Hockenheim F3: Stroll holds off Dennis for maiden win

The Canadian youngster started from third on the grid behind teammates Felix Rosenqvist and Maximilian Gunther, but picked off the latter off the line as the new Prema arrival made a poor start.

Later on the first lap, Stroll dived up the inside of Rosenqvist to take a lead he would never lose at Mercedes-Arena, shortly before a Safety Car was called following a number of clashes lower down the order.

When the race resumed, Stroll wasted no time in establishing a cushion out front, as Jake Dennis, up to third behind the Safety Car ahead of Gunther, began to pressure Rosenqvist.

The Brit moved ahead of the new series champion at the hairpin, before closing the gap to Stroll in the following laps.

But the Ferrari protégé had enough pace in hand to hold off Dennis, securing his first European F3 win by a final margin of 0.9s as Rosenqvist rounded off the podium finishers.

Gunther made it four Prema cars in the top four, with Hitech’s Alexander Sims the best of the rest in fifth after diving up the inside of lead Carlin man Antonio Giovinazzi at the Mercedes-Arena at two-thirds distance.

George Russell (Carlin) got the better of rookie champion Charles Leclerc (Van Amersfoort) in their fight for seventh, with local driver Markus Pommer (Motopark) and Santino Ferrucci (Mucke) completing the top 10.

Signature’s Alex Albon just missed out on a spot in the top 10, but took a point as part-timer Sims is ineligible to score points, while Callum Ilott (Carlin) charged through the field from his P32 grid slot to take 15th at the chequered flag in an impressive drive.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time/Delay
1	Lance Stroll	Prema	35'48.561
2	Jake Dennis	Prema	0.898
3	Felix Rosenqvist	Prema	1.674
4	Maximilian Gunther	Prema	3.784
5	Alexander Sims	Hitech	6.192
6	Antonio Giovinazzi	Carlin	7.267
7	George Russell	Carlin	9.438
8	Charles Leclerc	Van Amersfoort	10.072
9	Markus Pommer	Motopark	11.929
10	Santino Ferrucci	Mucke	15.569
11	Alexander Albon	Signature	16.941
12	Alessio Lorandi	Van Amersfoort	17.842
13	Pietro Fittipaldi	Fortec	21.785
14	Michele Beretta	Mucke	25.379
15	Callum Ilott	Carlin	25.714
16	Ryan Tveter	Carlin	26.276
17	Sergio Sette Camara	Motopark	29.506
18	Tatiana Calderon	Carlin	34.280
19	Mikkel Jensen	Mucke	34.992
20	Gustavo Menezes	Carlin	36.131
21	Nabil Jeffri	Motopark	40.108
22	Nicolas Pohler	Double R	50.873
23	Matt Rao	Fortec	53.937
24	Julio Moreno	T-Sport	54.876
25	Tanart Sathienthirakul	Motopark	55.616
26	Matt Solomon	Double R	56.453
27	Marvin Dienst	ArtLine	1'05.952
28	Harald Schlegelmilch	ArtLine	1'14.372
29	Arjun Maini	Van Amersfoort	1'25.093
30	Dorian Boccolacci	Signature	2 Laps
Ret	Raoul Hyman	West-Tec
Ret	Zhi Cong Li	Fortec
Ret	Andy Chang	Fortec