The MP Motorsport driver excelled in the wet early part of the race to score the team’s second consecutive podium in as many rounds, rising from 14th on the grid to finish.

But after the race the Spanish driver's car was deemed to be non-compliant with the regulations. 

It follows MP losing its maiden victory in GP3, with Dorian Boccolacci being excluded after his victory earlier on Saturday.

An F2 statement read: “Following today’s FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race at Le Castellet, France, it was determined that car 9 was in breach of the Technical Regulations having failed to comply with the tyre pressure specifications. 

“All four tyres were below the minimum tyre pressures specified by the tyre manufacturer and, as a consequence, Roberto Merhi has been disqualified from the final results having finished in third place.”

The result means Luca Ghiotto takes a podium finish despite two spins at the entry to the circuit’s main straight, which was followed with a brilliant recovery drive.

Nicholas Latifi had finished eighth to take reverse-grid pole for Sunday's sprint race after a last lap duel with Tadasuke Makino, but the former is now seventh with Honda junior driver Makino taking eighth.

Amended results:

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time/Gap
1	George Russell	ART Grand Prix	58'28.750
2	Sergio Sette Camara	Carlin	1.108
3	Luca Ghiotto	Campos Racing	37.879
4	Antonio Fuoco	Charouz Racing System	43.655
5	Nyck de Vries	Prema Powerteam	45.680
6	Louis Deletraz	Charouz Racing System	53.226
7	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	1'16.951
8	Tadasuke Makino	RUSSIAN TIME	1'17.343
9	Nirei Fukuzumi	Arden International	1'20.384
10	Arjun Maini	Trident	1'30.605
11	Jack Aitken	ART Grand Prix	1'32.469
12	Maximilian Gunther	Arden International	1'37.662
13	Santino Ferrucci	Trident	1 lap
14	Artem Markelov	RUSSIAN TIME	1 lap
15	Roy Nissany	Campos Racing	1 lap
16	Lando Norris	Carlin	1 lap
DQ	Roberto Merhi	MP Motorsport	-
Ret	Alexander Albon	DAMS	12 laps
Ret	Ralph Boschung	MP Motorsport	18 laps
Ret	Sean Gelael	Prema Powerteam	23 laps