Hockenheim European F3: Lotus F1 protege Esteban Ocon wins race two

The Prema driver did not win by a huge margin, just 0.9 seconds separating he and second-placed Antonio Giovinazzi at the finish. However it was a measured victory, Ocon leading every lap of the race.

Even a late safety car, caused by a Michele Beretta spin, could not rattle Ocon, the Lotus Formula 1 junior driver in control as he took his second win of the season.

Giovinazzi finished a comfortable second for Carlin, ahead of a three-way fight for third place.

Initially it was Carlin's Ed Jones who held the final podium spot, but in the second half of the race Lucas Auer and Tom Blomqvist started to hunt him down.

The battle became even more heated over the three-lap sprint to the flag after the safety car period, with Auer making a big play for third at the restart. But Jones did enough to hang and take his second podium finish of the weekend.

Auer and Blomqvist finished fourth and fifth respectively, a particularly impressive result for the latter, who started 11th after receiving a 10-place grid penalty for changing engines before qualifying on Saturday.

There was another scrap behind the top five, Prema's Nicholas Latifi coming out on top of the fight for sixth place, ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Felix Serralles.

Brits Jordan King and Jake Dennis, both from Carlin, rounded out the top 10.

It was a tough race for rookie sensations Max Verstappen and Antonio Fuoco.

Verstappen did not even make the start of the race, the polesitter retiring on his way to the grid with a problem, while Fuoco spun on the first lap, spent some time in the pits, and then ultimately retired with a left-rear suspension problem.

Results - 22 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                          Time/Gap
 1.  Esteban Ocon         Prema Dallara-Merc              35m24.768s
 2.  Antonio Giovinazzi   Carlin Dallara-VW                  +0.969s
 3.  Ed Jones             Carlin Dallara-VW                  +2.387s
 4.  Lucas Auer           Mucke Dallara-Merc                 +2.836s
 5.  Tom Blomqvist        Carlin Dallara-VW                  +3.227s
 6.  Nicholas Latifi      Prema Dallara-Merc                 +4.346s
 7.  Felix Rosenqvist     Mucke Dallara-Merc                 +5.222s
 8.  Felix Serralles      West-Tec Dallara-Merc              +6.183s
 9.  Jordan King          Carlin Dallara-VW                  +6.962s
10.  Jake Dennis          Carlin Dallara-VW                  +8.339s
11.  Mitchell Gilbert     Fortec Dallara-Merc                +8.961s
12.  Dennis van de Laar   Prema Dallara-Merc                +10.309s
13.  John Bryant-Meisner  Fortec Dallara-Merc               +11.112s
14.  Felipe Guimaraes     Double R Dallara-Merc             +11.377s
15.  Roy Nissany          Mucke Dallara-Merc                +12.148s
16.  Jules Szymkowiak     Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW         +12.266s
17.  Sandro Zeller        Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc            +12.522s
18.  Riccardo Agostini    Eurointernational Dallara-Merc    +12.760s
19.  Alexander Toril      T-Sport Dallara-NBE               +12.973s
20.  Sean Gelael          Carlin Dallara-VW                 +13.596s
21.  Gustavo Menezes      Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW         +14.723s
22.  Tatiana Calderon     Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc            +14.903s
23.  Hector Hurst         West-Tec Dallara-Merc             +16.410s
24.  Spike Goddard        T-Sport Dallara-NBE               +33.253s

Retirements:

     Michele Beretta      Eurointernational Dallara-Merc     17 laps
     Antonio Fuoco        Prema Dallara-Merc                  3 laps
     Max Verstappen       Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW           0 laps