Honda junior driver Nirei Fukuzumi has claimed his second win of the 2017 GP3 season, heading an ART 1-2-3, at the Jerez feature race.

Fukuzumi led all 23 laps from pole position, keeping a gap of around two seconds to Mercedes protégé George Russell for much of the race.

The crucial changes for position happened on the first lap as the race turned into a monotonous spectacle and drivers were trapped in position, with Russell making a move past Renault academy racer Jack Aitken in the first two corners.

Russell remained in second for his fourth straight podium ahead of drivers’ championship rival Aitken.

The result means that the championship is not yet over, with Russell having a 44-point lead with a maximum of 65 remaining.

Aitken narrowed his deficit to Russell to just one point after claiming the fastest lap of the race, but can now only lose three points to his rival in the sprint race to keep the battle alive until the final round at Abu Dhabi.

Red Bull-backed Dan Ticktum impressed in fourth for DAMS’ best result of the season so far, keeping Anthoine Hubert at least one second behind for much of the event before this extended late on.

Ticktum’s junior team colleague Niko Kari finished sixth above Trident duo Dorian Boccolacci and Giuliano Alesi.

Alesi nearly made contact with Alessio Lorandi on the final lap when snatching eighth, with his front left contacting with the rear left when passing around the inside approaching the right-handed Turn 6 corner.

Hubert and Alesi are now out of contention for the title, falling 73 and 79 points adrift of Russell respectively.

Lorandi and Julien Falchero completed the top 10 that was separated by 19.9s.

Sauber development driver Tatiana Calderon fell from eighth on the grid to 13th after first lap contact with Alesi, while Haas-backed Arjun Maini rose from 19th to 17th.

Campos team-mates Marcos Siebert and Raoul Hyman both pitted for front wing changes, while Kevin Joerg pitted with a front left puncture early on.

The race is the first contest of the season in which there have been no retirements.