Sauber youngster Sergey Sirotkin claimed his maiden Formula Renault 3.5 Series win at his home round in Moscow on a disastrous day for the three main title protagonists.
Pole sitter Sirotkin led from start to finish to take top honours while Carlos Sainz Jr, Pierre Gasly and Oliver Rowland all failed to score points after stalling at the start.
The first start was abandoned when front row starter Gasly stalled; the Frenchman frantically waving to alert race control to his predicament. The drivers circulated for another formation lap, but without Rowland and Sainz Jr, who also stalled from sixth and 16th on the grid respectively. The result was that the first three drivers in the championship were forced to start from the pit lane.
Sirotkin led away from the start while Zoël Amberg assumed second position, ahead of a close scrap between Pietro Fantin, Roberto Merhi, Jazeman Jaafar and Will Stevens, which settled down after the first few corners.
Sirotkin maintained a one second gap to Amberg, who in turn pulled away of third placed man Fantin. Behind them, Sainz Jr and Rowland tried to recover from their pit lane start but the duo collided, with Rowland’s race ending in the gravel trap at the final corner.
Amberg remained a constant threat to Sirotkin but on the twisty and tight Moscow Raceway overtaking opportunities were always at a premium. The Russian crossed the line ahead of Amberg to take his first win – and the first for a Russian driver in the series – the perfect response after four straight retirements.
Fantin maintained third place in a largely processional affair, ahead of Merhi, Jaafar and Stevens.
Marlon Stöckinger was seventh, ahead of Mathias Laine, Richie Stanaway and Oscar Tunjo.
Sainz Jr recovered to 14th, with Gasly a lap down in 18th. The failure of the top three to score means that Sainz Jr retains his 43 point advantage over Gasly.
