Vesti arrived at the Yas Marina Circuit with a 25 point deficit to championship leader Theo Pourchaire, meaning he had to score at least two more points than the ART driver on Saturday to take the matter to Sunday.
This ambition was comfortably achieved with a brilliant fightback display after dropping from first to fourth on the opening lap, before recovering to the front in the closing stages, taking the chequered flag with a margin of 3.8 seconds.
Pourchaire had started 14th after a disappointing qualifying session and recovered to seventh, but found himself in strife with the stewards after a practice start infringement when leaving the pits to join the grid.
Drivers are only permitted to complete practice starts on the grid after the Friday practice session, and not at the end of the pitlane at any point. This left a post-race investigation hanging over his sprint.
When the action got under way, Vesti showed no concern for his championship situation, making a lunge on pole-sitter Enzo Fittipaldi into Turn 1. The lead was briefly achieved at Turn 5 when Rodin Carlin driver Fittipaldi ran deep into the hairpin, but the Brazilian quickly took the place back as he, Vesti, Isack Hadjar and Richard Verschoor went four wide down the long straight to the Turns 6-7 chicane.
But this battle was quickly halted to allow the recovery of Juan Manuel Correa’s Van Amersfoort Racing entry, with Victor Martins investigated for causing the incident. Martins would later pit to replace his nose as a result of the damage.
In the mayhem, Pourchaire climbed to ninth after narrowly avoiding the spinning Correa at Turn 3.
Source: Autosport