Glory for Sutil, Agony for di Resta

The German, whose previous maximum score came after Lewis Hamilton was excluded at Spa, grabbed the lead in the opening complex of corners at the German track and fended off a determined Lucas di Grassi to win by just over half a second.

Pole-sitter Paul di Resta suffered early heartbreak when he encountered wheelspin off the line and dropped back into the pack. That led to him being tagged by Lewis Hamilton, who was scrapping with di Grassi in the Mercedes-Arena.

The championship leader tapped di Resta's rear diffuser, pitching the Scot into a spin that ruined his race. Under the watchful eye of cousin Dario Franchitti, the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner pitted, then set a string of blistering laps - up to half a second per lap quicker than the duelling leaders.

Hamilton fought his way back through the field but could finish no higher than 12th, allowing Sutil the chance to hack ten points from his teammate's championship advantage.

The problems for two ASM and Manor drivers, coupled with another poor showing from the Signature-Plus Dallaras of Loic Duval and James Rossiter, meant that a delighted Kohei Hirate came through to claim his first F3 Euroseries podium, ahead of Hannes Neuhauser and Franck Perera.

Pos  Driver             Team                    Time
 1.  Adrian Sutil       ASM F3                  30:49.380
 2.  Lucas di Grassi    Manor Motorsport        +  00.594
 3.  Kohei Hirate       Team Rosberg            +  16.216
 4.  Hannes Neuhauser   HBR Motorsport          +  17.195
 5.  Franck Perera      Prema Powerteam         +  20.532
 6.  Loic Duval         Signature-Plus          +  26.650
 7.  Atila Abreu        ASL M?cke Motorsport    +  26.967
 8.  G. van der Garde   Team Rosberg            +  27.591
 9.  Marco Bonanomi     Prema Powerteam         +  28.799
10.  James Rossiter     Signature-Plus          +  29.470
11.  Sebastian Vettel   ASL M?cke Motorsport    +  30.073
12.  Lewis Hamilton     ASM F3                  +  30.512
13.  Alejandro Nunez    HBR Motorsport          +  31.668
14.  Esteban Guerrieri  Team Midland Euroseries +  36.332
15.  Danny Watts        HBR Motorsport          +  37.457
16.  Guillaume Moreau   Signature               +  38.083
17.  Fabio Carbone      Signature               +  40.341
18.  Greg Franchi       Prema Powerteam         +  41.100
19.  Thomas Holzer      AM-Holzer Rennsport     +  46.287
20.  Stephan Jelley     Team Midland Euroseries +  46.844
21.  Julia Kuhn                                 +  1 Lap 
22.  Filip Salaquarda   Team I.S.R.             +  1 Lap 
23.  Paul di Resta      Manor Motorsport        +  1 Lap