Giuliano Alesi captured his third successive GP3 Sprint Race victory after grabbing the lead on the opening lap at Spa-Francorchamps.
Alesi moved ahead of pole sitter Julien Falchero into La Source and preserved his advantage throughout, adding to wins achieved at Silverstone and the Hungaroring.
Mercedes-backed George Russell completed a fine recovery from eighth to second via a sequence of moves, extending his title advantage to 36 points over ART team-mate Jack Aitken.
Aitken had been running in front of Russell during the race but collided with Trident’s Dorian Boccolacci on the run to Les Combes, forcing both to pit for repairs.
Aitken was deemed culpable for the incident and handed a time penalty, which made no difference to his finishing position, having emerged from the pits two laps down.
Ryan Tveter racked up another podium for Trident, while ART’s Nirei Fukuzumi claimed fourth via an on-the-grass move on Niko Kari along the Kemmel Straight.
Kari was handed a time penalty for moving over on Fukuzumi – forcing the Honda protégé onto the grass – and dropped out of the points.
Falchero took fifth, ahead of Arjun Maini and Anthoine Hubert, who conducted a stellar drive to claim points from the back row of the grid.
Kevin Jörg rounded out the top eight once Kari’s sanction was applied post-race.
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