Monza European F3: Ilott goes from third to victory in finale

Ilott and his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes got a perfect launch from third on the grid to pass poleman Joel Eriksson and second-on-the-grid Lando Norris on the run to the Rettifilo chicane.

Ferrari junior Guan Yu Zhou, who started alongside Prema team-mate Ilott on the second row, also got ahead of Norris and then slipstreamed past Eriksson to take second out of Rettifilo.

When Eriksson got out of shape at the Ascari chicane, Norris was able to take advantage and dive into third place at Parabolica.

McLaren-Honda protege Norris set off after Zhou and squeezed past the Chinese racer into Lesmo on the fifth lap of 20.

At this point Ilott had a lead of almost two seconds, and the Carlin car in his mirrors would only inch slightly closer.

Norris brought the gap down to a second with two laps to go when Ilott lost 0.8s with a lock-up at Rettifilo but he never got close enough to make a move, finishing 0.736s adrift.

"I got a really good start, but we'd changed something with the brakes to make things better and it actually made it worse," said Ilott.

"I was locking up for the first few laps and that flat-spotted the tyres, but then it settled down and I could maintain a gap.

"I knew I was quicker in the second sector, so that was enough not to let him completely into my slipstream.

"But at the end it changed again and I was struggling with the brakes."

Eriksson got involved in a ferocious battle with Maximilian Gunther, the two of them moving past Zhou at halfway to fight for third.

It ended with four laps to go, when Motopark driver Eriksson ran out of room as he went to the left of Gunther on the approach to Rettifilo.

Eriksson got two wheels on the grass and had to take to the escape road, finally taking a distant fourth - but retained the series lead by one point from Norris.

The incident between Eriksson and Prema driver Gunther went under investigation, but no action was taken.

As Zhou slipped down the field, others rose up in a titanic battle that involved half the field in the second part of the race.

Ralf Aron held fifth for a few laps, but the Hitech GP driver had no answer to Ferdinand Habsburg, the Carlin man completing a fine weekend with fifth place.

Mick Schumacher (Prema) and Pedro Piquet (Van Amersfoort Racing) also made progress to take sixth and seventh, with Aron, Jehan Daruvala and Zhou claiming the final points.

RESULTS - 20 LAPS:

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: