Nico Muller scored his first win of the GP3 Series season in the first race at Silverstone, after gambling to fit wet tyres on the grid gave him the lead of the race. All seven of the British drivers finished behind him, filling the remaining points positions.
With rain forecast for the race Muller was one of a minority of the pack to choose to fit wet tyres on the grid. As the rain began to fall on the warm up lap, the majority of the field opted to go to the pits to change to wet tyres. Only 11 cars made their way round to the grid for the grid, with sixth-place qualifier Muller effectively inheriting pole position as all five cars ahead of him had pitted.
Off the start the Jenzer Motorsport driver was actually beaten to Abbey by Michael Chrisensen, only for Muller to snatch the lead back into Village. Christensen then ran a bit wide on the entry into The Loop, leaving the door open for Mucke Motorsport teammate Nigel Melker. The two made contact, sending Christensen into a spin and forcing Melker to run wide.
This allowed Muller to open up a big lead, with Brits Nick Yelloly and Luciano Bacheta his nearest challengers.
Original polesitter Adrian Quaife-Hobbs completed the first lap in ninth place, ahead of fellow Brits and pitlane starters James Calado, Lewis Williamson and Alexander Sims.
Quaife-Hobbs began carving his way through the field, eventually moving up into third place past Bacheta. He was followed by Sims, who then took third place from Quaife-Hobbs. He got past Yelloly for second place before the end of the race, but Muller was too far ahead to be troubled.
Behind Sims, Yelloly and Quaife-Hobbs, Bacheta held onto fifth. Calado made it as far as sixth, leading Williamson home. Dean Smith was the last of the Brit pack in eighth, taking the final point. The reverse grid will put the British drivers in the first seven positions on the grid for Race 2.
Championship leader Mitch Evans could not make as much progress as the home drivers after sacrificing his grid position, only making it as far as tenth.
Race 1 results – 14 laps:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | 30:40.239 |
| 2 | Alexander Sims | Status Grand Prix | 2.814 |
| 3 | Nick Yelloly | Atech CRS GP | 4.751 |
| 4 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Marussia Manor Racing | 7.400 |
| 5 | Luciano Bacheta | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 15.227 |
| 6 | James Calado | Lotus ART | 18.644 |
| 7 | Lewis Williamson | MW Arden | 19.315 |
| 8 | Dean Smith | Addax Team | 24.705 |
| 9 | Marlon Stockinger | Atech CRS GP | 27.352 |
| 10 | Mitch Evans | MW Arden | 27.838 |
| 11 | Rio Haryanto | Marussia Manor Racing | 29.706 |
| 12 | Aaro Vainio | Tech 1 Racing | 30.351 |
| 13 | Simon Trummer | MW Arden | 31.185 |
| 14 | Maxim Zimin | Jenzer Motorsport | 34.789 |
| 15 | Conor Daly | Carlin | 35.791 |
| 16 | Vittorio Ghirelli | Jenzer Motorsport | 40.397 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Lotus ART | 54.998 |
| 18 | Leonardo Cordeiro | Carlin | 78.171 |
| 19 | Ivan Lukashevich | Status Grand Prix | 80.044 |
| 20 | Antonio Felix Da Costa | Status Grand Prix | 103.499 |
| 21 | Thomas Hylkema | Tech 1 Racing | +1 lap |
| Ret | Tom Dillmann | Addax Team | 11 laps |
| Ret | Gabby Chaves | Addax Team | 11 laps |
| Ret | Zoel Amberg | Atech CRS GP | 8 laps |
| Ret | Pedro Nunes | Lotus ART | 3 laps |
| Ret | Michael Christensen | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 1 lap |
| Ret | Tamas Pal Kiss | Tech 1 Racing | 1 lap |
| Ret | Nigel Melker | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 0 laps |
| Ret | Matias Laine | Marussia Manor Racing | 0 laps |
| DNS | Daniel Morad | Carlin |
