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

Vandoorne led the first race, which was disrupted on the fourth lap following a collision between Norman Nato, Arthur Pic, Pierre Gasly and Raffaele Marciello.

Rossi assumed third position, while Berthon's third-place finish in the second event put him in fourth and Jordan King was fifth.

Campos Racing were two points behind in third position, while Lazarus and Rapax were fourth and fifth, with ten rounds left in the season.

On the first day, in hot weather, Mitch Evans (Russian Time) set the fastest lap of the morning session with a time of 1 minute, 42.479 seconds, with Jordan King (Racing Engineering) setting the quickest lap of the day in the afternoon session with a 1 minute, 41.494 seconds.

[8] Hilmer Motorsport elected to miss the round as they were unable to acquire the services of a driver who could bring financial backing to the team.

Alex Lynn of DAMS was third-fastest, ahead of the top ART Grand Prix car of Stoffel Vandoorne.

Gasly was seventh-fastest, Evans eighth, Raffaele Marciello for Trident ninth, and Matsushita completed the top ten ahead of qualifying.

Vandoorne's run ended prematurely with seven minutes of the session remaining when his car stopped due to an oil pressure failure.

[11] Vandoorne set the pace in the early part of the session and improved to clinch his first pole position of the season, and his fifth consecutive in the series, with a time of 1 minute, 39.237 seconds.

Pic, who was Vandoorne's closest contender in the session's opening segment, took fourth, ahead of Marciello who was stuck in second gear until his team corrected the issue.

André Negrão, Daniël de Jong, Nathanaël Berthon, René Binder, Marlon Stöckinger, and Zoël Amberg were the last of the qualifiers.

[13] 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.

It was run for 120 km (75 mi) or 45 minutes (which ever came first) and, in contrast to the first race, drivers were not required to make pit stops.

His teammate Matsushita made a slow start, and his anti-stall system activated, allowing several cars to get ahead of him before he got up to speed.

[19] Nato changed his line by braking for turn seven, and Marciello made an aggressive pass, causing both drivers to make contact with Pic, sending him spinning backwards.

[19] Vandoorne remained with his intended strategy and led the field back up to speed at the lap-nine restart, ahead of Haryanto and Leal.

[18] While in traffic, Lynn attempted to pass Rossi into the first turn, but made contact with the rear of his car and sustained front wing damage.

[18] Rossi overtook Leal for fifth on lap 15,[17] and the drivers in the middle of the field made their mandatory tyre pit stops.

[18][19][20] Haryanto made a similar strategy call as Vandoorne and passed King and Rossi to move into second position.

When the race started, pole position starter Leal maintained the lead into the first corner by driving aggressively in front of the field of cars.

[21][24] After completing two laps, Binder retired from the race, having made contact with another car, which damaged one of his front left suspension arms.

[25] Evans was overtaken by Haryanto for second place in the first turn on lap four,[24] while Negrão lost position when he was passed by Visoiu, Matsushita, Vandoorne, and Rossi.

Leal slowed due to tyre degradation,[21][24] allowing Haryanto to close up and passed him by deploying DRS for the lead on the inside on lap eight in turn one.

He passed Matsushita for second place on lap 18, providing him with an opportunity to attempt to catch Haryanto over the rest of the race.

King, Pic, Stanaway, Markelov, de Jong, and Sirotkin filled the next five positions, while Lynn, Nato, Evans, Amberg, Stöckinger, Marciello, Sørensen, and Gasly were the final classified finishers.

Notes: The top three drivers of both races appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and to participate later in a press conference.

He said he expected to score points and finish on the podium at the next round in Catalunya, because the events at Bahrain increased his confidence and helped him to believe he would achieve more success.

[28] The stewards deemed Canamasas to have left insufficient room in the collision between himself and King and was issued with a three-place grid penalty for the next round in Catalunya.

[29] Following this, the first race of the season, Vandoorne led the Drivers' Championship with 43 points, ten ahead of second-placed Haryanto.