This was Picariello's third win after his double victory at Bahrain, as he continues his fine run in the championship. He also clocked the fastest lap with a time of 2m00.061s.

Championship leader Pietro Fittipaldi meanwhile extended his points lead, finishing second after overtaking third-placed Nikita Troitskiy.

At the start, while Picariello converted pole into an early lead, Sean Walkinshaw and Max Fewtrell lost positions to Fittipaldi, Tatiana Calderon and Harrison Newey.

Walkinshaw ultimately retired from the race, while Fewtrell recovered after his early blip to finish sixth and will start on pole for the second race.

Calderon salvaged a good result starting from seventh to finish fourth, with Tarun Reddy making up four places to finish fifth.

After a great start, Newey lost out in the race as he finished seventh, while Nerses Isaakyan was eighth.

Aussie Dylan Young, having lost places at the start, clawed back ground towards the end to finish ninth while debutant Giuliano Alesi was 10th - a good run by the French driver after starting from 14th.