Race 1 Salignon wins

Two safety car periods and ultimately a red flag illustrated what a disrupted race it was, but Salignon remained unfazed and fended off the challenge of Nicolas Lapierre to claim the win. Lapierre put Salignon under significant pressure on both restarts, but was never able to get close enough to make a move stick.

Lewis Hamilton, however, took full advantage of the first safety car period, which came as a result of Signature team-mates Loic Duval and Greg Franchi crashing at Turn 1 on the opening lap, to overtake Giedo van der Garde around the outside of the first turn for third. Van der Garde held on to fourth, despite Alexandre Premat's best efforts.

The second safety car period was caused by a frightening accident for championship challenger Nico Rosberg. The Dallara-Opel driver was challenging Franck Perera for sixth when his left front suspension appeared to collapse under braking for the first turn. Rosberg crashed into the barriers at high speed, but although he was able to climb from the car, he appeared to be winded in the impact.

The race ended almost as soon as it was restarted. Daniel La Rosa, who had taken over from Rosberg in seventh, had a similarly huge shunt under braking for the first turn. Unlike Rosberg, who hit the barrier side-on, La Rosa went in front first with sickening effect. With just two minutes of the race remaining, the red flag was thrown as the German was extracted from the car. Amazingly, La Rosa appears to have escaped the accident without injury.

Eric Salignon Dallara-Mercedes
Nicolas Lapierre Dallara-Opel
Lewis Hamilton Dallara-Mercedes
Giedo van der Garde Dallara-Opel
Alexandre Premat Dallara-Mercedes
Franck Perera Dallara-Opel
Daniel La Rosa Dallara-Opel
Robert Kubica Dallara-Mercedes