Spa European F3: George Russell claims double pole for Hitech
George Russell claimed a double pole position in the second qualifying session of the Formula 3 European Championship round at Spa


With the F3 cars on a dry track for the first time this weekend, Russell set two laps quicker than the best anyone else could manage in his Hitech Grand Prix Dallara-Mercedes, meaning he takes pole for races two and three.
Russell's final margin over second-quickest Joel Eriksson was 0.108 seconds.
"It was a bit tough with it being the first time on slicks the whole weekend, and it was quite slippery to be honest - the lap times were a bit slow," said Russell, the 2014 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner.
"That made it tough to drive and a bit of a handful, but we got it right as a team and it was really good.
"If only this was a Pau or a Zandvoort where you can't overtake!"
Series rookie Eriksson, on his first taste of the Spa circuit in an F3 car in the dry, managed to take the second-fastest second-best time too, so the Swede will line up his Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen on the front row for races two and three.
"I had my reference in my head, so I plugged it in and worked up to those reference points," he said.
Nikita Mazepin made a huge jump in performance to take third-fastest time in his Hitech car, while Mikkel Jensen stamped in a big one-off improvement late in the session to plant his Mucke Motorsport car in fourth, although the Dane's second-best time is good only for 12th.
Ben Barnicoat made it three Hitech cars in the top five, and his ultra-consistent performance was enough to elevate him to third on the grid for race three.
Callum Ilott bounced back from his first-qualifying disaster to take sixth ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing team-mate Anthoine Hubert, and the duo moves up to fourth and fifth on the grid for race three, with Mazepin's second-best time putting him sixth.
The big shock of the session was the form of the all-conquering Prema Powerteam, with Maximilian Gunther the best of the team's quartet in eighth (for both races) and championship leader Lance Stroll down in 11th, although he improves to ninth for race three.
Mucke's David Beckmann was ninth overall, and moves up to seventh on the grid for race three.
Tenth overall was the Motopark car of Guan Yu Zhou, with Prema's Nick Cassidy (13th overall) taking that position for race three.
RACE TWO QUALIFYING
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Russell | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.110s | - |
2 | Joel Eriksson | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.218s | 0.108s |
3 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.403s | 0.293s |
4 | Mikkel Jensen | kfzteile Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.554s | 0.444s |
5 | Ben Barnicoat | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.566s | 0.456s |
6 | Callum Ilott | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.599s | 0.489s |
7 | Anthoine Hubert | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.646s | 0.536s |
8 | Maximilian Guenther | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.700s | 0.590s |
9 | David Beckmann | kfzteile Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.793s | 0.683s |
10 | Guanyu Zhou | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.853s | 0.743s |
11 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.033s | 0.923s |
12 | Niko Kari | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.035s | 0.925s |
13 | Nick Cassidy | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.145s | 1.035s |
14 | Ryan Tveter | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.371s | 1.261s |
15 | Pedro Piquet | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.609s | 1.499s |
16 | Harrison Newey | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.615s | 1.505s |
17 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.669s | 1.559s |
18 | Ralf Aron | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.815s | 1.705s |
19 | Ukyo Sasahara | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/Threebond | 2m14.049s | 1.939s |
20 | Alessio Lorandi | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m14.110s | 2.000s |
21 | Weiron Tan | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m15.446s | 3.336s |
RACE THREE QUALIFYING
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Russell | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.156s | - |
2 | Joel Eriksson | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m12.374s | 0.218s |
3 | Ben Barnicoat | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.654s | 0.498s |
4 | Callum Ilott | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.748s | 0.592s |
5 | Anthoine Hubert | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.800s | 0.644s |
6 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.817s | 0.661s |
7 | David Beckmann | kfzteile Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.830s | 0.674s |
8 | Maximilian Guenther | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m12.988s | 0.832s |
9 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.148s | 0.992s |
10 | Nick Cassidy | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.264s | 1.108s |
11 | Guanyu Zhou | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.308s | 1.152s |
12 | Mikkel Jensen | kfzteile Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.510s | 1.354s |
13 | Ryan Tveter | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.537s | 1.381s |
14 | Niko Kari | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.631s | 1.475s |
15 | Harrison Newey | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.700s | 1.544s |
16 | Pedro Piquet | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.804s | 1.648s |
17 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m13.816s | 1.660s |
18 | Ralf Aron | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 2m13.938s | 1.782s |
19 | Alessio Lorandi | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m14.153s | 1.997s |
20 | Ukyo Sasahara | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/Threebond | 2m14.407s | 2.251s |
21 | Weiron Tan | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2m15.881s | 3.725s |

Spa European F3: Williams F1 protege Stroll takes commanding pole
Spa European F3: Williams F1 junior Lance Stroll wins opening race

Latest news
Why physical fitness is an understimated challenge for IndyCar rookies
The lack of in-car physical fitness is an “underestimated” hurdle for an IndyCar Series rookie, according to Dale Coyne Racing's Indy Lights graduate Sting Ray Robb.
Bubba Wallace ‘got dumped’ by Austin Dillon in NASCAR Clash
Bubba Wallace says Austin Dillon “dumped” him out of second place in NASCAR’s chaotic Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sunday night.
Albon warns Williams has "long road ahead" to recover in F1
Alex Albon admits that his Williams Formula 1 team has a “long road ahead” as it tries to progress up the field this year.
Toyota won’t put more pressure on Katsuta at WRC Rally Sweden
Toyota World Rally Championship boss Jari-Matti Latvala says the team won’t "put more pressure" on Takamoto Katsuta to deliver in his first drive for the factory team this weekend.
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
The ladder to F1 never gets any less slippery. But a strong cast of Formula 3 and Formula 2 aces proved sure of foot as they continued their climbs in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
Why the Formula 3 benchmark's 2022 season hinges on qualifying
Prema Racing has long dominated FIA Formula 3, taking the teams’ title in two of the past three seasons. But its start to 2022 has been trickier than usual, and the answers lie in its qualifying performance
How the ultra-tight F3 title fight is taking shape
With just five points separating the top five after two rounds, FIA Formula 3 looks set for another thrilling season in 2022. But who stands the best chance of pulling away from that pack, and who are the contenders bubbling under?
The F3 newcomer making good on his unusual career path
Joining the FIA Formula 3 grid as a rookie with a team new to the series could prove daunting for most, but then there aren't many drivers who have the extensive experience Franco Colapinto brings from his time racing sportscars. The Argentinian explains how his LMP2 experience is already helping him in 2022
The British trio hunting for F3 title glory
The 2022 FIA Formula 3 season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. British trio Zak O’Sullivan, Ollie Bearman and Jonny Edgar have all become proteges of Formula 1 teams, and are talents to watch this year
How an outsider demolished a rank of F1 juniors
His career has been a slowburner but Gregoire Saucy trounced a collection of F1 juniors in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, and now he’s preparing to do it again in FIA F3. Here’s how the Swiss caught the world by surprise in 2021 and how he plans to do it all over again
Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021
With a veritable feast of feeder series talent in 2021, FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 produced some of its most exciting racing yet. Although Prema Racing drivers once again dominated the respective series, drivers from other teams also stole the limelight to mark themselves out as stars of the future, or validate their highly-regarded standing
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.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.