Lando Norris believes he has to take “big points” from the Norisring next month to keep his European Formula 3 title fight on track.
Norris is now 25 points behind championship leader Joel Eriksson after a disappointing weekend at the Hungaroring. He took only 19 points from the three races, whilst championship rivals Eriksson, Ilott, and Gunther all took race wins.
“There’s no denying that Hungary was a huge disappointment, but we’ll bounce back,” he said. “And that starts in Germany next month.”
Race starts have been a problem for Norris all year. Though he is trying to fix the issue, it occurred again in Hungary. In all three races, Norris lost positions off of the line, but was able to bounce back in the first and final race. Stalling the car in race two dropped him to the back of the field, though, and ended his hopes of fighting for the points.
“I stalled at the start of race two which ruined my race straight away,” he said. “I made a better start in race three but still dropped a place.”
Qualifying also proved tricky for Norris. He struggled on the wet Hungaroring track and took his worst qualifying result in F3 to date. The poor qualifying added to his race day struggles.
“Qualifying on Friday evening in Hungary was a big struggle on the wet track,” he said. “I pitted for a change to the car and immediately made up over a second on the one flying lap I managed to get afterwards. It was only good enough for P7 – one of my worst quali results ever.
“My car felt good in the second qualifying session. The pace was good enough for pole but I made too many mistakes.”
With six rounds left, there’s plenty of time for Norris to make up positions in his championship fight. He is sure he can enjoy a more successful race weekend at the Norisring next month, despite having never raced at the track.
“Like Pau, it’s a venue that’ll be totally new to me. But I showed at Pau I am capable of learning a track quickly so I have no problem in that respect. I’m more determined than ever to have a successful weekend there after Hungary.”
