Abu Dhabi GP3: Ocon crowned champion as Palou takes maiden win

Ocon, frustrated at a penalty that had stopped him from securing the crown yesterday, passed Ghiotto at the start - the duo making contact in the process - and went on to confirm his title.

Having lined up in fifth, Ocon got a good launch and tried to thread the needle between Ghiotto and Matt Parry ahead of him.

The former tried to shut the door and Ocon, in a move to avoid crashing into Parry, moved over on Ghiotto, the two cars colliding and shedding debris, but escaping largely intact, with Ghiotto also slipping behind Emil Bernstorff.

Ocon then stuck to the inside of Parry into Turn 1, clashing with the Briton, who would end up having to pit with damage on Lap 2.

However, Ghiotto kept himself in the title hunt, re-passing Bernstorff and then working his way around the ailing car of Parry to put himself right behind Ocon.

Up ahead of them, meanwhile, poleman Palou had nailed the start and began pulling away from second-placed Antonio Fuoco at a rapid rate.

With the hectic opening lap out of the way, the race settled into a rhythm, with no further changes in the points-scoring top eight for the rest of the race.

Ghiotto, sticking with Ocon in the early laps, eventually dropped off and came under pressure from Jimmy Eriksson.

And with Palou winning by 4.4s over Fuoco, a third-place finish proved more than sufficient to see Ocon crowned champion.

Ghiotto took the flag in fourth, ahead of Eriksson, Bernstorff, Marvin Kirchhofer and Pal Varhaug.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time/Delay
1	Alex Palou	Campos Racing	27'46.982
2	Antonio Fuoco	Carlin	4.429
3	Esteban Ocon	ART Grand Prix	5.372
4	Luca Ghiotto	Trident	6.462
5	Jimmy Eriksson	Koiranen GP	7.694
6	Emil Bernstorff	Arden International	8.245
7	Marvin Kirchhofer	ART Grand Prix	9.526
8	Pal Varhaug	Jenzer Motorsport	10.058
9	Artur Janosz	Trident	13.187
10	Kevin Ceccon	Arden International	15.434
11	Ralph Boschung	Jenzer Motorsport	16.083
12	Matevos Isaakyan	Koiranen GP	16.814
13	Alex Fontana	Status Grand Prix	18.190
14	Matheo Tuscher	Jenzer Motorsport	19.912
15	Seb Morris	Status Grand Prix	22.839
16	Sandy Stuvik	Status Grand Prix	26.239
17	Mitch Gilbert	Carlin	30.035
18	Michele Beretta	Trident	30.434
19	Alfonso Celis	ART Grand Prix	30.825
20	Konstantin Tereshchenko	Campos Racing	31.472
21	Zaid Ashkanani	Campos Racing	32.028
22	Adderly Fong	Carlin	45.495
23	Alex Bosak	Arden International	46.431
24	Matt Parry	Koiranen GP	1'21.154