The Frenchman was definitely a factor and, having seen Valsecchi catch and pass Rodriguez for the lead on lap nine, also homed in on the back of the FMSI car. While the new leader quickly opened out a 2.5secs cushion, Grosjean lined up Rodriguez heading down to the Ascari chicane, tailed him into and through the Parabolica and then pulled off a textbook move into the Rettifilio. Just as it looked like he had the time and pace to close on Valsecchi, however, the Asia Series champion undid all his hard work by running wide through the Parabolica next time around, handing second back to both Rodriguez and, on a bigger scale, Senna.
Maldonado then joined the group, making it a three-way battle for second but, in truth, the odd look from the Venezuelan aside, the top four remained static to the end, switching the attention back into the chasing pack. Pantano was running alone, having overcome both d'Ambrosio and Buemi for fifth, while Senna moved into eighth as di Grassi finally took his penalty.
Ho-Pin Tung, anonymous in recent races, ran ninth, ahead of Andi Zuber, the Austrian tenth despite starting on the back row after being rudely assaulted by Javi Villa in Saturday's feature. Villa, like Pantano in Belgium, was absent, having received a similar suspension for reckless driving, but Alberto Valerio, despite having appeared to sideswipe Kamui Kobayashi off the road in race one, was still running....
Although he was unable to catch either Buemi or d'Ambrosio to haul himself back into the points, Senna was able to claim second overall as Grosjean came up short of overhauling both Brazilians ahead of him, and di Grassi failed to enhance his total after missing the top ten. d'Ambrosio duly kept Buemi at bay for the final point of the season, leaving the Arden driver to contemplate next week's F1 test with Italian GP polesitter Toro Rosso.
Pantano claimed two points on what should surely be his GP2 swansong, and went some way to stealing the race winner's thunder by not only performing celebratory donuts in recognition of his title, but also managing to park his car, climb out to throw his gloves into the crowd, and then climb back in and motor back to the pits...
Valsecchi did not appear to mind, however, able to celebrate his best result in GP2 just eight days after what appeared to be a second serious accident of the season. The Italian, sufficiently lost in the moment to take the national anthem cap on head and hands in pockets, may also have timed his success just right when it comes to negotiating a drive for next season.....
