Alex Lynn completed his first weekend in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship by standing on the podium at the historic Monza circuit after finishing third in the final race in torrential rain.

The 19-year-old Englishman, a race winner in British F3 last season, started from third on the grid and kept his head on a streaming-wet track. Conditions were almost impossible to race in and, after a spate of mid-race accidents, the safety car appeared. With the rain increasing in intensity, it was stopped because conditions were too dangerous.

My team-mate Raffaele Marciello, who was leading, had the advantage of being able to see and Pascal Wehrlein behind him was pushing hard because it was his last F3 race before he goes to race in the DTM, said Lynn.

I was trying my best just to keep on the track and not take any stupid risks. Its nice to get on the podium after a race like that.

Qualifying on Friday was dry, and Alex was able to take seventh on the grid for race one, fifth for race two and third for race three in his Mercedes-powered Prema Powerteam Dallara. We had a bit of bad luck with traffic in the first qualifying session, which sets the grid for races one and two, he said, and thats a shame because weve been on the pace since we got here for testing. But in the second session I got a reasonable slipstream from someone. I did an even better lap but didnt get a towif Id been able to benefit from that I reckon Id have got pole.

Unfortunately, Lynn had nowhere to go at the first chicane on the opening lap of Saturdays race, which took place in dry weather. He finished the first lap down in 14th place, but a charging drive brought him back into the top-10 points-paying positions, and he made further progress to finish eighth with some great overtaking manoeuvres.

I had a good getaway but I got boxed in a bit at the first chicane, he said. I had to go down the escape road and lost a lot of positions. It was an uphill battle from then on and it was chaotic in the midfield! But I got through them and I was catching the fight for sixth hand over fist by the end.

In the first of Sundays wet races, Alex moved up to fourth place but dropped to seventh after going straight on at a chicane. He made it back up to sixth when Will Buller made a mistake, but the race finished under the safety car, preventing him from making any more progress.

I scored points and it was just a case of survival, he said. I would like to have finished higher but there wasnt much more that I could do.

Nevertheless, Lynn was one of the few drivers to score points in all three races of the opening round, giving him a good start to the season. In general its been quite a good weekend, said Alex, who is a member of the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, the MSAs Team UK and the British Racing Drivers Clubs SuperStars programme.

Ive picked up points in every race and, although I would have preferred the results to be even better, I cant complain. It was really difficult to drive in those two races on Sunday; the amount of water was incredible.

Lynn is now looking forward to the second round, which takes place at Silverstonescene of his British F3 win last seasonin support of the World Endurance Championship on April 12th-14th. At Silverstone we should have strong pace, he said. Premas car is really good and I cant wait to get out there.