Max Verstappen took his eighth victory of his amazing rookie season and his first as a fully-fledged Red Bull Junior driver as he mastered a wet start to the race and the surprise early attack of ThreeBond with T-Sport driver Richard Goddard for the win. Italian’s Antonio Fuoco and Antonio Giovinazzi completed the podium as the track dried up.
A valiant effort from Goddard saw the Australian start on wet tyres on the damp track, and he used them superbly while the track was wet enough to climb into the lead, but the track dried too quickly and he fell down the order once more, and ultimately finished down in nineteenth position. Debutant Wing Chung Chang of Team West-Tec F3 and Michele Beretta of EuroInternational also took the same tyre gamble and made early inroads up the order but ultimately fell away from contention and both ultimately ended up a lap behind at the end.
Prema Powerteam driver Fuoco made the best start of the runners on dry tyres to sweep into the lead on the opening lap ahead of Verstappen, but made a mistake just as Goddard arrived to relinquish the lead to Verstappen, who a lap later saw the Australian take the lead. When Goddard’s tyres finally gave up and no more rain came, Verstappen reassumed the lead, which he held on to until the chequered flag. Fuoco and Jagonya Ayam with Carlin driver Giovinazzi kept in close contact with the Van Amersfoort Racing driver but the order did not change.
Jordan King was able to take fourth place for Carlin, ahead of fellow Briton Tom Blomqvist of Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, who had a good mid-race battle with championship leader Esteban Ocon, who ultimately finished seven seconds behind the Briton in sixth.
Lucas Auer was seventh for Mücke Motorsport, having spun on the formation lap. Luckily for the Austrian he was able to keep going and reassume his grid spot. Team-mate Felix Rosenqvist survived a spin and a knock with Goddard to take eighth, while Santino Ferrucci of EuroInternational and Ed Jones of Carlin completed the top ten.
There were only two retirements despite the tricky track conditions, with Jake Dennis of Carlin the most high profile after an early clash with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jules Szymkowiak. Tatiana Calderon had an eventful race, earning a drive-through penalty after herself clashing with Szymkowiak, and then crashing out in the closing stages in her Jo Zeller Racing machine.
Nurburgring Race 1 Result
| POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Van Amersfoort Racing | 35m35.010s |
| 2 | Antonio Fuoco | ITA | Prema Powerteam | +3.275s |
| 3 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | +3.789s |
| 4 | Jordan King | GBR | Carlin | +6.650s |
| 5 | Tom Blomqvist | GBR | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | +11.650s |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Prema Powerteam | +18.918s |
| 7 | Lucas Auer | AUT | Mücke Motorsport | +22.352s |
| 8 | Felix Rosenqvist | SWE | Mücke Motorsport | +24.972s |
| 9 | Santino Ferrucci | USA | EuroInternational | +33.207s |
| 10 | Ed Jones | UAE | Carlin | +33.767s |
| 11 | Dennis van de Laar | NED | Prema Powerteam | +34.738s |
| 12 | Felix Serralles | PUE | Team West-Tec F3 | +41.642s |
| 13 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Prema Powerteam | +47.883s |
| 14 | Gustavo Menezes | USA | Van Amersfoort Racing | +48.247s |
| 15 | Roy Nissany | ISR | Mücke Motorsport | +57.942s |
| 16 | Sean Galael | INO | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | +58.751s |
| 17 | Jules Szymkowiak | NED | Van Amersfoort Racing | +1m17.741s |
| 18 | Alexander Toril | ESP | ThreeBond with T-Sport | +1m25.439s |
| 19 | Richard Goddard | AUS | ThreeBond with T-Sport | +1m31.922s |
| 20 | Wing Chung Chang | MAC | Team West-Tec F3 | +1 Lap |
| 21 | Michele Beretta | ITA | EuroInternational | +1 Lap |
| 22 | Sandro Zeller | SWI | Jo Zeller Racing | +1 Lap |
| RET | Tatiana Calderon | COL | Jo Zeller Racing | |
| RET | Jake Dennis | GBR | Carlin |
