A gritty performance in scorching conditions from Jolyon Palmer in the GP2 Series feature race at Hockenheim netted him another podium with third place, extending his lead in the title standings to 49 points.

An eventful first lap saw Jolyon beaten to the first corner by Stoffel Vandoorne, and following this he had his mirrors full of Stefano Coletti's car heading into the hairpin. However with the inside line, Palmer was safe at least until the next corner when Coletti made his attack. Jolyon calmly took the place back on the exit, leaving his rival to defend from the attentions of Felipe Nasr.

As the leaders made their way to the hairpin for the second time of asking, the safety car was deployed following an incident involving Artem Markelov and Jon Lancaster. This neutralised the action for a few moments, and whilst Vandoorne backed the field at the restart, Palmer was able to follow the leader, protecting his position as the race settled into a rhythm.

The top three runners began to ease away from the rest of the field, and several of the drivers elected to pit for new rubber after ten laps in extremely hot conditions. However with worries about tyre degradation, activity in the pitlane ceased for now.

As the halfway point approached Coletti began to drop off the leaders' pace, leaving Jolyon free to concentrate on the gap to Vandoorne. The Belgian stretched his advantage a little as their tyres began to degrade, and with 14 laps remaining, Jolyon elected to pit. In his attempts to wring every last drop from the new rubber, he locked his brakes into turn two, but managed to gain ground when his rival stopped on the following tour.

With the pit sequence completed, early-stopping Mitch Evans had managed his tyres well to lead the race, and after Jolyon passed team mate Stéphane Richelmi, he trailed second-placed Vandoorne by less than a second. With Evans within sight, Jolyon piled the pressure onto the Belgian as the race entered its final laps. The battle gave the leader some breathing space, and as he was able to lap at similar pace despite elderly rubber, he headed Vandoorne and Palmer to the chequered flag.

On the podium after the race Jolyon said: "It's been a great season so far, and to be honest it wasn't a bad race. Stoffel was really quick in the first stint and I thought that it would be between us, I came out on the options and I was pushing hard and caught him again, and then suddenly Mitch came out of nowhere again like Silverstone. He did a great stint on the prime and we just couldn't pass him, so I'm disappointed with third, as I thought it would be at worst second, but credit to Mitch and Stoffel as well for a good race."

Jolyon's finishing position ahead of Nasr and Johnny Cecotto enabled him to stretch his championship lead, and he will start tomorrow's sprint race from sixth place on the grid. Jolyon also set fastest lap in the race, earning him an additional two points. The Sprint Race starts at 9:35 UK time, with full coverage on this website.

GP2 Series Feature Race
1, M Evans, Russian Time, 38 Laps
2, S Vandoorne, ART +0.414s
3, J Palmer, DAMS, +2.755s
4, S Coletti, Racing Eng +20.191s
5, F Nasr, Carlin, +20.687s
6, S Trummer, Rapax, +23.432s
7, J Cecotto, Trident, +30.583s
8, N Berthon, Lazarus, +33.160s
9, M Sorensen, MP, +35.879s
10, S Richelmi, DAMS, +36.857s