Zandvoort F3: Stroll dominates Race 1 after first-corner overtake

Having started P3 behind his Prema teammates Nick Cassidy and Maximilian Gunther, Stroll was P1 by the time he exited the first turn and went on to set the pace out front throughout a straightforward half-hour race.

Lining up on the grid after the formation lap, poleman Cassidy angled his car to block Gunther right away, opening the outside line to Stroll as a result.

Cassidy was much slower than Stroll through Turn 1, allowing the Canadian to take the lead with ease - while Alessio Lorandi, who started right behind Stroll, picked off Gunther for P3.

Now in clean air, Stroll established a lead of more than a second over the opening lap, and his advantage over Cassidy would continue to grow relentlessly throughout the rest of the race distance, eventually ending up at 8.026s after 23 laps.

Behind the Prema 1-2, Lorandi held third place, adding a second podium finish in 2016 to his earlier maiden win at Pau.

Gunther, Stroll's nearest rival in the standings, ended up fourth. Despite managing massive pressure from Callum Ilott throughout the race, the German held on, although Ilott came close to pulling off a pass on the penultimate lap.

Niko Kari was the only Motopark car to score points, taking sixth, ahead of George Russell, Ryan Tveter and Anthoine Hubert.

David Beckmann came out on top in a close battle with Sergio Sette Camara to secure the final points-paying position.

Stroll's sixth win of the season has now put him 109 points clear of Gunther, but the German will have an opportunity to recover some ground in the remaining races of the weekend.

Gunther will be starting Race 3 from pole, with Ilott, a close third in the championship, set to lead the field in Race 2 - while Stroll will be at the back for both of those races, having been excluded from second qualifying for a technical infringement.