Madrid nightmare hits championship leader as rivals cash in

Beganovic made a clean start from pole to retain the lead into Turn 1, while Camara immediately challenged Dunne for second without finding a way through.

By Lap 2, Beganovic had opened a one-second advantage, before the Safety Car was deployed following contact between Kush Maini and Cian Shields, which sent the ART driver into the barriers at Turn 18. Several drivers took the opportunity to complete their mandatory stops, while Beganovic stayed out on the Soft tyres.

Racing resumed on Lap 7, with Beganovic remaining in control at the front. Further back, Noel Leon passed Roman Bilinski for sixth, while Gabriele Mini overtook teammate Oliver Goethe for ninth before being denied by Miyata in another battle.

By Lap 10, Beganovic continued to lead those yet to pit, but Boya was making strong progress after his early stop, lapping up to two seconds quicker than the race leader. Beganovic responded on Lap 12 by setting his best lap of the race.

Camara then made his mandatory stop and initially emerged ahead of Boya, only for the PREMA driver to use his warmer tyres to pass him at Turn 13. Tsolov and Stenshorne followed into the pits, with Stenshorne emerging ahead of championship leader Camara, while Boya continued his charge by overtaking Tsolov at Turn 5 on Lap 14.

On Lap 17, Goethe pitted from fifth and rejoined ahead of Boya, immediately defending his position into Turn 5. Tsolov briefly passed both drivers but ran deep and dropped back behind Boya, Goethe and Camara. Moments later, Camara and Goethe collided, triggering another Safety Car.

At the restart on Lap 22, Beganovic retained the lead ahead of Dunne and Miyata, while the action intensified behind. Mini passed Stenshorne at Turn 13 for seventh, before Camara and Boya went wheel-to-wheel on Lap 24. Camara eventually came out on top to take ninth, while Boya also lost positions to Tsolov and Bilinski. Camara was later handed a 10-second penalty for his earlier collision with Goethe.

The closing stages saw the midfield battle intensify, with Bilinski passing Tsolov into Turn 5 on Lap 27 to move into P10. Duerksen then pulled off a well-executed move on Fittipaldi at Turn 13 to claim fourth, while Boya continued his recovery by overtaking Tsolov at Turn 1, with the Bulgarian dropping behind teammate Leon after cutting the chicane.

Despite his 10-second penalty, Camara still managed to hold on to the final point in P10 by just eight tenths, while Tsolov missed out on the points. Beganovic took victory ahead of Dunne and Miyata, with Duerksen and Fittipaldi completing the top five.