Spa European F3: Lando Norris takes clean sweep of pole positions
McLaren-Honda protege Lando Norris completed a perfect day at Spa by claiming pole position for races two and three of the Formula 3 European Championship round in second qualifying
Norris and fellow British teenager Callum Ilott were in a class of their own, half a second clear of the opposition, with the Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen-mounted triple poleman finishing up 0.171 seconds clear.
Ilott got closer on second-best times, his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes 0.081s adrift of Norris on the race three grid.
Norris felt the small benefit of a tow from rapid Ferrari junior Guan Yu Zhou - who ended up third on each grid - on both of his quick laps; he was close enough to pick up some tow, but not so close that he lost time in the downforce-dependent middle sector.
"The tow wasn't amazing, but it was maybe worth a few tenths over the whole lap," he said.
"It's better to get a small tow than to get screwed in the middle sector.
"The car felt much better [than in first qualifying] - we made some improvements and the track also improved a lot, but Callum was a bit close!"
Ilott in turn didn't pick up a tow on his second-best lap, but did get one from Joey Mawson when he set his fastest time late in the session.
"The tyres had gone by then and I was hanging on in the middle sector," he said.
"If I'd got a tow when the tyres were better I could have been P1."
Alongside Zhou, championship leader Maximilian Gunther completes an all-Prema second row for races two and three.
Zhou has been penalised three places on the grid for race one - dropping from sixth to ninth - for blocking Mawson at the end of the earlier session.
Jake Hughes continued his good form, edging team-mate Nikita Mazepin for an all-Hitech GP third row for race two.
Hughes repeated that position for the finale, with Mazepin failing to get a quick second lap in.
Carlin team-mates Jehan Daruvala and Ferdinand Habsburg share row four for race two, while the top 10 is rounded out by Hitech's Ralf Aron and Van Amersfoort Racing's Pedro Piquet.
Daruvala and Aron move up to sixth and seventh respectively for race three, with Habsburg eighth from Harrison Newey and Joel Eriksson.
It was another miserable session for Motopark's title contender Eriksson, who rued a lack of grip after the first qualifying period.
In this one he ended up 12th on the grid for race two, 10th for race three.
RACE TWO QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lando Norris | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m11.120s | - |
2 | Callum Ilott | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.291s | 0.171s |
3 | Guanyu Zhou | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.684s | 0.564s |
4 | Maximilian Guenther | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.773s | 0.653s |
5 | Jake Hughes | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.823s | 0.703s |
6 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.830s | 0.710s |
7 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m11.891s | 0.771s |
8 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m11.921s | 0.801s |
9 | Ralf Aron | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.942s | 0.822s |
10 | Pedro Piquet | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.050s | 0.930s |
11 | Harrison Newey | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.175s | 1.055s |
12 | Joel Eriksson | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.206s | 1.086s |
13 | Joey Mawson | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.235s | 1.115s |
14 | David Beckmann | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.285s | 1.165s |
15 | Mick Schumacher | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.457s | 1.337s |
16 | Marino Sato | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.979s | 1.859s |
17 | Ameya Vaidyanathan | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.250s | 2.130s |
18 | Keyvan Andres | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.419s | 2.299s |
RACE THREE QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lando Norris | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m11.307s | - |
2 | Callum Ilott | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.388s | 0.081s |
3 | Guanyu Zhou | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.780s | 0.473s |
4 | Maximilian Guenther | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.781s | 0.474s |
5 | Jake Hughes | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.906s | 0.599s |
6 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m11.912s | 0.605s |
7 | Ralf Aron | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m11.958s | 0.651s |
8 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m11.959s | 0.652s |
9 | Harrison Newey | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.210s | 0.903s |
10 | Joel Eriksson | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.276s | 0.969s |
11 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.376s | 1.069s |
12 | Joey Mawson | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.387s | 1.080s |
13 | Mick Schumacher | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.545s | 1.238s |
14 | Pedro Piquet | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.677s | 1.370s |
15 | David Beckmann | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.136s | 1.829s |
16 | Marino Sato | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.161s | 1.854s |
17 | Ameya Vaidyanathan | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.448s | 2.141s |
18 | Keyvan Andres | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.456s | 2.149s |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments