Hockenheim European F3: Giovinazzi win seals runner-up spot

Jagonya Ayam protege Giovinazzi led every lap in his Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen, pursued by the Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes pair of Jake Dennis and 2015 champion Felix Rosenqvist.

There was some more 'after-you' racing from the Prema boys as the team sought to maximise Dennis's chances of moving up from fourth in the championship.

Rosenqvist: Helping team-mates 'fine by me'

First, Rosenqvist went down the inside of Dennis into the Spitzkehre hairpin on the first lap after the second of two early safety-car periods.

Rosenqvist then applied massive pressure to Giovinazzi, only for the Italian to steady his nerve and pull away once again.

"I was going really crazy to see Felix in the mirror," said Giovinazzi, who would have lost massive ground to Dennis in the race for second in the championship if he'd cracked under the pressure.

"I made a mistake at the hairpin, and then I say to myself, 'Don't watch Felix in the mirror.'"

Rosenqvist then reported a worsening issue with his gear-cut (the system that allows drivers to flat-shift), and Dennis drove back past him with five laps remaining.

With Giovinazzi winning, Dennis can no longer claim second place in the championship, but he has moved ahead of the fading Charles Leclerc for third with one race remaining.

Dennis was unimpressed with Giovinazzi's tactics at the first corner, where he ran wide onto the run-off in order to fend off the faster-starting Brit.

"For sure it was my corner, and he just drove completely off the track - I'm a bit annoyed about that," he said.

"My pace was good on the last seven or eight laps and I could match Antonio, but the first half of my race was dreadful."

Maximilian Gunther made it three Prema drivers in the top four, keeping the Hitech GP car of Alexander Sims at bay after the Brit had taken serious air in a 'wheelie' moment when he ran wide onto the grass exiting Turn 1.

Mikkel Jensen (Mucke Motorsport) was close in sixth, with the Prema machine of earlier winner Lance Stroll next up.

The best battle was for eighth, where Sergio Sette Camara did a great job to stay resolute in the face of attack from George Russell, which in turn allowed Sette Camara's Motopark team-mate Markus Pommer to close in.

Leclerc ran with this gaggle early on, before slipping back to 11th and the final point, as Hitech runner Sims is ineligible to score.

The first safety car was caused when fifth-placed Alexander Albon lost it at Turn 1 on the second lap and slammed backwards into the wall, although he got out of the car without significant injury.

The second was triggered by a tangle at the restart at Spitzkehre between Nabil Jeffri and Tatiana Calderon that stranded the Malaysian with deranged front-left suspension.

RESULTS - 21 LAPS:

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