Carlos Sainz Jr. clinched the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 championship at the very first corner of the final round in Jerez when his sole title rival Roberto Merhi crashed out.
Merhi needed to win to keep his hopes alive but he was eliminated in a Turn 1 crash with William Buller.
Merhi had made a strong start from 10th on the grid and took to the outside line to contest third place. As he did so, Buller moved over under braking and made contact with Marlon Stöckinger, resulting in the Brit spearing into Merhi and eliminating both.
The incident meant that Sainz Jr. became the first Red Bull backed driver to win the championship, irrespective of his own result.
The race itself was won by Marussia reserve driver Will Stevens, who led from start to finish for Strakka, just ahead of Oliver Rowland.
Rowland remained within reach of compatriot Stevens throughout and closed the gap on the final lap to pressure Stevens into an error in the last sector.
Stevens went wide on the approach to the chicane, allowing Rowland a chance at the final corner. Stevens defended and ultimately held his position on the run to the line, albeit by only 0.078s.
Sauber test driver Sergey Sirotkin slashed the gap to the leading pair across the final few laps to ensure that the trio crossed the line in close contention.
Matthieu Vaxivière was a lonely fourth while Beitske Visser secured her best finish in the category as she claimed fifth place for AV Formula, having sustained race-long pressure from Pierre Gasly.
The Frenchman was on the tail of Visser throughout but was unable to find a way through; nonetheless, Gasly’s sixth place moves him to within three points of Merhi in the battle for second in the championship.
Meindert van Buuren was seventh, while Norman Nato finished eighth for DAMS.
Sainz Jr. had a difficult time despite clinching the title as he started from 15th on the grid and made contact with a couple of rivals on the first lap. He quickly made his way up to ninth but could progress no further.
GP2 race winner Marco Sørensen rounded out the top 10.
