Nikita Mazepin closed the gap on GP3 title rival and ART Grand Prix team-mate Anthoine Hubert by taking pole position for the deciding round of the season.
Mazepin entered the weekend 31 points adrift of long-time leader and Renault-affiliated youngster Hubert, but that gap has now been reduced to 27, with 44 points still up for grabs.
Occasional Force India tester Mazepin posted a time of 1:54.885 to beat Campos’ Leonardo Pulcini by just 0.067s at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Mazepin’s ART team-mates followed Pulcini, with points leader Hubert third, ahead of Jake Hughes and Callum Ilott.
A trio of Tridents followed as David Beckmann, Giuliano Alesi and Ryan Tveter took sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Simo Laaksonen and Juan Manuel Correa completed the top 10 for Campos and Jenzer Motorsport respectively.
This weekend marks the final ever GP3 Series round before the championship is replaced by International Formula 3 on the Formula 1 support package.
