King true to his word to clinch three podiums

Courtesy of a sublime effort around one of the most famous racetracks the world over, he came away with a hat-trick of them.

Monza may have changed over the years, but its long, tree-fringed lap remains quite a challenge - and one the Stoneleigh driver quickly got to grips with.

After gaining his second Formula Renault pole position, King went on to produce a gritty performance in the first of the weekend’s three races.

“I got a really good start and after I had got through the first chicane, I looked in my mirrors and saw I had a decent lead,” he said.

“Daniil Kvyat missed the chicane, though, and rejoined the track right behind me, and then he got a good tow to drag past me along the start/finish straight at the end of lap one.

“After that, because he had more top speed than I did, I could never quite get close enough to attack him back.

“Following the race, we looked at a few things and found there was a niggling little problem with the throttle body, so we changed that - and for races two and three, our top speed was fine.

“If we’d known that before the first race, maybe it would have been a different story.”

After taking the chequered flag barely three-quarters-of-a-second adrift of Kvyat and setting an almost identical fastest lap, the 17-year-old went on to give a similarly eye-catching account of himself in races two and three.

A gearbox problem cost him more valuable time in the second race and, despite a lengthy tussle with Kvyat’s teammate Carlos Sainz Jr, King had to settle for third place.

A misjudgement as he challenged Kvyat for first place then saw the Princethorpe student lose valuable ground in the final race of the weekend.

“That probably cost me the race, in hindsight, as several drivers were able to tow past me,” he said.

“There was suddenly a massive train of cars right behind, and I dropped down to fifth at one stage before recovering to third in the end.

“It was a shame that I hadn’t made my move for the lead stick, because we were easily quick enough to have finished second without fail - and it would have been a really good race with Daniil for the win.

“Still, it was my third podium of the weekend, so I couldn’t complain too much.”