For safety reasons in these weather conditions, the race started behind the safety car. Racing got underway at the start of lap four and Charles Leclerc, who started from pole position, held on to his lead. Behind him, Alexander Albon (Signature) overtook Maximilian Günther (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) on the way towards the first corner and thus moved up into second place. After a few laps, a three-way battle for second to fourth place between Günther, Antonio Giovinazzi and Felix Rosenqvist emerged. Charles Leclerc benefited and extended his margin to over eight seconds.

During the first few laps, the wet asphalt already caused some spins and drivers missing their braking points, but initially, there was no need for a safety car intervention. That changed on lap 17 as Jake Dennis (Prema Powerteam), Santino Ferrucci (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), Matt Solomon (Double R Racing) and Arjun Maini (Van Amersfoort Racing) retired after accidents. Because rain continued, the race was concluded behind the safety car. Charles Leclerc won from Antonio Giovinazzi, Felix Rosenqvist, Maximilian Günther, Alexander Albon, Dorian Boccolacci (Signature), Gustavo Menezes (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin), Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam), Markus Pommer (Motopark) and George Russell (Carlin).

Charles Leclerc (Van Amersfoort Racing): “Right after racing got underway, Alex overtook Maximilian behind me. After that, he put me under pressure, until, all of a sudden, I didn’t see him in my rear-view mirrors anymore. I think that Alex simply took more risk than me, because I didn’t want to risk crashing out. It was the right decision to end the race behind the safety car.”

Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin): “In this rain, it was a tough race, because one could hardly see anything. Partly, I couldn’t even see whom I was racing. At the beginning of the safety car intervention, I ran over the front wing that Jake Dennis had lost just before that. The wing then got partly stuck underneath my car and I tried everything to get rid of it. I am happy with my second place and my return to the podium.”

Felix Rosenqvist (Prema Powerteam): “The race wasn’t easy, because one couldn’t see a thing. I can hardly describe how tough it was out there. Therefore, the decision to end the race behind the safety car certainly was right. Prior to the safety car intervention, I was battling with Antonio and Maximilian for third place. When I lapped someone, Antonio took the chance and overtook me. I reckon that third place is quite a good result in such conditions.”