Joel Eriksson forced to retire from Norisring F3 lead

Joel Eriksson was denied a potential first FIA F3 European Championship victory this weekend, the Swede being sent into retirement while holding the lead at Germany’s Norisring street track.

Eriksson – announced on Friday as a new BMW Motorsport Junior – had worked his way into the lead in the first of the weekend’s three races when he fell victim to a mistake by third-placed Callum Ilott at the Grundig hairpin.

The Briton overshot the braking zone for the tight left-hander, careering past second-placed Lance Stroll and smashing into Eriksson’s Team Motopark Dallara which was eliminated with broken suspension.

The 17-year-old Swede had previously snatched first place with a committed move around the outside of championship leader Stroll, having started the race from second on the grid after a strong qualifying showing on his first visit to the Nuremberg venue.

“What happened in the first race this weekend was massively, massively disappointing, and I hope that’s something I will never have to experience again,” says Joel Eriksson. “It was the perfect race until that point and I felt in good control, focussing on getting my exits right and driving within my limits. It could have been my first win in Formula 3, so it was extremely frustrating. I guess we proved a point, at least, which is always something.”

In the second race, staged later on Saturday, Eriksson then came home fifth overall and second among the rookies despite struggling with brake problems, only to be eliminated once again in Race 3 when he was taken out by another rival in the early stages.

“This simply wasn’t my weekend,” Eriksson concludes. “We did score a decent result in Race 2, but I had some problems with the brakes and traction and couldn’t quite attack in the same way as in Race 1. To be taken out in two out of three races obviously costs us a lot of points, and it’s a shame to lose that ground due to other people’s mistakes. All we can do is recharge and give it another go at the next one.”

Both Ilott and George Russell, who ran into the back of Eriksson in Race 3, were penalised for the respective clashes.

With the FIA F3 European Championship having now reached half time, Joel Eriksson sits eighth in the overall standings and third in the rookie classification.

The next round takes place at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on July 15-17, but Eriksson and his fellow rivals will be back on track already this coming week for two days of official testing at Hockenheim (Germany).