Hockenheim Euro F3: Ferrari protege Lance Stroll takes first win

Stroll made an excellent getaway from second on the grid, then the sister Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes of Rosenqvist took a line into the Mercedes Arena that opened the door for the Canadian.

After an early safety car, racing resumed with Jake Dennis sending his Prema car down the inside of Rosenqvist, who offered little resistance, into the Spitzkehre hairpin.

Dennis remained within range of Stroll for much of the race, the 16-year-old extending the lead to over a second after half-distance, before Dennis nudged it down to nine tenths at the flag.

A sluggish start from the front row for Maximilian Gunther meant he had to fend off first-lap attacks from Antonio Giovinazzi, Alexander Sims and Charles Leclerc before consolidating a Prema 1-2-3-4 on his first appearance for the team.

Ahead of him, Rosenqvist oscillated between closing on Dennis and then dropping back to Gunther, setting a fastest lap more than half a second quicker than race winner Stroll's.

"My start was really good, and then when I was behind Felix he just didn't defend at all and I had an easy overtake," said Stroll.

"He had already won the championship, and I was fighting for points and so was Jake - it was Felix's decision and it all worked out."

Behind the Prema drivers, Leclerc attacked Giovinazzi early in the race, but then was passed by Sims - who had spun at the final corner on the green-flag lap - into the Mercedes Arena.

Sims, driving for the new Hitech Grand Prix team on its second race weekend, then went after Giovinazzi and passed him just under half-distance, again at the Mercedes Arena.

Giovinazzi finished sixth ahead of Carlin team-mate George Russell, who executed a perfect pass on Leclerc's Van Amersfoort Racing machine for seventh at Spitzkehre with six laps remaining.

Some way behind, Motopark's Markus Pommer took ninth, while Santino Ferrucci stormed his Mucke Motorsport car from 20th on the grid to inside the top 10 by lap eight, when he passed Signature driver Alexander Albon.

With Hitech not registered for the championship, Albon claimed the final point following a last-gasp tussle with Alessio Lorandi.

The safety car was brought out after various first-lap incidents that culminated in the damaged cars of Raoul Hyman, Andy Chang and Peter Li littering the circuit proximity.

In the fight for second in the championship, Giovinazzi now leads Leclerc by 10 points, with Dennis a further 11.5 adrift.

RESULTS - 22 LAPS: