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Norris' race-winning move was "not fair", says Ilott

Prema Powerteam driver Callum Ilott feels European F3 rival Lando Norris' decisive overtake in the final race of the Nurburgring round was "not fair".

Callum Ilott, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F317 - Mercedes-Benz

Callum Ilott, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F317 - Mercedes-Benz

FIA F3 / Suer

Norris passed Ilott early on in the final race en route to his second victory of the weekend, which allowed him to stretch his championship lead to 73 points.

Stewards investigated the move, which came just after an early safety car period and in which Norris ran deep into the run-off area at Turn 4 to complete the manoeuvre, but the McLaren-Honda protege ultimately escaped without sanction.

The incident highlighted the ambiguity of the track limits rules, with drivers being told that they were allowed to use the run-off at Turn 4 yet Ilott claiming that to use this to complete a pass and gain a position was not correct.

“What Lando did was not fair,” he said. “Out of the last corner at the restart my rear tyres started to go, so he got a run and we were side by side at Turns 1, 2 and 3.

“At Turn 4 I was on the inside and he just got on the gas and went all the way to the wall on the exit.

“I thought he’d give the place back but he didn’t, and because of that I came straight under pressure from Jake [Hughes].”

Norris, meanwhile, said he was told by his Carlin team that there was no need to give position back.

“I had a look on the outside of Turn 1 and then on the outside of Turn 2, and I got the cutback on the exit of Turn 2 into Turn 3,” Norris recalled.

“He [Ilott] didn’t really close the door too much, but he got his nose on the inside of Turn 4. I was just keeping my foot in, and kept it on the gas to run wide.

“If they’d told me to give the place back I would have done, but they [the team] said [on the radio] there was no problem.”

Norris added that the drivers were only told to make sure they rejoined the track safely when they ran wide.

“No one’s been done [for track limits] there, not even in qualifying,” he said. “They said in the briefing [that] if you do go off, rejoin safely, which I did.”

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