drive-through penalty. Race control called for a Full Course Yellow (FCY) to allow for Mazepin’s car to be recovered from the run-off area. FCY means no overtaking and reduced speed for all competitors.

After four laps, the order in front was Norris from Hughes, Ilott, Mawson and Tadasuke Makino (Hitech Grand Prix).

While Norris out in front had already built up an advantage, Ilott lost out in the battle for third place to rookie driver Mawson. Meanwhile, it wasn’t plain sailing for the front runner either: on lap eight, he briefly came off the track, but his lead was never in jeopardy.

Eventually, he scored an undisputed eighth FIA Formula 3 European Championship season victory from Jake Hughes, who brought his equally undisputed second place home.

The battle for third became considerably more exciting in the closing stages of the race. Callum Ilott put Joey Mawson under pressure and Tadasuke Makino was lurking behind the duo. The three youngsters staged a thrilling battle, in which Ilott initially attacked Mawson, but the latter successfully defended his position. Makino used this chance to get past Ilott for fourth.

 With Mawson ahead of Makino and Ilott, the trio crossed the finish line. After the race, the Japanese was penalised with a 5 second time penalty, as he was too fast under FCY. Thus, ended up in seventh position.

Position four was inherited by Callum Ilott, from Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin) and Jehan Daruvala (Carlin). Behind Makino, Mick Schumacher (Prema Powerteam), Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam) and Joel Eriksson (Motopark) competed the top ten.

Lando Norris (Carlin): “There isn’t too much to say about my race. My start was good, I managed to keep Jake and Callum at bay. After that, I was able to pull clear from the rest of the field and build up an advantage. On lap eight, I had a hairy moment when I briefly went off the track and lost a few seconds. Otherwise, everything went well and my car was great, so I can’t complain.”

Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix): “My response at the start was good, but then I had too much wheel spin and Callum was able to overtake me. Then, it took me a few laps to get past him again. At that time, Lando already had a considerable gap out in front. Nevertheless, I am happy with my performance. My car was good and second place is a good result as well.”

Joey Mawson (Van Amersfoort Racing): “At times, my race was pretty hectic. In the opening stages, I more or less managed to stay out of all the battles. Only slight contact with Ralf Aron was the reason that I had a hole in the front of the car for the rest of the race. After that, I backed off a little bit, but otherwise, fortunately, my car was okay. At the end, it got exciting once again. We were probably running with slightly too much tyre pressure, so that I lost speed towards the end. Callum was right behind me, but I knew that he only could overtake me when I would make a mistake. I didn’t grant him that pleasure and now I am happy with my maiden FIA Formula 3 European Championship podium finish.”

British driver Lando Norris (Carlin), who is supported by the McLaren Formula 1 team, scored his seventh win of the season in the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship.

Second place went to Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin), German Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam) finished third. Norris, who was also the best rookie in the field, extended his lead in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers’ standings to eleven points from his nearest rival Günther. 

Lando Norris took the lead at the start and already returned from the opening lap with a margin of almost one second. From the very beginning, Ferdinand Habsburg was in second place, followed by Maximilian Günther, Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam) and Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam).

Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix) was in sixth place, but soon saw Ilott in front of him pull away. Behind the Brit, who had scored a podium finish in the second race at Zandvoort, a group of ten drivers, Hughes included, assembled.

On lap eleven, Callum Ilott headed into the pits to have the front wing of his car replaced and rejoined the race in last place. Thus, Jake Hughes moved up into fifth position, but at that time already was ten seconds down on Guanyu Zhou, who was fourth.

Out in front, Lando Norris had established a lead of over five seconds on his team-mate Ferdinand Habsburg. For a long time, the Austrian was unable to pull away from his rival Maximilian Günther, but his margin was always sufficient to avoid any danger.

Thus, first to fourth position were already taken early: Lando Norris went on to win from Ferdinand Habsburg, Maximilian Günther and Guanyu Zhou.

"There is not too much to say about this race. My start was fairly good, so that I didn’t have to defend my first place in the first corner." Said the Mclaren junior

"I am happy that my starts here at Zandvoort worked out so well. Apart from that, I almost went off the track once because, I believe, the wind had turned and I made a mistake."

"But it went well and I am happy with my second win of this weekend." He added

The battles for positions in the midfield were a little closer, Nikita Mazepin (Hitech Grand Prix) repeatedly tried to overtake his team-mate Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix).  The Estonian, who temporarily also put Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing) under pressure, managed to keep the Russian at bay.

With five minutes remaining, Pedro Piquet (Van Amersfoort Racing) tried to overtake Jake Hughes on the outside at Tarzan corner, but the Hitech driver successfully defended his position. Meanwhile, Nikita Mazepin had to slot in behind rookie driver Joey Mawson and lost his ninth place to the Australian.

Mazepin wanted to counter, but didn’t succeed. Thus, the finish order from fifth place onwards was: Jake Hughes from Pedro Piquet, Harrison Newey, Ralf Aron, Joey Mawson and Nikita Mazepin.

In the cold and wet Eifel, Lando Norris (Carlin, 1m35.601s) turned out to be unbeatable in qualifying of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship: the British McLaren junior driver posted the seventh fastest qualifying time in a row.

At the 3.629 kilometres long Nürburgring sprint circuit, he was almost one second faster than his nearest rival Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m36.508s). Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam, 1m36.535s) and newcomer Sacha Fenestraz (Carlin, 1m36.813s) were classified in third and fourth place, followed by Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam, 1m36.904s), second in the drivers’ standings, and Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m37.052s).

Lando Norris currently is in great shape: at Spa-Francorchamps and Zandvoort already, he claimed all fastest qualifying times and at Nürburgring, once again, nobody was better than the Carlin driver.

At the end of the 20 minutes’ session, he was 0.907 seconds faster than Jake Hughes, who was classified second. Stalwart Callum Ilott, the best-placed Prema Powerteam driver, was only 0.027 seconds slower than Hughes, which made the Brit end up in third place.

Frenchman Sacha Fenestraz had a successful FIA Formula 3 European Championship qualifying debut as he ended up fourth. The current Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup points’ leader is contesting his first-ever FIA Formula 3 European Championship race weekend and was able to keep up with the fastest drivers right away.

German Maximilian Günther, currently second in the drivers’ standings and determined to attack Norris for the lead in his home round at the Nürburgring, had to make do with fifth place.

Behind the test and reserve driver of the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team, Ralf Aron, the two rookies Jehan Daruvala (Carlin, 1m37.070s) and Joey Mawson (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m37.133s), Nikita Mazepin (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m37.200s) and Tadasuke Makino (Hitech Grand Prix, 1m37.233s) rounded out the top ten.

Max Defourny (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m37.494s) claimed eleventh place for his FIA Formula 3 European Championship debut while the third novice Petru Florescu (Motopark, 1m38.361s) was classified 17th in his first-ever FIA Formula 3 European Championship qualifying.

"The start of qualifying was tricky because, contrarily to free practice, the track was wet. As I never have driven a Formula 3 car at a wet Nürburgring before, I initially didn’t know what to expect." Said Norris

"However, I quickly found my way and I felt at ease. Due to the cold, it took quite long for the tyres to reach the optimal working temperature."

"Just before the end, I made a few mistakes, but on my final lap, when I put less pressure on myself, things went well again. I didn’t make any further mistakes and I was able to improve once again.”

In the 20th race of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season, Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam) made maximum use of his pole position and won from his fellow countrymen Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix), Lando Norris (Carlin) and Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing).

Together with fifth place for David Beckmann (Motopark), this meant that five different teams were classified in the first five positions. Third place at the 4.307 kilometres long Circuit Zandvoort was enough for McLaren junior driver Norris to move up into the lead of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers’ standings, after Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam), who started the race as the points’ leader, only finished seventh behind Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin). Günther currently is trailing Norris by one point.

Callum Ilott had inherited pole position after qualifying as Lando Norris had been dropped two positions on the grid following a yellow flag infringement.

The Prema Powerteam driver made the best use of his grid position and was leading the field into the first corner. Behind him, Jake Hughes, Lando Norris and Harrison Newey followed in second to fourth, with German David Beckmann and Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg next up.

A few laps after the start, Joey Mawson (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Pedro Piquet (Van Amersfoort Racing) collided after which the Brazilian’s car came to a halt in the gravel trap. Mawson made it back to the pits, where his car was repaired so that he could rejoin the race. Meanwhile, the field completed its laps behind the safety car until it was released again at the start of lap five.

In the remainder of the race, Ilott was able to pull clear more and more and eventually celebrated his fourth win of the season. Next to race winner Ilott, second-placed Jake Hughes and Lando Norris, who was classified third, were present for the prize-giving ceremony.

Harrison Newey didn’t manage to pull away from his rival David Beckmann throughout the race, but the German never had a chance to successfully attack the Brit ahead of him. Thus, the Motopark driver ended up fifth from Ferdinand Habsburg. Maximilian Günther crossed the line in seventh place from his team-mates Guanyu Zhou (Prema Powerteam) and Mick Schumacher (Prema Powerteam) as well as Ralf Aron (Hitech Grand Prix)

Callum Ilott (Prema Powerteam): “Having inherited pole position yesterday, I was able to get into the lead at the start. Then, there was a safety car intervention, but I could also defend my first place at the restart. Our speed was always good and I am happy that I was finally able to prove it with this victory. I reckon that I was at the right place at the right time today.”

Jake Hughes (Hitech Grand Prix): “My start was okay and after the restart, I was still second. At a certain point, I ran over sand that another driver had put on the track and then I needed a few corners before they were clean again. Nevertheless, I am happy with second place.”

Lando Norris (Carlin): “Losing pole position because I hadn’t sufficiently slowed down when the yellow flags were out wasn’t ideal. In these conditions, third place in the race was the maximum. That I am back in the lead of the drivers’ standings is nice, but doesn’t mean too much. The season is still long, there are still many points at stake and there is no opportunity to relax yet.”