Norisring F3: Hubert survives three restarts for maiden win

Hubert headed championship leader Lance Stroll throughout the race, never quite managing to shake the Canadian - although whatever gap he could've built would have never lasted due to frequent crashing further down the order.

Off the line, Stroll very nearly snuck his way past Hubert, getting a marginally better getaway and taking the inside line into Turn 1.

However, the Frenchman, whose previous best finish in the series was a sixth place, managed to brake later than Stroll and hold the lead round the outside.

The first safety car period arrived shortly after the start as Ryan Tveter and Ben Barnicoat banged wheels into the Scholler esses, with Tveter forced off the line and subsequently collecting Barnicoat in the second part of the corner.

And given that Tveter's teammate Alessio Lorandi stopped at a different part of the circuit after contact with Ralf Aron, the subsequent clean-up took a fair few laps.

After Hubert kept the lead on the first safety car restart, contact between teammates and Red Bull juniors Niko Kari and Sergio Sette Camara halted the action again, the Brazilian pulling off to the side with a broken suspension.

Finally, the third safety car period occurred with just five minutes to go as F3 returnee Will Buller lost his car on entry into Turn 1, spinning out and taking Harrison Newey out of the race.

The last restart took place with three laps remaining - and Hubert controlled the proceedings to claim victory.

Stroll took second, followed by teammate Maximilian Gunther, who had held off pressure from Joel Eriksson.

Eriksson himself was only fifth after being passed by a charging Nick Cassidy, who made it a Prema 2-3-4 from 19th on the grid with a swashbuckling drive that was almost undone by late contact with Kari.

It was sixth for Ferrari junior Guan Yu Zhou, ahead of Callum Ilott, Mikkel Jensen, George Russell and Aron.