European Formula 3

Günther Ends Year with Victory as Eriksson Claims Runners-Up Spot

1 Mins read
Credit: FIA Formula 3 European Championship

Maximilian Günther ended the year with victory at the Hockenheimring, but second place was enough for Joel Eriksson to deny the German second place in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship standings.

Günther maintained his lead from pole position on Sunday morning, and the Prema Powerteam driver was never threatened thereafter as he secured his fifth victory of the season by 3.585 seconds.

Eriksson moved up to fourth on the opening lap thanks to Callum Ilott dropping from second to sixth, before he made a move on Jake Hughes for third on the second lap at the hairpin, the Briton unable to defend as robustly this time around as he did against the Swede during Saturday’s race two.

The following lap, Eriksson made a move on Guan Yu Zhou to move into second, but with older tyres compared to Günther, this was as far as the Motopark driver would get.

A full-course yellow, needed when Ferdinand Habsburg crashed after contact with Juri Vips, saw Eriksson lose a couple of seconds to Günther, but the result ensured he finished the season second in the championship, five points ahead of the German.

Zhou claimed the final spot on the podium after withstanding pressure from 2017 champion Lando Norris after the Briton dispatched countryman Hughes just after the restart following the full-course yellow, with the Carlin driver coming up short by just 0.516 seconds from the Chinese Prema Powerteam driver.

Ilott also found himself ahead of Hughes by the chequered flag after the Hitech Grand Prix driver out-braked himself at the hairpin, with his race unravelling further when he was handed a five-second time penalty for a full-course yellow infringement that saw him relegated to eighth.

Nikita Mazepin passed Pedro Piquet on the resumption but was asked to give the place back by the stewards, meaning the Van Amersfoort Racing driver ended up sixth ahead of the Hitech Grand Prix driver, with Hughes eighth ahead of Joey Mawson and David Beckmann, who collected the final points of the season.

Hockenheimring Race 3 Result

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