ART Grand Prix dominated the first GP3 race of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend at the Red Bull Ring, with George Russell taking a commanding victory.
The polesitter stormed to his maiden GP3 win, leading away from the line and holding off the challenge from Renault junior and team-mate Jack Aitken.
Mercedes young driver Russell opened up a gap in the closing laps, finishing 2.3 seconds clear of Aitken at the front of the field – the top two comfortably clear of the pack.
Anthoine Hubert finished third on the road, closing on the leaders towards the end, but a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision dropped him to fourth.
He made a daring move on several cars on the opening lap at Turn 3, clattering into Leonardo Pulcini and Steijn Schothorst – causing Pulcini to retire from the race, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car.
Nirei Fukuzumi took advantage of his team-mate’s penalty to snatch third, having recovered from 10th on the grid after making up ground in the early laps.
Behind, there was an intense battle for fifth, eventually won by Ryan Tveter, ahead of the second Trident car of Giuliano Alesi.
Alessio Lorandi and Raoul Hyman got ahead of Dorian Boccolacci in the final stages, with the Trident driver losing ground as the race progressed.
Arjun Maini completed the top 10, while DAMS racer Tatiana Calderon finished in the top 10 but a five-second time penalty dropped her to 13th.
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