Prema’s Maximilian Gunther opened his 2017 account as he claimed victory in the second race of the weekend at Pau, as erstwhile title leader Joel Eriksson crashed out.
Gunther passed pole sitter Lando Norris off the line and resisted the Briton across the opening couple of laps, as the McLaren-backed youngster applied maximum pressure.
Norris attempted a move around the outside at the Pont Oscar hairpin, before trying through the left-hander at Casino, but had to back off, as Gunther stayed ahead.
Norris dropped back as Gunther gradually increased his lead, remaining unchallenged throughout the remainder of the race after the Carlin driver’s initial pressure.
However, Norris was able to move into the lead of the championship after Eriksson crashed out of fourth place with five minutes remaining of the race.
Eriksson entered the race with an eight-point lead in the standings, but that has now swung to 10 points in Norris’ favour.
Callum Ilott made amends for his early Race 1 exit by rounding out the podium positions, ahead of Harrison Newey, Ralf Aron and Jake Hughes.
Nikita Mazepin, Ferdinand Habsburg, Jehan Daruvala and Jake Dennis completed the top 10.
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