The race weekend consisted of two races–feature race and sprint. The grid order for the feature race was determined based on the times set during qualification. The pole-sitter of the feature race received four championship points. Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the feature race.[4] The feature race ran for 173.79km (107.99mi) and consisted of 30 laps around the circuit.[1]
The grid for the sprint race were based on the results of the feature race with the top eight drivers having their positions reversed.[4] The sprint race was a shorter version with 21 laps.[1] Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers in the Sprint race. Two points were given to the driver who sets the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races.[4]
Qualifying
In the qualifying session, the cars took to the track on a wet circuit which resulted in wobbling of the cars. Luca Ghiotto, who topped the practice charts, set the initial fastest lap with a time of 1:37.906. Guanyu Zhou briefly secured pole position before Callum Ilott topped the time charts with a 1:33.887 lap. Shortly after, Nobuharu Matsushita and Tatiana Calderon crashed their cars, and brought the red flag. When the session resumed, the track was wetter, and no driver was able to set a better lap time.[5]
^1 – Nyck de Vries was excluded from the qualifying results due to fuel infringement.[7]
Feature race
Ilott, who started on pole for the first time in his career fought off a challenge from Zhou in the first corner to maintain their places. While Nikita Mazepin from third fell down the order following a mistake, Zhou committed a similar error in the second lap of the race. Nobuharu Matsushita rose through the field to second place by lap five, and overtook Ilott for the lead. Ghiotto, who was on an alternate tyre strategy, moved to second place after Nicholas Latifi and Zhou were involved in a crash. Championship leader Nyck de Vries, who started last, completed the podium positions by finishing third.[8]
^1 – Guanyu Zhou was handed a three-place grid drop for the sprint race following a collision with Nicholas Latifi in the feature race.[9]
Sprint race
Jack Aitken started the sprint race on pole based on the reverse grid order.[8] Aitken led the race from the start while Jordan King and Ilott overtook Giuliano Alesi, who started second. King overtook Aitken afterwards to go in to the lead before a struggle between Ghiotto and Sérgio Sette Câmara resulted in a Virtual Safety Car. When the race resumed, Aitken re-took the lead, and finished in first place. Behind him, King drove home in second place, and Matsushita finished third after Ilott damaged his car in the final lap of the race. However, a five second penalty for Matsushita pushed him to fifth and allowed De Vries into third.[10]
↑ Mick Schumacher set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Luca Ghiotto was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
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