F3 Norisring: Schumacher penalised for finale crash, loses points

Schumacher, who was charging up from 20th on the grid following a miserable qualifying session, hit the car of Artem Petrov going into the Dutzendteich hairpin.

That pitched Petrov into Renault Formula 1 junior Sacha Fenestraz, who was tipped into the wall.

Prema Powerteam driver Schumacher raced on to eighth place, but was given a 20-second penalty post-race in lieu of a drive-through, which dropped him to 15th in the final results.

The stewards' decision stated that Schumacher "commenced a late overtake and tried to go through a gap that was not large enough for his car".

Schumacher had already been involved in a collision with Keyvan Andres earlier in the race - won by Motopark racer and Red Bull junior Dan Ticktum - in which Andres hit the wall at Dutzendteich during a safety-car restart.

But this time Andres was blamed for the collision, and the surprise race-two podium finisher has been given a three-place grid penalty for the first race of the next round at Zandvoort.

"After yesterday's stuggles in qualifying, we had two comebacks from the 20th place on the grid," Schumacher said.

"In race two, I scored a good points finish, while in race three, despite crossing the line in eighth place, I was penalised for a contact.

"We now look forward to getting back in shape at Zandvoort in three weeks."