A well-measured drive through the field from Antonio Fuoco gave the Italian his second win of the GP3 Series season. He took the lead after the virtual safety car and never looked back around the Hockenheim circuit.
It was a disaster for Jake Dennis though, as he caused the first start to be aborted after stalling on the grid. He eventually got going and would start from the pits.
Charles Leclerc would have been second on the grid, but was given a penalty after qualifying and thus was further back. As the lights went out rival Alexander Albon maintained his lead with the top five breaking away.
Further back, Koiranen GP saw two of their cars collide. Ralph Boschung had been battling with Steijn Schothorst, as Nirei Fukuzumi made it three wide into turn eight. Fukuzumi was spun off as Boschung continued with damage.
He ran wide at the Mobil 1 turn as teammate Matevos Isaakyan collected the Swiss driver. A virtual safety car was called to clear the debris. This gave an allowed second place Nyck de Vries to close the gap to leader Albon.
Fuoco timed the VSC restart perfectly, jumping into the lead from third. Albon was pushed wide and dropped to fifth, though Matt Parry soon inherited his old position back as he was knocked by de Vries at the hairpin.
This left Fuoco leading from Leclerc, de Vries, Albon and Parry. It also allowed Jack Aitken to join the battle in sixth, as he caught the leaders. Neither Ferrari Youth driver were prepared to give each other any space as the race settled in due to tyre management.
Further back, DAMS were attempting to recover their season, with Santino Ferrucci best of the rest in seventh, ahead of teammate Jake Hughes.
The Vitual Safety Car proved to be the turning point of the whole race as Fuoco positioned himself precisely to snatch the lead as they went green. (Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP3 Series Media Service.)
As race one entered its final few laps, the action turned to the battle for second. De Vries clearly had more speed, but Leclerc knew he couldn’t afford to lose points to Fuoco. On the final lap, Leclerc was forced into a mistake at the first turn.
Fuoco and Trident took their second win of the season from de Vries and Parry, who overtook both ART Grand Prix‘s on the final lap. Albon was fourth from the dropping Leclerc as Aitken came home a lonely sixth. Behind them, an incredible drive from Arjun Maini saw him take seventh from Hughes, Ferrucci and Tatiana Calderon who recorded her first GP3 points.
Hockenheim Race One Results
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