Maloney had a great launch off the line and got alongside Alexander Smolyar into Turn 1 to take the lead on the inside. Martins managed to clear Stanek into the first corner after making use of the tow.
A safety car was deployed on the opening lap after contact between Villagomez and Vidales at the second Lesmo with both ending up in the gravel and out of the race. The green flags were back out entering Lap 4 and race leader Maloney went halfway down the back straight.
The PREMA Racing drivers weren’t taking things easy against one another. Leclerc managed to re-pass Bearman on the first lap back to racing, using the exact move the Briton pulled on him at the start.
Isack Hadjar wasn’t having a good feature race and found himself well out of contention. He was relegated to 14th by Reece Ushijima on Lap 11 into Turn 1.
The Safety Car was back out on Lap 16 after Kush Miami and Brad Benavides crashed out of the second Lesmo. The debris and barrier repair required the red flag, with five laps of the 2022 season to go. As things stood at the red flag, Martins held the lead of the Championship with Maloney 2nd and Bearman third. As the drivers sat in the pitlane it was confirmed that the race would not restart whilst Martins was simultaneously handed a five second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
The classification was taken from count back which meant with Martins’ time penalty applied and a further penalty for track limits violation for Alatalo taken into account, the Frenchman finished P4, the 12 points for fourth ensured he had enough to seal the Driver’s Championship.
The full top 10 are- P1: Maloney, P2: Bearman, P3: Crawford, P4: Martins, P5: Leclerc, P6: Stanek, P7: Alatalo, P8: Edgar, P9: Hadjar and P10: Ushijima.
The Championship-
With the feature race results, Victor Martins takes the 2022 Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship on 139 points. Zane Maloeny and Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 3 in the standings on 134 and 132 points.
PREMA Racing secured the Teams’ Championship ahead of Trident in P2, and ART Grand Prix keeps third.
A massive congratulations to Victor! A well deserved Championship for the Frenchman, hopefully we get to see him graduate to Formula 2 next year! But overall, a massive congratulations to all the title contenders, amazing season by them all!
Jordan's Track Talk 
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