ART Grand Prix’s Charles Leclerc claimed his third GP3 victory in Race 1 at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, taking a lights to flag victory in effortless style.
The Ferrari Academy driver went unchallenged as he finished 2.3 seconds ahead of Arden International’s Jake Dennis, the Briton storming through the field to take second in the final laps after starting from P13.
McLaren protege Nyck de Vries was third, 15 seconds adrift of the lead for ART.
Trident's Antonio Fuocco was fourth ahead of Jack Aitken, Steijn Schothorst, Santino Ferrucci and Matevos Isaakyan.
The race saw one Safety Car following an incident involving Jake Hughes, Matthew Parry and Arjun Maini: the trio all retired with damage as did Nirei Fukuzumi who was caught up in the accident.
The race remained under SC conditions for four laps before resuming, with several drivers making up positions, including Alex Albon. The ART driver going from P17 to P12. He eventually finished ninth.
Trident’s Giuliano Alesi, who had started P19, was up to an impressive P8 by lap two and was in the mix of a mammoth battle of drivers eager to grab reverse pole and take the final points on offer. He went on to secure his first points finish in tenth.
Leclerc went on to post the fastest lap and has scored the maximum points available so far this weekend. Therefore extending his championship lead to 30 points. His nearest rival is now Fuoco with Albon, two points adrift of the Italian.
