Ralf Aron claims victory in a truncated Pau Grand Prix after snatching the lead off the line.
The Prema driver started from the second row of the grid, but a lightening start put him ahead of pole-sitter Enaam Ahmed before the first corner.
Aron held the lead as conditions worsened in Pau, maintaining a gap of around two seconds to Ahmed.
A safety car, brought out when Marcus Armstrong hit the wall, cut the gap back down to nothing. Marshalls quickly cleared Armstrong’s car, but the race was not restarted due to the wet weather and the safety car led the field into the pits under a red flag.
Jehan Daruvala joined Aron and Ahmed on the podium, having started fifth.
Front row started Alex Palou dropped to 17th after stalling on the grid. The Hitech GP driver began a recovery drive, only to be handed a drive though penalty for an incorrect grid position, as it was deemed he’d positioned his car too far to the left.
The penalty dropped him further back and he finished 19th.
Fabio Scherer took P4 ahead of Daniel Ticktum, but the McLaren Autosport Award winner’s position is in doubt, as stewards investigate an incident between himself and Armstrong that occurred on the opening lap. The pair were running side by side when they came together and Armstrong hit the wall. Both were able to continue, though Armstrong dropped backwards.
Race two winner Sacha Fenestraz was forced to pit after the opening lap and dropped to the back of the field. He was unable to make any progress and finished without points, but bad luck for others in the race and an early finish means he retains the lead of the championship by just 2.5 points
Robert Shwartzman and Mick Schumacher made progress early in the race to finish sixth and seventh, ahead of Jonathan Aberdein and Ben Hingley.
Marino Sato rounded out the top 10.
