On average 3 seconds faster than anyone else on the track, the Monegasque driver won despite a 10-second penalty. Second was Vips and third was Rasmussen. Petecof could only manage fourth, while a good performance from Chovet saw him finish fifth.

Arthur Leclerc (PREMA Powerteam) won Race 1 with a stunning pace that saw him crossing the finish line 20 seconds ahead of second placed man Juri Vips (KIC Motorsport), followed by Leclerc’s teammate, Rasmussen. The championship leader Petecof endured a less than stellar race amd was only fourth, while Pierre-Louis Chovet (Van Amersfoort Racing) tooks a good fifth place.

The 10-second penalty was inflicted on Leclerc for overtaking Rasmussen under yellow flags (though it was still a splendid overtaking move with four wheel drift aplenty) was not enough to prevent the Monegasque from claiming victory a good 20 seconds ahead of Vips after a stratospheric performance.

“I felt perfectly at ease with the car and I was able to really do everything I wanted, I’m very happy. Clearly there is still a lot of work to be done, but I like everything about this circuit,” commented the Monegasque rain master.

“I had little grip and I asked the team to increase the pressure as much as possible, then in the final part of the race with the track drying I found the rhythm and I approached the times of Leclerc, who honestly was very fast. Now in the wet we are clear as to how to adjust the car for a possible wet race for Race 2 tomorrow,” commented Juri Vips, Red Bull Junior Team driver.

Tomorrow race 2 starts at 10.45 local time, while in the afternoon race 3 starts at 15.40.