Championship leader Tsolov suffers Madrid heartbreak after spin

The Japanese made the perfect start to the race in Madrid, beating Emerson Fittipaldi into the opening corner to take the lead for Hitech. Noel León moved into third, followed by Laurens van Hoepen, Nikola Tsolov and Martinius Stenshorne, while Rafael Câmara and Alexander Dunne occupied the final two points-paying positions.

There was plenty of action further down the field on the opening lap, with Câmara diving down the inside of Dino Beganovic at Turn 5 before Dunne found a way past Roman Bilinski at Turn 8. The race was then neutralised by the Safety Car after Nico Varrone was sent into the wall at Turn 7 following contact with Kush Maini, with the Indian driver also sustaining damage.

Sebastián Montoya and John Bennett were involved in a separate incident at Turn 1, leaving both drivers with problems. Montoya returned to the pit lane but was forced to retire, while Bennett also headed back to the Trident garage and was ultimately forced to retire from the race as well.

Racing resumed on Lap 5, with Miyata keeping Fittipaldi behind to maintain his lead at the front. The restart immediately brought the fight for the lower points positions to life, as Dunne began to put Câmara under sustained pressure. The Rodin driver stayed close through the Turn 5/6 chicane before attempting to make a move into Turn 5 on the following lap, but Câmara resisted and remained seventh.

The action soon spread further up the order, with Van Hoepen attacking León for third. Van Hoepen managed to get ahead, but León quickly fought back and retook the position, before allowing Van Hoepen back through after cutting Turn 5, with Tsolov lurking just behind the battling pair.

On Lap 14, Tsolov launched an attack for fourth into Turn 5 but was forced to cut the chicane, prompting him to hand the position back to his Campos teammate.

The championship leader remained firmly in the fight, but his race unravelled shortly afterwards when he spun at Turn 20 and was unable to get going again, triggering another Safety Car. Replays showed that Tsolov clipped the inside wall on entry to the corner before spinning, bringing a painful end to his Sprint Race while he was battling towards the front.

The second restart produced few surprises, with Miyata keeping control at the front and going on to take victory ahead of Fittipaldi. Van Hoepen completed the podium in third, with León crossing the line in fourth.