European F3 Nurburgring: George Russell gets engine-change penalties

The 2014 McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner, who qualified second for the first two races and third for race three, has been docked 10 places on the grid for all three of this weekend's races.

The Carlin team discovered a problem with the 17-year-old Briton's Volkswagen engine in between free practice and the first qualifying session.

"After practice the car felt mega and I knew we'd be fighting for pole," said Russell, whose weekend to date has been his most competitive since the opening round at Silverstone.

"I was looking at the data in the truck with my engineer, thinking 'Why am I so much slower on that straight', when one of the other engineers rushed in and said, 'What engine do we need to put in?'

"Massive respect to the Carlin boys, because they only found the fault 35 minutes before qualifying began and I got out on the track three minutes into the session."

Despite now starting 12th, 12th and 13th for the three races, Russell believes he has a strong chance of good results.

"I was confident coming into the weekend, and there's no reason why we can't fight for at least the top five," he said.

Russell's penalties move Nick Cassidy onto the front row for race one, and Lance Stroll into second position on the grid for race two.