F3: Auer denies Blomqvist in race three

Lucas Auer won race three of the European Formula 3 Championship weekend at the Nrburgring for Mucke Motorsport, just managing to hold off a frustrated Tom Blomqvist.

Max Verstappen, whose title charge seemed hopeless when a change of engine following his race two retirement left him with a 10-place grid penalty for this and the next two races, came home third. Meanwhile championship leader Esteban Ocon failed to score after being involved in a first-corner incident, meaning that against the odds van Amersfoort Racing's Verstappen has taken another significant bite out of Ocon's lead.

Carlin Motorsport driver Blomqvist got the jump from pole this time around, getting ahead of Auer despite being pushed wide after an attempted pass by Felix Rosenqvist at Turn 1. Meanwhile Ocon, race two winner Antonio Giovinazzi and Ocon's Prema Powerteam teammate Nicholas Latifi were all eliminated as the three came together at the first corner.

After the ensuing safety car Auer made an excellent move for the lead as he raced side by side with Blomqvist through the stadium section, and held onto a narrow advantage until the end of the race.

New Red Bull junior Verstappen, who started 12th after his penalty, found himself fifth after the first-corner chaos. He then passed Jordan King and Antonio Fuoco to take the final podium spot. Verstappen is now 77 points behind championship leader Ocon.