F3 Bahrain: Martins takes feature race victory from charging Leclerc

It is the Alpine Academy member's first win with ART Grand Prix, who he joined from MP Motorsport this season, and marked a change in his fortunes after a forced retirement in the sprint race.

Martins overtook polesitter Franco Colapinto - starting at the front in his and Van Amersfoort Racing's first FIA F3 weekend - to secure the lead, and built enough of an advantage to ensure he was well protected from a late-race charge from Leclerc.

A fierce battle behind the leading duo had allowed Colapinto and Martins to build up a healthy gap to the pack by the halfway mark, before Martins eventually took the lead on lap 15 - despite his rival’s best attempts to defend.

Leclerc made an astonishing charge through the field to finish second for Prema Racing, having started 13th.

Colapinto crossed the line third, but was demoted to fifth after suffering a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, handing the final podium place to ART’s Gregoire Saucy.

Saucy’s team-mate Juan Manuel Correa finished fourth, having held off various challenges throughout the chaotic race, which featured four retirements, one safety car and a VSC.

Colapinto had a great start ahead of Roman Stanek (Trident), with the pair holding the top two spots out of Turn 1.

But seconds later the safety car was deployed after rookies Zane Maloney (Trident) and Francesco Pizzi (Charouz Racing System) both span to a stop on track, ending their races.

Colapinto made a perfect start to lead, but fell back later

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Caio Collet suffered terminal damage in his MP Motorsport car trying to avoid the Barbadian rookie, destroying his front suspension as he came back on track from swerving the spin.

The safety car ended on lap five,