The first race, a 32-lap feature event, was won by ART Grand Prix driver Stoffel Vandoorne after starting from second position.

Palmer took pole position in the feature race by recording the fastest lap in qualifying, but wheelspin at the start dropped him behind Vandoorne.

ART Grand Prix were a further seven points in third position, while Rapax and Racing Engineering were fourth and fifth, with ten rounds left in the season.

On the first day, Daniel Abt (Hilmer Motorsport) set the fastest lap of the morning session with a time of 1 minute, 40.676 seconds which saw the session twice disrupted when Takuya Izawa (ART Grand Prix) stopped on track and Simon Trummer (Rapax) abandoned his car after hitting the turn ten kerb.

André Negrão of Arden International, Jolyon Palmer in the second DAMS car, Trummer and Conor Daly's Lazarus vehicle completed the top ten ahead of qualifying.

[9] With two minutes remaining, de Jong stopped on a run-off area leaving the first turn and practice ended early because of the limited amount of time available.

[13] Palmer was joined on the grid's front row by Vandoorne,[12] who was temporarily investigated by the stewards for exceeding track limits at turn 13,[10] but no action was taken.

[14] Trident's Axcil Jefferies, 25th, lost control of his car's rear while others got their tyres to their optimum temperature early on.

[10] Notes: The first race was held over 170 km (110 mi) or 60 minutes (which ever came first) and all drivers were required by regulations to make one pit stop.

[18] When the race commenced at 13:10 Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3),[2] Palmer spun his wheels and Vandoorne overtook him to lead the field into the first corner.

[22] At the lap six restart, Vandoorne kept the lead but Richelmi, Coletti, Haryanto and Nasr elected to make pit stops for the mandatory change to the hard compound tyre.

Evans and Palmer made their pit stops on the following lap, though Vandoorne committed himself to making track position pay off and extended his advantage to five seconds in front of Pic.

Vandoorne ceded first to Berthon at the end of lap nine when he made his pit stop and rejoined with a two-second advantage over Palmer.

He was followed by Coletti, Pic and Nasr with the late-stopping Quaife-Hobbs and Izama moving through the field courtesy of having newer soft compound tyres installed on their cars.

De Jong, Daly, Abt, Evans and Markelov, Haryanto, Lancaster, Marciello, Richelmi, Negrão, Cecotto, Rossi and Berthon were the final classified finishers.

Vandoorne's access cover above his car's pedals detached on an installation lap into turn four, prompting his mechanics to apply tape over it.

[17] Tyre preservation was key since temperatures for the sprint race were higher than the previous day's feature event.

[17] At the beginning of lap two, Trummer was unable to hold off Palmer who slipstreamed him on the main straight and lost the lead into the first turn.

[19][25] Further down the field that same lap, Vandoorne passed his teammate Izawa before striking the rear of de Jong's car at turn four, damaging his front wing and slowing Vandoorne, who was forced into the sand by the faster Markelov before he could enter the pit lane for repairs and fell out of the top ten.

By the halfway point, questions were raised about which drivers used their tyres too hard early on and who used their compounds economically with the view for an late attack.

The primary action at this point was Abt and Berthon battling for 15th place and both drivers caught Marciello's lapped car.

[25] Daly retired on lap 15 after sustaining a possible puncture caused by driving over a turning vane from Binder's car ahead of him.

Palmer and Leal received frequent reminders to preserve their tyres, while Trummer was informed over the radio that to have any hopes of winning the race he had to attack.

Their battle allowed Pic, Richelmi, Evans and Binder to close up causing jostling and minor contact between all six cars.

Pic, Markelov, de Jong, Izawa, Abt, Cecotto, Lancaster, Haryanto, Berthon, Negrão, Sato and Regalia, Vandoorne, Coletti, Marciello and Rossi were the last of the 25 classified finishers.

"[30] Leal was delighted to finish second and did not believe he could have finished in the position because of where he started but his team noted his pace was strong throughout pre-season testing, "It’s great that we were able to replicate that and get here today.”[22] He said his engineer told him to push for two laps gaining him positions and was not attempting to attack Palmer but passed him by conserving his tyres towards the end of the race.

[30] Third-place finisher Palmer spoke of his disappointment because he felt his team could have challenged for the victory but praised the strategy that moved him up the field.

He commented he did not defend too much against Palmer on the second lap because of his speed and was aware he had to conserve tyre life, adding, "But I was a bit wrong because he kept this strong pace all race long.

"[31] Third-place finisher Leal spoke of an "unbelievable" start of the season for himself and his team but focused attention on the following event.

[31] Following this, the first round of the season, Palmer led the Drivers' Championship with 38 points, ten ahead of second-placed Leal.