Mercedes junior driver George Russell took a clear victory in the first GP3 race at Spa-Francorchamps, leading an ART Grand Prix 1-2-3.
Russell picked up his third victory of the 2017 season after bouncing back from a difficult start to the race, which saw him drop to second place on the opening lap.
The British racer lined up on pole position and exited the first corner at the front of the field, but his team-mate Nirei Fukuzumi used the slipstream to storm ahead of him on the back straight.
Russell trailed Fukuzumi for several laps, which featured a brief Virtual Safety Car for Bruno Bauptista’s crashed DAMS, before storming ahead of him just after racing returned to green.
From there, Russell was able to eke out a comfortable gap, which he extended to 7.4 seconds by the chequered flag to extend his lead in the drivers’ standings.
His nearest title rival, and team-mate, Jack Aitken started fourth but moved up to third on the first lap, before passing Fukuzumi shortly after the Japanese driver lost the lead.
While Aitken was able to move clear for a little while, Fukuzumi put in a late charge and the two swapped places several times.
However, Renault junior Aitken emerged ahead at the finish, with Honda protégé Fukuzumi third and Arjun Maini fourth for Jenzer.
Dorian Boccolacci escaped the lap one drama to finish fifth, with Ryan Tveter sixth after a strong opening tour of Spa and Giuliano Alesi seventh.
Julien Falchero was next up and will claim reverse grid pole for the second race, while Niko Kari and Kevin Joerg completed the top 10.
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