F3: 16-year-old rookie Beckmann takes Hockenheim pole

Sixteen-year-old German David Beckmann sprung a surprise by claiming pole position for the first race of the Formula 3 European Championship finale at Hockenheim.

The Mucke Motorsport driver, who carved himself a small piece of history in becoming the first driver born in the 21st century to claim pole for a top-class F3 race, came out on top of a battle with the might of Prema Powerteam as well as Carlin debutant Jake Hughes.

Beckmann dislodged Prema's 2016 champion Lance Stroll with a hot lap, only for Stroll to then reassert himself at the top.

"I did a 31.9 and then did a cool lap," said Beckmann. "My radio was not really working properly – it was very quiet, but I saw on the big screen in the Mercedes Tribune that I was only P4 and knew I had to push again.

"It was quite difficult to get a gap because I had Pedro Piquet in front, so in the slipstream in fast corners that was not so perfect."

Beckmann, who claimed he could have gone a couple of tenths faster still than his 1m31.627s, said he was confident on a track where Mucke is always strong and where he topped one of the official mid-season test days.

"Hockenheim is one of my favourite tracks," added the German Formula 4 graduate, "and starting on pole is a good opportunity for me."

Stroll improved further but finally fell short by just 0.012s to claim the other front-row spot, while teammate Maximilian Gunther was in turn only 0.071s adrift of Beckmann's time in third and the other two Prema drivers, Nick Cassidy and Ralf Aron, fill the third row.

Hughes continued his highly impressive day, the GP3 Series race winner finishing the session in fourth, while Carlin teammate Lando Norris ended up ninth.

Van Amersfoort Racing pair Anthoine Hubert and Callum Ilott will share the fourth row, and the top 10 was completed by top Motopark runner Joel Eriksson.

With Norris having to start from the pitlane, Hitech GP's Nikita Mazepin will take the final spot in the top 10 on the grid.

Mazepin's teammate George Russell missed the session as engine problems struck in free practice. The team could not fit a replacement in time for qualifying and he is likely to have to serve a trio of 10-place grid penalties.

Niko Kari, who is serving a combined grid penalty in race one of 13 places owing to an engine change and a driving offence from the previous round at Imola, did not take part in the session.

QUALIFYING TIMES:

Originally on Autosport.com