Coletti scores maiden Euro Series win
Stefano Coletti took his maiden F3 Euro Series victory in the season-opening race at Hockenheim on Saturday
The Prema Powerteam driver, who had been set for pole position until a late charge from Sam Bird, snatched the lead into the first corner and was never headed from there.
He opened out a solid lead in the early stages and resisted a late comeback from Roberto Merhi to hang on for the win.
Merhi took second after a charging first lap, where he moved up from fourth on the grid in the first few corners. He was pushed all the way for second by Bird, who tried on several occasions to get around the rookie.
But Bird had to settle for the final step on the podium, comfortably ahead of Mika Maki. The Finn ran behind Jules Bianchi early on, but he passed the title favourite four fourth at the hairpin on lap seven and pulled away after that.
Bianchi took a lonely fifth ahead of Jean-Karl Vernay and Christian Vietoris, while Atte Mustonen took eighth and pole position for Sunday's race for series newcomer Motopark Academy.
Mustonen had lost several places with a bad start, but he worked his way back up to ninth and then gained another place when Henkie Waldschmidt suffered mechanical problems with two laps to go, costing him seventh place.
Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 25m20.955s
2. Roberto Merhi Manor D/M +1.070
3. Sam Bird Mucke D/M +1.534
4. Mika Maki Signature D/V +3.249
5. Jules Bianchi ART D/M +7.838
6. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V +11.234
7. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M +13.329
8. Atte Mustonen Motopark D/M +19.172
9. Matteo Chinosi Prema D/M +23.260
10. Tiago Geronimi Signature D/V +24.697
11. Robert Wickens Kolles D/V +27.520
12. Marco Wittmann Mucke D/M +28.072
13. Adrien Tambay ART D/M +34.406
14. Christopher Zanella Motopark D/M +35.686
15. Andrea Caldarelli SG D/M +36.851
16. Esteban Gutierrez ART D/M +38.328
17. Alexander Sims Mucke D/M +44.802
18. Carlo van Dam Kolles D/V +45.733
19. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/V +48.915
20. Pedro Henrique Manor D/M +1m02.299
21. Johnny Cecotto Jr HBR D/M +1 lap
22. Casar Ramos Manor D/M +3 laps
Retirements
Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 14 laps
Basil Shaaban Prema D/M 14 laps
Alexandre Marsoin SG D/M 12 laps
Jake Rosenzweig Carlin D/V 8 laps
Kevin Mirocha HBR D/M 2 laps
Valtteri Bottas ART D/M 1 lap
Fastest lap, Sims 1:34.174 on lap 6
Share Or Save This Story
F1 2019 game includes official driver transfers for first time
F1 testing: Toro Rosso's Albon on top, Mercedes starts to show pace
Michael Schumacher's top 10 F1 victories
The ambition behind an ‘insane’ racing opportunity
Tanak involved in Toyota's development of its WRC 2027 car
The area Bezzecchi must improve upon to become MotoGP world champion
Neuville vows to bounce back from costly Rally Croatia error
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments