Australian youngster Christian Mansell has claimed his first Formula 3 podium with a magnificent drive in difficult conditions at Silverstone.

He crossed the line behind Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto after 18 laps of racing.

Having started ninth, Mansell stayed out of trouble in a frantic opening lap before braving the conditions to rise up then order.

He then resisted an intense charge from Caio Collet to secure his first top-three finish in the Formula 3 Championship.

Rain in the minutes prior to the start saw a 10-minute delay, tempting a number of drivers onto wet tyres.

It was a gamble, with no standing water and by the time the cars lined up for the tart, the rain had stopped.

The threat remained, however, with intermitted showers forecast through its 40-minute journey.

Gregorie Saucy elected to start on wets, the sole gambler.

From pole, Sebastian Montoya held the lead through the opening sequence was Colapinto stormed up to second.

Christian Mansell spent the opening lap battling with his team-mate Pepe Marti, losing out as they rounded Stowe.

As the field started the second lap, the sun broke through briefly before the skies darkened once more.

The field remained compact, the leading seven cars in a DRS train behind Montoya.

On Lap 8, the rain returned, race control elected to disable DRS and soon after deployed the Safety Car as heavy rain fell from Copse to Stowe.

Having almost dropped a lap, it was a well-timed interruption Saucy was able to catch the back of the train with wet tyres, versus the slicks on those ahead.

As the Safety Car was deployed, some took to the lane, half a dozen drivers boxing in a strategic roll of the device.

A lap later, more took to the lane, though not all; Montoya had remained on slicks, as were the nine cars behind him.

The big winner through the process was Dino Beganovic, who’d started 30th and had climbed to 11th in the queue.

He’d been one of the earliest to switch to wet tyres.

The Safety Car was withdrawn at the end of Lap 12, the circuit slippery but soaked.

Contact at the opening corner saw Montoya pushed into the run-off by second-placed Taylor Barnard, opening the door for Colapinto to take the lead.

Through the opening sequence, Mansell had risen to fourth, taking third soon after.

Behind him was a swarm of wet-shod runners carving its way through the field, though conditions were quickly drying and soon swung back in favour of those on slicks.

In the lead, Colapinto was pulling clear while Bortoleto was similarly comfortable in second.

Mansell too had edged himself clear of those behind, sitting 1.7s back from Bortoleto and 2s clear of Collet on Lap 15 of 18.

Collect closed the gap, starting the final lap just 0.6s behind the Australian ahead.

Mansell was forced to defend into Brooklands, taking the inside line into Copse to fend off a ferocious attack.

It was crucial, Mansell inching clear enough to hold on to the final podium place.