Schumacher makes it four in a row

Schumacher started the race from pole position but had to defend his position from his hard-charging teammate Robert Shvartzman.

After some laps, Schumacher had established a small margin that he was able to maintain until the end. For Shvartzman, the best-placed rookie in the field, his second place was never under threat either.

Behind the two Prema drivers, Marcus Armstrong (Prema Theodore Racing) initially was running in third place, but he lost this position to Ferdinand Habsburg (Carlin) who moved up from eleventh on the grid to fifth at the start and even claimed third place soon after that.

However, he wasn’t able to keep it for a long time as Armstrong moved ahead of him. On lap nine, Alex Palou, who had started from 13th place, overtook the New Zealander and eventually was third across the finish line.

Armstrong, Habsburg, Jüri Vips (Motopark), Jonathan Aberdein (Motopark), Ticktum, Fabio Scherer (Motopark) and Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) were classified in fourth to tenth place.

Ticktum and Daruvala, in particular, staged a thrilling duel for their respective positions over several laps in which the British Red Bull junior driver eventually came out on top.

Schumacher said afterwards, “At the start and on the first few laps, I had to defend my position from Robert. At that time, the track was still quite slippery and I didn’t want to take too many risks. After that, I was able to pull clear a bit and tried to save my tyres as much as I could.

"I am very happy that things were going so well for me at the wet and drying track. And I am also happy to have taken the lead in the drivers’ standings."

Later in the afternoon, Schumi III claimed pole position for both the second and third races which take place on Sunday at the Austrian Grand Prix venue.