France

Paul Ricard's sweeping layout produced two contrasting races. Sargeant took pole. In the Sprint, Lawson dropped to around fourth at the opening corner before fighting back, re-passing Drugovich, then Armstrong, and finally taking the lead from Daruvala with around five laps to go for the win, also setting fastest lap. A string of penalties reshaped the result: Pourchaire and Vips were each sanctioned for forcing Armstrong off track, and Armstrong himself was penalised for contact with Daruvala, which promoted Drugovich to third behind Daruvala. The Feature was Iwasa's breakthrough. From second on the grid he took the lead on the opening lap and, after nailing a lap-two safety car restart triggered by contact between Armstrong and Hauger that ended both their races, controlled proceedings to win by more than eight seconds for a maiden victory. Pole-sitter Sargeant suffered a cruel blow, retiring around a third distance with a failure at his pit stop while running in podium contention, a hammer blow to his title hopes. Pourchaire took second and Vesti third, with Drugovich fourth and Doohan fifth after a late spin. Drugovich extended his championship lead without even reaching the podium, his consistency proving decisive.