With the points leader going empty-handed for a fourth successive race, those closest to him in the standings sensed another opportunity to close the gap, with di Grassi and Filippi, in particular, appearing to up their pace. When Rodriguez spun out of fourth, the group behind him was released, but it was Nakajima that made the most progress, quickly closing the gap to di Grassi, who did not appear to have the pace of those around him.
Everything changed just after half-distance, with Carroll finally getting the break he was looking for, and Nakajima muscling his way onto the podium. Maldonado ceded his early advantage after slowing in the middle of the Abbey chicane. The Venezuelan had hugged the inside at the second element, but was simply to slow out, allowing Carroll to run around his outside and into P1. Nakajima, meanwhile, simply blasted by di Grassi at Copse, setting his sights on the seemingly hobbled Maldonado, despite the Trident car still be a handful of seconds ahead.
Further back, Filippi's hopes of taking a decent haul of points to cut Glock's lead came under threat from Super Nova team-mate Conway, the pair jockeying for position for several laps before the Briton finally gained the place at Abbey. Unlike Carroll, however, the F3 graduate had been lining his team-mate up since Becketts, before finally out-foxing the Italian at the chicane on lap 18. Three laps later, Filippi caught a kerb exiting Copse and spun away any chance of points, yielding sixth to the patient Zuber as he recovered from the pit exit road.
Emphasising how much quicker than Maldonado he had been, Carroll quickly opened out a two-second lead over the Venezuelan, who now had Nakajima for company, allowing Carroll to ease his pace slightly with the flag in sight. Nakajima, meanwhile, had no intention of backing off and harassed his opponent throughout the final three laps. Glances at Stowe and Abbey looked promising but, ultimately failed to produce any gain in position, as Maldonado held on to second.
