Lando Norris put on a dominant display to take two wins in the BRDC British F3 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend (8-9 July).
The 16-year-old Carlin driver left it late to take pole in qualifying but used all his experience to take his third win in the Championship in the first race.Frustratingly, he was forced to retire in race two when another podium was on the cards.But the ADD Motorsports-supported racer made amends with a brilliant win from fifth place in the final race to take his fourth victory overall.
He said: “We were way off in testing, but worked really hard on improving the car and from then on the pace was great. Slipstream plays a big part here, so I did well to take the win from pole in the first race. I drove well to get into first from fifth in the final race – and to hold onto it and make no mistakes late on, was a good effort. Overall, it was a positive performance and I’m happy to get another couple of wins in the Championship.”
Lando struggled for pace during testing, but the team made changes to the car for qualifying that made all the difference. Heading into the last lap in fifth he got into a good position to take advantage of the slipstream for the whole lap and managed to take pole by under a tenth - a massive improvement in time from testing. The Somerset racer got a good start in race one and kept his front position after a safety car. With the slipstream again playing a massive factor, however, he found himself in second place soon after. But Lando waited until he could use the slipstream to his own advantage and took the lead back, this time holding on well until the end for victory.
The reverse grid of the second race saw Lando start in eighth although he moved up a place immediately. He dropped to ninth after going wide to avoid some oil on the track from a previous race, but as things settled got back into fifth. He had caught up with fourth place when his gear stuck, forcing him to retire early with a podium in sight. With the fastest lap from the first two races determining starting position for the final race, Lando started the final race in fifth.
After a hectic opening, he settled down and moved into fourth, before taking two places at the same time with a brilliant move. Despite the front runner having a decent lead by this time, Lando closed the gap and finally made his move, getting into the lead and pulling away. He made sure he kept his nerve to take a well-fought win.
Lando moves into sixth place in the Championship – despite missing a third of the races due to other racing commitments. He added: “I’ve more wins than my competitors and my average points per weekend are better than the leader, so if I’d entered the other races, I’d be right up there challenging. But I’m pretty happy to be where I am in the Championship after the amount of races I have missed. Hopefully I can add a few more wins before the end of the season.”
