Jules Bianchi has extended his lead in the F3 Euro Series after taking his fifth victory of the season in the opening race at Oschersleben.

The ART Grand Prix driver took the chequered flag more than ten seconds up on his team-mate Valtteri Bottas with Spaniard Roberto Merhi coming home third and completing the podium.

Bianchi now has 60 points on the board, 23 more than Christian Vietoris, who finished fourth and who remains second in the points' standings.

The race itself was a relatively straight-forward affair with Bianchi making the most of his pole position to head the pack into the first corner. After that he immediately pulled clear of the rest of the field and was never threatened.

“The race was fantastic: pole position, fastest race lap and victory, it couldn't have been better,” Bianchi reflected. “However, it wasn't easy. One has to stay focussed throughout the race, because otherwise, you can quickly get off the track. With this success, I have extended my lead in the 2009 F3 Euro Series points' standings.”

Meanwhile behind him, Bottas came out top in the fight for the runners-up spot and he was reasonably happy with P2. The Finn, who moves up to fourth in the overall standings now, was also the best-placed rookie, easily beating Alex Sims, who came in fifth.

“Jules was incredibly quick, I didn't have a chance to win,” said Bottas. “Other than me, he had new tyres, but that doesn't mean a difference of ten seconds. I have to be happy with my second place though. I am still a rookie and improving all the time.”

Of the rest Jean Karl Vernay was the top Volkswagen powered driver in sixth, followed by Prema's Stefano Coletti and his Signature team-mate Mika Maki. ART's Esteban Gutierrez and Mucke Motorsport's Marco Wittmann rounded out the top ten.