Flat battery costs King but he produces a charge in final race

An early halt to qualifying restricted the 19-year-old to tenth on the grid for race one and 11th for race two before a heavy rain shower ahead of the second 20-minute session left the track half-wet and half-dry.

King bolted on a set of slicks and found his bravery rewarded as he secured fourth on the grid for race three.

Ashen skies and light rain greeted competitors on Saturday morning for race one, and following a bright start and a supremely bold overtaking manoeuvre on former Formula Renault UK Champion Tom Blomqvist for eighth place, the Stoneleigh-based driver found his tyres beginning to fade in the closing stages.

After grittily defending against three visibly faster cars, he was eventually forced to yield, dropping out of the top ten as a result.

After safely navigating a chaotic start in race two, King picked his way through the carnage to rise as high as sixth.

He slipped to eighth as two recovering title contenders scythed their way back through the order, before his battery unexpectedly gave up the ghost with just three laps left to run.

In the weekend’s final encounter the following day, King found himself boxed in at the first corner and dropped to eighth.

Undeterred, he battled his way back into sixth spot to register his finest finish to date, relentlessly harrying F3 veteran Will Buller right to the chequered flag.

He will now head to round three at Hockenheim inside the top ten in the championship standings - and highest-placed rookie for good measure.

“It was a shame about the problems we had in the first two races, because they cost me at least eight points,” said King.

“But things ended well in race three.

“I’m still learning in F3 but we definitely took a step forward at Silverstone.”