[1] Dani Clos claimed the top spot in heavy rain conditions ahead of Sergio Pérez and practice’s fastest man Pastor Maldonado, who crashed into the wall four minutes before the end of the session.

The pair moved into the top two spots at the start after capitalising on a slow getaway by polesitter Dani Clos, although the Spaniard made up for it with a solid drive to third, giving him his third-straight point-scoring finish.

ART's Jules Bianchi was fourth, the Frenchman making up a few spots with a well-timed pitstop, but he was forced to keep an eye on his mirrors due to some late-race pressure from Coloni's Alberto Valerio.

Having already lost Chilton at the first corner, Ocean Racing had to wait just one more lap before it could begin packing up after Fabio Leimer crashed at Mirabeau, and Coloni's Vladimir Arabadzhiev was also forced to retire with accident damage after a brush with the tyres.

The Renault Junior Team driver led all the way from pole, but his early efforts to build a lead were dashed when Coloni's Alberto Valerio and Arden's Rodolfo González crashed simultaneously at different parts of the circuit and prompted a safety car.

That brought D'Ambrosio back within range of Giedo van der Garde, and he had the Addax car in his mirrors for virtually the rest of the race, finally crossing the line just 0.3 seconds clear.