Antonio Giovinazzi became the fourth winner in four FIA European Formula 3 Championship races in 2015 after getting ahead of pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist at the start and making the most of three safety car interventions at a wet Hockenheim.
The Jagonya Ayam with Carlin driver held off the challenge of Rosenqvist of Prema Powerteam, who never let Giovinazzi out of his sights, but safety car interventions to remove the stricken cars of Pietro Fittipaldi on lap four, Nicolas Beer and Tatiana Calderon on lap eight and Raoul Hyman on lap twelve meant the race was heavily disrupted and wasn’t truly allowed to get going.
Charles Leclerc fought of a fast starting Jake Dennis at the start to claim the final podium spot for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Maximilian Günther taking fifth for Mücke Motorsport having lost two places at the start to Leclerc and Dennis.
Lance Stroll was sixth for Prema Powerteam ahead of Team Motopark’s Markus Pommer, while Mikkel Jensen was eighth for Mücke Motorsport.
Brandon Maisano was ninth for Prema Powerteam, with Gustavo Menezes of Jagonya Ayam with Carlin holding off Santino Ferrucci of Mücke Motorsport for the final point in tenth.
The safety cars were deployed to recover Fittipaldi’s Fortec Motorsports car after running into the Sachskurve gravel trap on lap four, while Calderon’s Carlin and Beer’s EuroInternational cars clashed on lap eight at turn two that saw both out on the spot. The incident is under investigation from the stewards, with Beer appearing to be showing signs of being slightly injured following the crash.
The final safety car, which also meant the race finished behind it, was to remove Hyman’s Team West-Tec F3 car from the gravel trap at turn eleven.
Giovinazzi’s victory means he extends his championship lead over Leclerc to eighteen points, while Rosenqvist and Dennis both move ahead of the non-points scoring George Russell, who could only finish twelfth in his Carlin.
Hockenheim Race 1 Result
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