Carlin's Nobuharu Matsushita stormed to victory ahead of Luca Ghiotto in the Italian FIA Formula 2 Feature Race at Monza.
The Japanese driver had made an incredible start from sixth on the grid to climb into second place on the opening lap of the race.
After spending a handful of laps behind pole-sitter Callum Ilott, Matsushita passed the Ferrari Academy driver for the lead and continued at an unabated pace to claim his second Feature Race victory of the season.
Luca Ghiotto would finish in second place after losing out on a potential shot at the win after trying the alternate strategy, as the Italian made his stop on lap 20 the front left tyre was slow getting tightened onto the UNI-Virtuosi car which cost him valuable seconds in his bid for victory.
ART's Nyck De Vries had been forced to start from the back of the field after being disqualified from the qualifying results for a fuel infringement. Despite this, the Dutchman was able to pass his rivals at ease and claim the final spot on the podium to extend his already vast championship lead.
Ilott finished fourth at the end of a tough race for the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz outfit, after leading in the early stages, the tyres fell away from the British driver, leaving him defenceless in the final laps.
DAMS' Sergio Sette Camara would take fifth place despite finishing fourth on the road after taking on a five-second time penalty for jumping the Turn 1 chicane whilst trying to fend off De Vries mid-way through the race.
Jordan King crossed the line in sixth for MP Motorsport ahead of Trident's Giuliano Alesi in seventh.
Campos Racing's Jack Aitken will start Sunday's Sprint Race from the reverse grid pole position after finishing in eighth place.
Sean Gelael finished in ninth in a difficult afternoon for Prema after Mick Schumacher suffered engine issues midway through the race and fell out of contention for a possible podium.
Mahaveer Raghunathan would out the top 10 in the second MP Motorsport entry to score his first point of the season.
Title contender Nicholas Latifi clashed with the Guanyu Zhou as the pair battled into the Della Roggia chicane on lap 13.
Latifi would suffer front wing damage while Zhou had a puncture, but the team eventually retired the Chinese driver from the race.
Sunday's Sprint Race is scheduled for 10:45am local time.
