Zandvoort F3: Norris dominates Race 1 from pole
Lando Norris racked up a sixth victory of the European Formula 3 season in the opening race of the weekend at Zandvoort, converting pole into an early lead that he would never lose.
Lando Norris, Carlin Dallara F317 - Volkswagen
FIA F3 / Suer
The British driver made a strong getaway from pole, while Carlin teammate Ferdinand Habsburg bogged down and was passed by Joel Eriksson, Maximilian Gunther and Callum Ilott at the start.
Behind, an over-ambitious move at the inside of Turn 1 from Guan Yu Zhou resulted in contact with Ralf Aron, who in turn tagged David Beckmann.
The German's Motopark-run car dug in and rolled as it entered the gravel trap, although Beckmann was unhurt and able to get out of his car unaided once righted.
While Aron and Beckmann's cars were retrieved, the safety car was deployed, and when the action resumed on lap 6 Norris was forced to defend from title rival Eriksson at the first corner.
But the McLaren protege repelled the attack, and from there steadily opened up an advantage out front.
Three seconds clear after 10 laps, Norris eventually took the line 8.9 seconds ahead of Eriksson, with points leader Gunther completing the podium in third, another 2.7s behind.
The battle for fourth place was hotly contested, as Habsburg was able to repass Ilott around the outside of Turn 1 at the restart.
Ilott spent the remainder of the race firmly in Habsburg's wheeltracks, but was unable to make a move, and ended up settling for fifth ahead of Prema teammate Mick Schumacher.
Zhou ran seventh after causing the Turn 1 incident, and a drive-through penalty for the Chinese driver promoted Pedro Piquet to seventh and Jake Hughes to eighth, close behind Schumacher.
Force India junior driver Jehan Daruvala and Harrison Newey completed the top 10, the latter just holding off Nikita Mazepin for the last point.
Race results:
Pos. | Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lando Norris | Carlin | 34'40.756 |
2 | Joel Eriksson | Motopark | 8.974 |
3 | Maximilian Gunther | Prema Powerteam | 11.653 |
4 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Carlin | 12.493 |
5 | Callum Ilott | Prema Powerteam | 13.002 |
6 | Mick Schumacher | Prema Powerteam | 20.000 |
7 | Pedro Piquet | Van Amersfoort Racing | 21.066 |
8 | Jake Hughes | Hitech GP | 21.761 |
9 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 22.989 |
10 | Harrison Newey | Van Amersfoort Racing | 24.258 |
11 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | 24.635 |
12 | Keyvan Andres | Motopark | 33.606 |
13 | Ameya Vaidyanathan | Carlin | 39.197 |
14 | Joey Mawson | Van Amersfoort Racing | 43.819 |
15 | Marino Sato | Motopark | 1 lap |
16 | Guan Yu Zhou | Prema Powerteam | 1 lap |
Ret | Tadasuke Makino | Hitech GP | - |
Ret | David Beckmann | Motopark | - |
Ret | Ralf Aron | Hitech GP | - |
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