Tydd St Giles racer George Russell enjoyed three top ten finishes at the third round of the Formula 3 European Championship in Pau.

Following an unlucky weekend in Hockenheim, the Carlin driver was determined to get back on track. His pace was strong and he felt confident, but qualifying didn’t go as planned.

He said: “We went out for qualifying but didn’t manage to get the most out of it. Coming away P5 and P7 in our group, which was a lot lower than expected after free practice, was very disappointing.”

Russell started race one in P9, managing to gain one place whilst holding off pressure from behind to finish in P8.

In race two, Russell strategically manoeuvred his way through the field, passing a number of cars on track, to claim P6.

Russell said; “From P12, I made a really good start and managed to work my way up to P6, which was a fantastic result on any circuit, let alone a street circuit.”

Race three was a similar story, Russell knew it would be difficult from his grid position but battled hard once again to finish in P8 and in the points.

Reflecting on his weekend, which has left him sixth in the general standings, Russell said: “We managed to have three great races though. As it was street circuit racing overtaking was extremely difficult but the target was always to move forward.

“Now onto the next one where we need to get our heads around the qualifying woes of Pau, and get back to fighting at the sharp end of the grid.”

Round 4 takes place in Monza on May 29-31.