George Russell endured a frustrating second race weekend of the FIA Formula 3 season at Hockenheim.

The Tydd St Giles racer went in to Round Two full of confidence after a stunning win at Silverstone in the season opener.

But the Carlin driver was plagued by bad luck as he battled his way to ninth, 12th and 18th in the three races.

His qualifying sessions were ruined by a combination of red flags and being hit by another car in the second session.

Russell said: “In Quali 1 we got caught out by two red flags and didn’t manage to set our best lap, which left us in P18.

“Then for Quali 2, I was on my second push lap in the rain which was on course to be at least P4, when a driver ran wide in the final corner, came back onto the circuit and crashed directly into the side of me.

“And then as the session was getting dryer and dryer, everyone else’s times got faster so we ended the session P20 and P25 for the second fastest lap for race 3. So that was extremely disappointing when a top 5 minimum was on the cards.”

The races did not get any easier for George. Race one saw him battling in very difficult conditions, dealing with three safety car periods, as he climbed to 12th.

Race two saw a storming start, making up nine places in the first lap, as he fought his way to a points-scoring ninth place finish.

But a safety car curtailed his progress in race three, meaning he had to settle for 18th.

Russell said: “I managed to work my way up to P9 which was great to get into the points, considering there wasn’t a safety car either to bunch the pack up.”

Russell is fifth in the overall standings (41pts), but he has lost a lot of ground on leader Antonio Giovinazzi (106pts). He expects to get back on track at the next race weekend (Round Three) in Pau, France, on May 15-17.

He said: “Pau is a street circuit and one I know, not all the other drivers will have experience of it so I will be looking to capitalise and have a good weekend.”