Prema driver Charles Leclerc extended his lead in the Formula 2 drivers’ standings with a controlled, dominant feature race victory.
It was far from a smooth race, however, for Leclerc. Having stormed away from the rest of the pack at the start, the Monegasque racer quickly opened up a healthy advantage.
But, just before his pitstop at the end of lap seven, smoke started to pour out of the rear of his F2 car around Maggots and Becketts.
The team was not sure what was wrong and checked the car briefly in the pits, deeming everything looked OK. So, he exited the garage still ahead of his closest rivals – Norman Nato and Oliver Rowland.
Then, later in the race, just before those who started on the prime tyre pitted and Leclerc took back the lead, his left-side wing mirror flew off on the Hangar Straight.
Despite the smoky problem earlier on, Leclerc continued to keep up a strong pace and was able to finish almost nine seconds clear of Nato.
Arden racer Nato had to fend off title contender Rowland throughout the race, but just managed to hold him off and claim the runner-up spot.
Rowland was third, picking up useful points, ahead of Artem Markelov, who made up ground mid-way through the race – as did Sergio Canamasas in fifth, after a feisty drive.
Luca Ghiotto put in passes late on to snatch sixth, ahead of Jordan King and Nicolas Latifi – who dropped from sixth to eighth after a scruffy opening few laps.
Sean Gelael and Nobuharu Matsushita, despite a quick start and encouraging first stint on the prime tyre, rounded out the top 10.
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