Hamilton Wins Race 1 at Lausitz

But the newly-crowned champion was forced to fight with changeable conditions and rookie Sebastian Vettel before he could assume his regular pace.

Hamilton started third behind Giede van der Garde and Vettel on a rolling start, introduced because of soaking wet conditions. And while the Dutchman made good use of his first F3 Euroseries pole position to build up an early advantage, Hamilton found himself stuck behind Vettel.

The young German rookie, whose car had a predominantly dry set-up, defended superbly, but Hamilton eventually completed an overtaking manoeuvre that lasted for four corners.

It only took Hamilton two laps to reel in van der Garde and another one to pass him; thereafter, he pulled away at his leisure, keeping a watchful eye on his tyres in drying conditions.

Van der Garde held second to the finish, while Vettel's settings allowed him to fight back against the charging Adrian Sutil to retake third on the penultimate lap. Like many, Sutil (who had started ninth) was struggling with blistered tyres on the drying circuit. He would finish fourth, ahead of Franck Perera.

Hamilton said: "It was a good race to be involved in. Sebastian defended well - he's a great driver. Even under pressure he didn't make any mistakes. But I knew we had the pace because we've been quick in the wet all weekend. Qualifying was a little frustrating but it forced me to work harder in the race."

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver               Team                        Time
 1.  Lewis Hamilton       ASM F3                     31:10.310
 2.  Giedo van der Garde  Team Rosberg               +  08.410  
 3.  Sebastian Vettel     ASL MÃ¼cke Motorsport       +  16.442  
 4.  Adrian Sutil         ASM F3                     +  17.990  
 5.  Franck Perera        Prema Powerteam            +  24.091  
 6.  Guillaume Moreau     Signature                  +  27.435  
 7.  Atila Abreu          ASL MÃ¼cke Motorsport       +  32.313  
 8.  Lucas di Grassi      Manor Motorsport           +  35.698  
 9.  Hannes Neuhauser     HBR Motorsport             +  36.277  
10.  Marco Bonanomi       Prema Powerteam            +  39.177  
11.  Thomas Holzer        AM-Holzer Rennsport        +  39.255  
12.  Loic Duval           Signature-Plus             +  46.757  
13.  Greg Franchi         Prema Powerteam            +  51.055  
14.  Alejandro Nunez      HBR Motorsport             +  51.781  
15.  Paolo Montin                                    +  51.842  
16.  Esteban Guerrieri    Team Midland Euroseries    +  57.671  
17.  Kohei Hirate         Team Rosberg               +  58.255  
18.  James Rossiter       Signature-Plus             +1:01.370  
19.  Filip Salaquarda     Team I.S.R.                +1:11.385  
20.  Fabio Carbone        Signature                  +   1 lap     
21.  Robert Austin        Team Midland Euroseries    +   1 lap     

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:
                           
     Driver               Team                       On Lap
     Paul di Resta        Manor Motorsport              3

Fastest Lap: Guerrieri Esteban, 1:23.024 on lap 18