By posting a second place and a win at Red Bull Ring in the two opening races of the fourth round of the season, Lance Stroll consolidated his lead in the 2016 FIA F.3 European Championship. It was an outstanding day for Prema Powerteam and for the young Canadian, who now stands with 141 points while his closest contender, Callum Ilott, is sitting at 116.

Stroll scored his second win of the season after his Race 1 victory at Paul Ricard, while Prema achieved win number five. Maximilian Gunther scored third place in race 1 before ending up seventh in race 2. Nick Cassidy and Ralf Aron also scored points in race 1 by finishing in sixth and ninth place respectively.

# 1 - Lance Stroll

“In the opening race, I was third behind Ilott and Gunther at the end of the first lap, but I benefitted from a mistake made by my team-mate and moved up to second. Then i tried to respect the track limits to avoid any penalty and just protect P2. At the start of race 2 I managed to distance myself from Ilott, but after the safety-car came in I had to start defending again. Once again though, I got away quickly and the race became pretty interesting because I could increase my margin lap after lap. I extended my lead on my championship contenders but I’m still not thinking about the title. I want to focus race by race. There is still a long way ahead”.

# 2 - Nick Cassidy

“The morning race has been exciting and I’m satisfied with the sixth place. In race I made a good start and after the safety-car I was in the top-10, then I came back to the pits to retire”.

# 16 - Ralf Aron

“I started eighth in race 1 and did have a good getaway but ended up wide at the first corner. That cost me two positions. After the safety-car I made a slight mistake, but I recovered a bit and scored a ninth place that doesn’t feel really rewarding. In the second race, I spun and damaged my front wing. I came back to the pits to replace it and even if the car was ok, there weren’t many chances for a comeback”.

# 17 - Maximilian Gunther

“In race 1 I had a good start but in the opening laps I experienced some issues with the car. That’s why I dropped down to fourth behind Lance and Jensen. Then I found more speed and attacked Mikkel to regain a podium position in third. In the second race I was starting seventh, I fought hard and gained and lost some positions and I even had to avoid a contact dropping down to 10th place. Then I moved back to seventh again. Despite the traffic, the speed was good. I caught Jensen but I lost grip at the front due to the proximity with him so I ended up P7. It’s a solid result, really valuable i terms of the championship”.  

Canadians In BOLD