George Russell claimed GP3 Series victory at Silverstone to win his home race.
Pole sitter Russell got a poor start off the grid which allowed team-mate Anthoine Hubert to jump into the lead whilst Nirei Fukuzumi who started in third was forced to retire.
Russell was not keen to let his team-mate race off ahead and kept close to his rear but also had Niko Kari closing in on him.
The Briton managed to get the move done on Hubert, on the fourth lap with the aid of DRS.
Alessio Lorandi, having lost a place at the start found himself homing in on the fourth ART Grand Prix machine of Jack Aitken as the lead pack closed up, with Lorandi getting ahead with the advantage of DRS.
Aitken, then had Dorian Boccolacci on his tail who had shown strong pace all weekend but a grid penalty meant he started lower than the pace he had demonstrated.
Santino Ferrucci span but was able to get himself back facing the right way without issue however the DAMS driver eventually was forced to retire the car due to an ongoing problem.
Boccolacci finally managed to get the move done on Aitken, with Arjun Maini also trying to claim a position from the British-Korean driver.
Giuliano Alesi pulled off a risky move on Julien Falchero to place himself in eighth, the latter was then also displaced by Kevin Jörg.
Outfront, the battle for the final step on the podium was hotting up with Lorandi on the gearbox of Kari but the battle was halted when Ryan Tveter joined his fellow American, Ferrucci, in retirement when he stopped his car on the side of the track by the National Pit Straight prompting the deployment of the virtual safety car.
When racing was back underway Lorandi got straight pass Kari who now found himself pressurised by Boccolacci – further back Aitken ran wide off the track.
Raoul Hyman had a difficult restart but was able to make it to the finish but in last place.
A tense fight between Kari and Boccolacci, saw the former be forced off the track – which is to be investigated after the race – allowing Aitken to come back through ahead of them as a battle for fourth developed between Aitken-Boccolacci-Kari-Maini and Alesi.
Russell, took his second victory of the season ahead of Hubert with Lorandi completing the podium. Aitken recovered to finish fourth trailed by: Boccolacci, Kari, Maini, Alesi (who will start from reverse grid pole tomorrow), Jörg and Falchero.
2017 GP3 Series Feature Race Results – Silverstone
[table id=2242 /]
