Rookie Norris Takes Pole at Silverstone

Carlin’s Lando Norris took the first pole position of the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship today at Silverstone.  The 17-year-old McLaren junior triumphed in an incredibly close session which saw several drivers challenging for the top spot.  Team mate and fellow rookie Jehan Daruvala stayed calm after traffic hampered his first few laps to go fifth fastest with his final flying lap.  Jake Dennis will also line up in the top ten in 8th while Ferdinand Habsburg qualified 17th after also struggling with traffic.

It was several minutes before the FIA Formula 3 drivers left the pits for the first qualifying session of the season late this afternoon.  It wasn’t until half way through the 20-minute session that drivers started to show their true pace, and with nine minutes on the clock Norris held provisional pole with Dennis P2.

The times would change almost continuously in the final minutes through, highlighting the high level of competition in the FIA junior series.  Third year driver Callum Ilott who had topped today’s earlier practice session sessions was a strong contender for pole, relegating Norris to P2 while Maximilian Gunther also briefly took the top spot.

In his first FIA F3 European Championship qualifying session Daruvala had got off to a tricky start, caught in traffic which hampered his first flying laps.  The Sahara Force India junior stayed calm and gradually made his way up the timing screens.

Norris meanwhile was on a hot lap, setting a purple middle sector and jumped from third to P1 with two and a half minutes remaining.  His best time of 1.50.094 would go unbeaten in the final minutes.  Daruvala made his last flying lap count to jump up to fifth place, making him the second best placed rookie behind team mate Norris.

Speaking about his first F3 pole, Norris said, “In FP1 and FP2 this morning, the car felt pretty good but there were a couple of things we were struggling with, although we were confident we could make some improvements.  Going into qualifying, we were aiming for a top three position, but knew that pole position would be very tough.  As soon as I came out of the pits though, the car felt better.  I had no traffic, so could just focus on putting a lap together.  I had two or three laps in a row where I was improving and got the lap I needed, but only by 0.006s.  Obviously, the gap is really small and I think the improvements we made between sessions were key.”

Team mate Daruvala added, “After free practice I was third quickest and I thought we were looking good as a team.  The car felt even better in qualifying and I wanted to hit my peak on lap four or five, but by then I still hadn’t set a time as I was behind cars that kept backing off to get a gap.  I got two laps in right at the end, which was later than I wanted.  Having said that the car felt great and we have good pace so I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend now.”

The second qualifying session will get underway at 13.30 tomorrow with the first race of the season kicking off at 15.55 local time.