European F3 Zandvoort: Williams F1 junior Lance Stroll dominates

The Williams protege had qualified third behind fellow Prema Powerteam drivers Nick Cassidy and Maximilian Gunther.

Poleman Cassidy moved to the inside off the line to cover the Gunther, who had great momentum.

With Cassidy and Gunther both slow in the Tarzanbocht turn, Stroll went around the outside of both of them.

The manoeuvre allowed quick-starter Alessio Lorandi, from fifth on the grid, to pass Gunther and move into third, while fourth-on-the-grid Callum Ilott appeared to be boxed in.

Stroll raced to a big advantage, winning by eight seconds, his only worry being almost hitting a seagull at the chicane.

Carlin driver Lorandi never did any more than shadow Cassidy for second but scored his first podium since his Pau Grand Prix win.

"I got a good start and I knew that this was my only chance to score some big points," said Stroll.

"I saw a gap, Nick was on the inside and I figured he would brake early.

"I just managed to brake really late and get the position, and from there it was a smooth race."

In an ultra-processional race, most of the attention was focused on Ilott's attempts to prise fourth from Gunther.

The Van Amersfoort Racing driver even tried one move on the outside of the daunting high-speed Scheivlak turn, but was perhaps mindful that, with Stroll at the back of the grid for the remaining two races, it was better to finish than to try a risky move on Gunther.

Red Bull junior Niko Kari was able to attack Ilott in the early stages whenever Ilott dropped back after a failed move on Gunther, but thereafter the Motopark driver kept his distance in sixth.

George Russell (Hitech), Ryan Tveter (Carlin) and Anthoine Hubert (VAR) ran in close formation behind.

The other big battle was for the final point, with Mucke Motorsport's David Beckmann falling back into the clutches of the Motopark car of Sergio Sette Camara.

Sette Camara got alongside in the chicane on the penultimate lap but found himself on the outside line for the following corner, so Beckmann took the place after a fight that rather unnecessarily earned a stewards' investigation.

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