The formation lap hadn’t even started, and the race director already noticed Stenshorne performing a train start at the end of the pit lane, deciding to investigate the incident after the session for not following the instructions.
Del Pino had a great start and held onto the lead, although his teammate, Tramnitz, tried to use his slipstream to get past. All in all, it was a surprisingly clean start from all drivers, although a brief yellow flag appeared after Domingues spun out.
Van Hoepen went wide through the gravel, as seen from his teammate Wharton’s onboard camera, losing three positions and falling further down the order. Voisin locked up and lost two positions in a similar manner.
With only four teams in the top eight positions — the smallest amount possible — it raised the question of whether some teams would opt for team tactics, something not too common in the lower series. Indeed, Tramnitz didn’t want to stay behind his teammate, and once DRS was enabled, he took the lead. Ugochukwu tried to do the same with his teammate Leon, but it backfired, opening the door for Sharp who overtook them both to move into P5.
Another yellow flag appeared after Marinangeli went wide through the gravel, but it quickly escalated to a VSC and then a full Safety Car as his rear left tyre detached from the suspension and slammed into the barrier. With no contact from other drivers, it seemed likely to be a mechanical failure on the team’s side.
The restart came on Lap 8, with Tramnitz picking the perfect moment to step on the throttle. Tsolov also prepared well for the green flag, jumping up to P3. Boya, on the other hand, didn’t have the same fortune — he dropped all the way down to P12 before a yellow flag appeared. It soon changed to a full Safety Car again as cameras showed Zagazeta stuck in the gravel at Turn 2 after contact with Voisin, indicating a longer delay than expected.
Boya eventually retired in the pits, confirming suspicions of a technical issue that caused him to drop down the order before the Safety Car. Voisin also boxed but returned to the track at the very back of the field. Race Control noted his contact with the DAMS driver and handed him a 10-second time penalty.
Once again, Tramnitz restarted very well on Lap 12, holding onto his leading position ahead of his teammate Del Pino. He tried to extend his lead to over a one-second gap to avoid a DRS-supported attack from behind, but Del Pino had his mirrors full of Tsolov, who was eager to challenge for the lead.
Leon went off into the gravel during a scrap with Taponen, losing two places and dropping to P9. Thankfully, it didn’t escalate into anything more severe, but Race Control noted the contact for forcing another driver off the track.
Bilinski secured the temporary fastest lap of the race and began closing in on Ugochukwu. However, he didn’t need to make any overtakes, as Ugochukwu locked up, allowing Bilinski, Stromsted, and Taponen to get past him.
A brief yellow flag appeared just as Tramnitz crossed the finish line in first place, followed closely by his teammate Del Pino and another Red Bull junior, Tsolov.
Replays showed Ramos attempting a kamikaze-style overtake, resulting in him breaking his front wing and taking out another driver behind. Yellow flags stayed out for the rest of the lap before the drivers headed to parc fermé.
Tsolov apologized over the radio for not achieving more than just a P3 as the top three drivers stood their monocoques in front of the podium finisher signs in front of their happy teams.