Felipe Nasr eased to his fourth win of the season in the GP2 Sprint Race at Spa

Felipe Nasr eased to his fourth win of the season in the GP2 Sprint Race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

The Carlin man surged from fifth on the grid to the lead at the start and then controlled the gap to those behind, always having the ability to go faster should his advantage come down.

The weekend had started with a disappointing qualifying for the Brazilian who started Saturday’s Feature Race nine places behind championship leader Jolyon Palmer, but Nasr turned it around to cut the gap from 43 to 32 points.

“Nothing is over yet. We’ve just taken our fourth win and we’ve shown how strong we are,” Nasr said.

“I believe so much in these guys [Carlin team]. Yesterday we came back from 11th on the grid to take fourth and today to take the win.

“There’s many points to play for and I’m already looking forward to the next race. I think we’ve shown it’s not always about being aggressive, it’s about being consistent and pushing hard.”

Johnny Cecotto was the man that led the fight behind after getting past Palmer early in the race after a battle that lasted from Blanchimont to Les Combes. However, despite cutting the gap to six tenths at one point, he never seriously threatened Nasr.

Palmer held on to take third – his ninth podium of the season – from a late charging Mitch Evans, with pole-sitter Daniel Abt eventually finishing fifth., just ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne.

Stefano Coletti produced one of the drives of the day to come from 24th on the grid to seventh – a feat made all the more remarkable given it was a dry race without pitstops to mix things up.

Andre Negrao completed the points scorers in eighth place to round off a positive weekend for the Brazilian who broke his points duck in Saturday’s race.

The next rounds of the GP2 Series take place at Monza on September 5-7 and you can see all the action live on Sky Sports F1.

GP2 Sprint Race – Belgium
1) Felipe Nasr (BRA) – Carlin – 36:14.575
2) Johnny Cecotto (VEN) – Trident - +5.157
3) Jolyon Palmer (GBR) – DAMS - +7.157
4) Mitch Evans (NZL) – Russian Time - +7.598
5) Daniel Abt (GER) – Hilmer Motorsport - +10.019
6) Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL) – ART Grand Prix - +10.648
7) Stefano Coletti (MON) – Racing Eningeering - +14.038
8) Andre Negrao (BRA) – Arden International - +20.391
9) Tom Dillmann (FRA) – Caterham Racing - +21.675
10) Julian Leal (COL) – Carlin - +22.486

Drivers’ Championship
1) Jolyon Palmer – 210
2) Felipe Nasr – 178
3) Stoffel Vandoorne – 135
4) Johnny Cecotto – 127
5) Mitch Evans – 110