Norman Nato secured points in both races of the weekend at the Hungaroring, wit the Frenchman finishing on the podium for the third time in 2016 during Sunday’s Sprint race.
The Racing Engineering driver was disappointed to finish down in seventh during Saturday’s Feature race in Hungary, especially after showing good early-lap pace, with an electronic issue costing him a lot of time in the closing laps that saw him fall away from a fight for a potential podium.
“My start was good and I went from P5 to P3,” said Nato after Saturday’s Feature race. “Then my pace was good on options and I had Sirotkin behind me under control.
“Shortly after I pitted for primes I started to struggle with an electronic problem on the car, which continued until I crossed the finish line. Suffering from misfires and no DRS I lost positions, I was able to finish the race in seventh.”
Nato started second for Sunday’s Sprint race but was displaced at the start by eventual race winner Sergey Sirotkin, and was forced to settle for the lower step on the podium, although it was his first visit to the podium since the Feature race in Monaco.
“The start was OK but not as good as I can do and in the first corner [Nobuharu] Matsushita hit me on the right rear wheel and I lost a place to Sirotkin,” said Nato on Sunday.
“After the restart from the Safety Car I struggled to match the pace of Sirotkin so I decided to push but keep my tyres for the end of the race so I was able to catch Jordan [King] a little but one lap I would be faster and the next lap he would be faster.
“Sirotkin was just quicker today and there was not a lot we could do, but overall it was a good race and I would like to thank the team as they have worked a lot in the two days, especially last night to find the problem with my car and it worked well today and I was able to fight so now we can just work on the driving and the set-up.”
