Alex Lynn admitted that his Carlin team car wasn’t at its best as he had to settle for second place in the GP3 Series feature race at Hockenheim in Germany.

Having qualified second on the grid, the racing driver from Dunmow maintained that position to the chequered flag in the feature race and admitted he didn’t have the pace to challenge pole sitter and eventual winner Marvin Kirchhöfer.

However, Lynn still picked up valuable points to extend his lead in the championship standings and said the focus was now on further points accumulation in the weekend’s second race on Sunday morning.

The 20-year-old, who is a member of the Red Bull Junior Programme, said: “If we’re struggling and we’re finishing second, then that’s all we can do.

“But now the focus is completely on Sunday morning and trying to score the maximum number of points we can.

“I think we didn’t go the right way with the car today so tomorrow morning we should be smart enough to get it right.”

The second race – that will see Lynn start ninth on a reversed grid – will start at Hockenheim at 8.25am British time.