Races 1 and 2 provided the spectators at a sunny Spa-Francorchamps with a plethora of thrills and spills. The scene was set as the cars roared away from the grid in the first heat and streamed up the Raidillon with battle already joined all throughout the field.  Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam) was the main casualty of lap 1 as the Frenchman had to abandon ship after a collision with Antonio Fuoco (Prema Powerteam). The Ferrari Driver Academy protégé continued while the championship leader recorded his first retirement of the season.

Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing) took the lead from Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) and Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport). Behind these three the positions kept changing helped by the spectacular fight back of Jake Dennis (Carlin) and Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin). The safety car was deployed after the collision between Santino Ferrucci (Eurointernational) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) bunching up the whole field.

Max Verstappen controlled the restart perfectly and despite coming under attack on several occasions from Lucas Auer in the closing stages of the race the 16-year-old Dutchman scored his second win of the season. Auer finished second followed by Dennis, while Tom Blomqvist and Antonio Fuoco completed the top 5.

Gustavo Menezes (Van Amersfoort Racing), the surprise pole sitter for race 2, made a perfect start from Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon. However, the American locked up his wheels under braking for Les Combes and Verstappen and Ocon nipped past.

The Dutchman and the Frenchman ran nose to tail for the whole of race 2, while behind them the battles throughout the field reached an incredible level of intensity. The multiple attacks and passing manœuvres didn’t always end well, and Lucas Auer and Felix Serralles (Team West-Tec F3) scrapping for fourth place were involved in a big shunt, which brought out the safety car for the second time.

Finally, despite the attempts of several drivers the positions stabilised and Max Verstappen scored his second win of the day from Esteban Ocon, Felix Rosenqvist and the amazing Tatiana Calderon (Jo Zeller Racing), who put in a stunning drive on the demanding Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

“It’s been a perfect day and I dream of many more like it,” laughed Max Verstappen. “Here slipstreaming plays a major role. It almost cost me victory in the first heat as Lucas Auer was all over me at the end. The second race was a bit more relaxed - relatively speaking - because Esteban Ocon, as championship leader didn’t take any unnecessary risks.  Two victories and two Van Amersfoort Racing cars in the top 3 today is a great way of thanking all the guys for their work, especially as it’s at Spa-Francorchamps!”