Pau F3: Eriksson keeps Norris at bay after Ilott crash

Eriksson had found a way past Norris at the start, as Ilott maintained his hard-earned lead off the line.

The Prema man didn’t get to enjoy his lead for long, however, as Ilott clipped the barrier halfway through lap one coming out of Pont Oscar. He was forced to retire.

That incident gifted the lead to Motopark’s Eriksson, who was soon under pressure from Norris - but the McLaren protege couldn’t find a way past the Swede on the narrow street circuit.

On the third lap the safety car came out for stranded car of Guan Yu Zhou, the second Prema car to hit trouble in the opening stages.

The Chinese Ferrari protege appeared to have hit the guardrails at the exit of the Buisson hairpin.

After a hectic restart, Norris kept the pressure on Eriksson by staying within a second of the championship leader, while third-placed Mawson was struggling to keep up with the leading duo.

Further down the top 10 there were few real scraps for position on the tight 2.76 kilometre course.

The safety car made a second appearance for two separate accidents. First, Jake Hughes lost the rear of his car through the Foch chicane and went into the tyres.

On the next lap, Mawson smashed into the barriers as well in the slippery, sweeping right-hander before Foch, catching out Jake Dennis behind him.

That incident promoted Maximilian Gunther to third despite the German tagging the steerless car of Dennis.

After the final restart, Eriksson managed to hang on to win the first of three races and extend his championship lead in the process, finishing just two tenths ahead of second-placed Norris.

Gunther powered on to third, followed by Nikita Mazepin, Ralf Aron, Harrison Newey and Pedro Piquet.

Mick Schumacher, Ferdinand Habsburg and Jehan Daruvala rounded out the top 10.

UPDATE: After the race Prema driver Schumacher was penalised for overtaking Habsburg under yellow on the opening lap, following Ilott’s crash.

Schumacher was demoted from eight to ninth and also given a penalty point on his racing licence. Habsburg moves up to eighth.