Joel came home in second place in Race 2 of the Hungaroring FIA F3 European Championship weekend, closing the gap on championship leader Maximilian Günther in the process.
From the front row of the grid, Joel maintained second throughout the race, having initially put pressure on pole-sitter Callum Ilott on the opening laps before settling into position for the remainder of the event.
Ilott duly won from Joel and Guan Yu Zhou, while Günther – who snatched the overall lead away from Joel in yesterday’s Race 1 – finished sixth.
That means Joel cuts Günther’s advantage from 22 to 12 points, while fellow title contender Lando Norris finished outside the top ten after bogging down at the start from third on the grid.
Joel has now leapfrogged Norris for second place in the standings.
The final race of the weekend will take place this afternoon, with Joel set to start in pole position. Ilott will be second on the grid, with Norris third and Günther sixth.
Next session: Race 3, 17.00 local time (GMT+02:00) this afternoon.
Comment, Joel:
“A good and strong result, which is what we needed after yesterday. I was not going to take too many risks today, knowing that Günther started a little bit down the order. I also understood that Lando struggled at the start, and while I was quite a bit quicker than Callum on the first few laps, he eventually started to pull a little bit of a gap and I settled for second. I’m pleased with the result, but I’m already focussed on Race 3 and trying to maximise the outcome there. That’s what could really help us in the championship.”
RESULTS – Race 2
