Vietoris win prolongs F3 title battle

Vietoris went from fifth to the lead in one move during a chaotic restart early in the race.

The erstwhile leader Jules Bianchi - who needs just one more point to claim the title - caught the safety car before it pitted, forcing him to back off. This caused general confusion among the leaders, with Jean Karl Vernay actually crossing the line in first place. Further back Vietoris had a great tow and swept into the lead.

Vernay (Signature) picked up a drive-through penalty and dropped out of contention, leaving ART's Bianchi to chase home his title rival. But surprisingly he could not match the Mucke driver's pace and will have to wait for at least another day to be confirmed as champion.

Mika Maki came home third for Signature, fending off SG driver Andrea Caldarelli's mid-race charge. Manor's Roberto Mehri made a great start and further benefited from Valtteri Bottas (ART) picking up a jump-start penalty to move into fifth.

Sam Bird made the move of the race to relieve sixth from Motopark Academy driver Christopher Zanella, while Bird's Mucke team-mate Alex Sims held off a late surge from Tiago Geronimi to finish eighth (Signature), which gives him pole position for tomorrow's race.

Pos  Driver                Team            Car     Time/Gap
 1.  Christian Vietoris    Mucke           D/M   27m15.927s
 2.  Jules Bianchi         ART             D/M     + 2.882s
 3.  Mika Maki             Signature       D/V     + 4.396s
 4.  Andrea Caldarelli     SG              D/M     + 5.180s
 5.  Roberto Merhi         Manor           D/M     + 6.613s
 6.  Sam Bird              Mucke           D/M    + 10.260s
 7.  Christopher Zanella   Motopark        D/M    + 13.406s
 8.  Alexander Sims        Mucke           D/M    + 14.112s
 9.  Tiago Geronimi        Signature       D/V    + 14.608s
10.  Basil Shaaban         Prema           D/M    + 22.393s
11.  Marco Wittmann        Mucke           D/M    + 22.832s
12.  Esteban Gutierrez     ART             D/M    + 23.284s
13.  Henkie Waldschmidt    SG              D/M    + 24.048s
14.  Robert Wickens        Kolles & Heinz  D/V    + 26.923s
15.  Pedro Enrique         Manor           D/M    + 31.098s
16.  Valtteri Bottas       ART             D/M    + 31.969s
17.  Johan Jokinen         Kolles & Heinz  D/V    + 38.988s
18.  Jean Karl Vernay      Signature       D/V  + 1m03.103s
19.  Tom Dillmann          Prema           D/M     + 3 laps
20.  Adrien Tambay         ART             D/M     + 6 laps
21.  Stefano Coletti       Prema           D/M     + 6 laps

Not classified:

     Brendon Hartley       Carlin          D/V   12 laps
     Jake Rosenzweig       Carlin          D/V   9 laps
     Renger van der Zande  Motopark        D/M   1 lap