Zandvoort F3 Masters win boosts European title bid, says Giovinazzi

The Italian, currently second in the standings, was the only one of the European F3 top four to contest the Dutch event, with the Prema Powerteam squad of Felix Rosenqvist (leading) and Jake Dennis (fourth) absent, and Charles Leclerc (third) opting not to compete with Van Amersfoort Racing.

Giovinazzi led all the way throughout the and the , two weeks after a below-par European F3 weekend at the Algarve circuit during which he took two eighths and a ninth to lose his series lead.

The Masters win was the second this year at Zandvoort for Giovinazzi, coming two months after his European F3 success there.

"This [the Masters win] will help quite a lot," he said. "After Portimao [Algarve] we analysed everything.

"We knew we were strong here in the European championship on different tyres, and we came back motivated.

"For Nurburgring [this weekend's penultimate European F3 round] we can be a lot stronger than I was feeling after Portimao."

Giovinazzi could not speculate whether he might have won the Masters had his major title rivals been present.

"I don't know if we could have beaten them, but anyway the car was really strong," he said.

"I don't care if they weren't here, and anyway George was second, and he is a really good driver."

Giovinazzi's Carlin engineer Matt Ogle added "you can only beat who you're up against", and ascribed the Algarve form to "not one big thing, just lots of little things - just the same as when you win".