Nurburgring European F3: Giovinazzi wins after Verstappen drama

The result gave Carlin's Italian two wins in the last three races.

Newly-signed Red Bull protege Verstappen took the lead at Turn 1 after Giovinazzi's team-mate Tom Blomqvist made a poor getaway from pole position and fell to third.

Race one winner Verstappen then led Giovinazzi, Blomqvist and championship leader Esteban Ocon for 20 laps, in a close but static lead group, before Verstappen broke down and parked his van Amersfoort Racing-Dallara car with five laps remaining.

The problem will prompt a change of Volkswagen engine, meaning Verstappen must take 10-place grid penalties for each of the next three races.

Giovinazzi then needed only to hold off Blomqvist and Ocon for the last five laps, which was straightforward enough in a dry race that was light on overtaking.

Ocon would have been delighted to see his rival Verstappen break down when his championship lead had looked set to drop by another 10 points.

Nonetheless, the Frenchman will not be able to seal the title at the Nurburgring, and the Prema Powerteam driver will have to wait at least until the next meeting at Imola in October.

Results - 25 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                          Time/Gap
 1.  Antonio Giovinazzi   Carlin Dallara-VW               34m39.329s
 2.  Tom Blomqvist        Carlin Dallara-VW                  +0.771s
 3.  Esteban Ocon         Prema Dallara-Merc                 +1.404s
 4.  Antonio Fuoco        Prema Dallara-Merc                 +3.294s
 5.  Lucas Auer           Mucke Dallara-Merc                 +4.674s
 6.  Jordan King          Carlin-Dallara VW                  +5.101s
 7.  Felix Rosenqvist     Mucke Dallara-Merc                 +7.078s
 8.  Ed Jones             Carlin Dallara-VW                 +15.488s
 9.  Tatiana Calderon     Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc            +18.511s
10.  Nicholas Latifi      Prema Dallara-Merc                +19.100s
11.  Roy Nissany          Mucke Dallara-Merc                +20.277s
12.  Dennis van der Laar  Prema Dallara-Merc                +21.717s
13.  Gustavo Menezes      Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW         +31.907s
14.  Jules Szymkowiak     Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW         +40.530s
15.  Spike Goddard        T-Sport Dallara-NBE               +41.206s
16.  Alexander Toril      T-Sport Dallara-NBE               +41.247s
17.  Santino Ferruci      Eurointernational Dallara-Merc    +47.283s
18.  Michele Beretta      Eurointernational Dallara-Merc    +48.368s
19.  Sandro Zeller        Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc            +56.268s
20.  Andy Chang           West-Tec Dallara-Merc           +1m06.446s
21.  Sean Gelael          Carlin Dallara-VW                  -2 laps

Retirements:

     Felix Serralles     West-Tec Dallara-Merc               21 laps
     Max Verstappen      Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW           19 laps
     Jake Dennis         Carlin Dallara-VW                   14 laps