On a race on which the exciting part has been the fight for fifth place, ART drivers have absolutely dominated the race and taken the four top positions. George Russell has won with Aitken and Fukuzumi on the podium.
On the start, George Russell kept first place and contended Jack Aitken‘s attacks. Antoine Hubert tried a very risky maneouvre on turn 3 and collided with Steijn Schothorst and Leonardo Pulcini. Arden’s Italian driver had to retire and the virtual safety car was deployed.
Hubert‘s car was apparently unharmed and was third, ART drivers had all three podium places. Giuliano Alesi was fourth with Nirei Fukuzumi, championship leader and the other ART, fifth. The Japanese driver overtooke the French to make a ART Top 4. Ryan Tveter also passed Alesi. Julien Falchero pitted to fix damage and Schothorst finally retired. Santino Ferucci had been also involved in incidents and retired. Hubert was given a ten-second penalty for Lap 1 incident.
The race continued calmly, and the most important fight was the one for 7th place between Dorian Boccolacci, Alessio Lorandi and Raoul Hyman. On lap 16, Niko Kari, who had problemas on the first lap and was last, retired due to mechanical issues. On next lap, both Tatiana Calderón and Bruno Baptista, 10th and 11th respectively, were given a five-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags.
On the last laps, the fight for fifth place was being thrilling. Boccolacci reached the positions of Alesi and Tveter. On lap 22, Boccolacci overtook Alesi and so did to Tveter one lap later, he was now fifth. The American driver, however, wanted to recover his place and Boccolacci ran wide in turn 8, which dropped him to tenth.
Nothing more changed and Russell took, without making too much noise, his maiden win on the series. Aitken finished second with Hubert crossing the line third but being dropped to fourth due to the penalty. Fukuzumi was the one upgraded to the last podium spot. Tveter, Alessi, Lorandi, Hyman, Boccolacci and Arjun Maini complete the Top 10.
These results make Russell move to the top of the standings, with 49 points. Fukuzumi is now second, five points behind his team-mate, with Hubert third with 34 points and Lorandi fourth with 31. The second race of the weekend and fourth of the season will be held tomorrow at 9:10 local time.