MONZA: Oscar Piastri clinched a dominant first feature race win at the Monza Circuit, beating Guanyu Zhou to extend his Championship lead. The duo were sparred a late battle with the rapid Dan Ticktum on fresh soft tyres as the race ended under Safety Car conditions, with the Carlin in third.
Piastri had been unable to convert pole in the previous round at Silverstone, losing out to Zhou when the lights went out but looked to have learned from the experience and completed the opening lap at the front. Jumping from third to second off the line, Zhou kept the pressure on throughout the race but was unable to find a way past his title rival.
As the highest placed driver on the alternate strategy, Ticktum was handed a shot at victory by a Safety Car with five laps to go. Eight overtakes on the option tyre followed, before he was stopped by Bernd Maylander's Mercedes, brought out after a collision between David Beckmann and Bent Viscaal.
Sprint Race 1 and 2 winners Theo Pourchaire and Jehan Daruvala missed out on another podium, settling for the final two places in the top five.
Piastri now holds a 15-point advantage over Zhou with three rounds of the season to go, sitting first with 149 points. Shwartzman is third with 113, ahead of Ticktum on 104 and Pourchaire on 94. In the Teams' title race, PREMA have 262 ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 193 and Carlin on 185. Hitech are fourth with 162 and ART fifth with 132.
The title fight will now continue in just under two weeks at Sochi, where Piastri and Zhou will look to pick up their battle from the front.