Round 1 is here, and we have had cars back on track finally! So here is a round up from all the action on Day 1.
Practice-
Gabriel Bortoleto began his Formula 3 campaign in fine form as he topped the timing sheets in the opening Free Practice session in Sakhir.
The Brazilian looked at home in his Trident car as he set a 1:47.775 to go 0.075s clear of Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Gabriele Mini – an all rookie top two.
As the clock approached 23 minutes, a flurry of cars headed out of the pits to put their times on times on the board, which saw Bortoleto for a swift moment become the driver to beat ahead of Mini.
The top three from qualifying are: P1: Gabriel Bortoleto, P2: Grabiele Mini and P3: Gregoire Saucy, one thing to keep an eye on is track evolution as its expected to be a major factor in Qualifying.
Qualifying-
Gabriele Mini began his F3 career in fashion as he stormed to his first pole position of his championship debut. The HiTech Pule-Eight driver’s late effort of 1:47.055 couldn’t be matched as less than half a second separated the top 17 runners.
It was clear the field were pushing to the limit as Bortoleto took to the top spot however he became the first of many drivers to fall foul of track limits.
Times continued to tumble, as Mini launched himself half a second clear of Collet. Laying down a 1:47.118, then with three minutes remaining the Alpine junior delivered another lap which was a 1:47.055.
The order then continued to change, as the trio of PREMA cars rose up into the top six. And Bortoleto being a man on a mission to then launch himself up into second after the track limits violation.
The top three were: P1: Gabriele Mini, P2: Gabriel Bortoleto, P3: Gregoire Saucy. But looking toward the sprint race, Williams junior, Franco Colapinto grabs reverse grid pole as he qualified 12th.
HiTech Pulse-Eight have confirmed Luke Browning will complete the team’s 2023 line-up. The Brit joins Sebastian Montoya and Gabriele Mini.
He steps up to FIA Formula 3 following a successful season that culminated in his winning of the 2022 GB3 Championship. He claimed five victories on the way to the title as well as winning the BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
Browning made his racing debut in saloon car racing before moving to British F4 in 2019. His second season in the Championship brought title success, taking six poles, seven wins and 16 podiums in total.
A full GB3 campaign followed in 2022, he claimed the title with Hitech. Moving to FIA F3 with the same team, the 21 year old says that the continuity will help him hit the ground running in Bahrain.
I’m excited to announce I’ll be taking the step up to FIA Formula 3 with Hitech. We had a fantastic season in GB3 last year. These past 12 months I have really developed as a driver with their guidance and professionalism. I am very thankful to the people who continuously believe in me and have made this possible. I am under no illusions how competitive FIA F3 is and stepping into the car for the first time in February will be a steep learning curve before we head to Bahrain. I feel confident with everyone at Hitech that I can hit the ground running!
Browning on his new seat.
We are delighted to welcome Luke to our team in FIA Formula 3. We had a fantastic year with him in GB3, securing the driver’s title with five wins, and we are confident his experience will be of great value to the team.
The first round is here, and we are at the Bahrain International Circuit for Round 1 out of 23.
This season we have three rookies joining the grid, and a lot of changes within the teams and the drivers as well as having the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
But who will be the world champion? Can Max Verstappen make it 3 in a row? Or will Ferrari finally end their 16 year drought and grab the championship? Will Mercedes be back on form and fight at the top?
Who needs to shine?
Guanyu Zhou is going into his second year as an F1 driver, he will be wanting to prove a lot more as he was quite unlucky last season.
This year we will be having three new rookies to the grid, Oscar Piastri for McLaren, Logan Sargeant for Williams and Nyck de Vries for Alpha Tauri. Three different cars for three different drivers, it will be interesting to see how they do as Piastri comes from a year out of racing, Sargeant from racing in F2 and de Vries from Formula E.
And we have Nico Hulkenberg who is returning to the sport after leaving at the end of 2019, but making several appearances since then as well as being a reserve and development driver.
Predictions for Qualifying-
My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Hamilton, P5: Alonso.
I think we all know that it’s going to be Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes fighting at the top but I think it will be even closer in the midfield.
Times for the weekend-
Friday 3rd-
Free Practice F3: 07:55am – 08:40am, Free Practice F2: 09:05am – 09:50am, Free Practice 1 F1: 11:30am – 12:30pm, Qualifying F3: 13:00pm – 13:30pm, Free Practice 2 F1: 15:00pm – 16:00pm, Qualifying F2: 16:30pm – 17:00pm (GMT).
Aston Martin have announced that their reserve drivers, Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich can be used by McLaren for the majority of the 2023 season.
Vandoorne was announced as an Aston Martin reserve in November, the former McLaren racer will be sharing duties with reigning F2 Champion Drugovich, who had earlier joined the team’s development programme.
Aston Martin stated that McLaren will have access to Vandoorne and Drugovich for the first 15 races of the 23 race 2023 schedule.
It follows a similar announcement that Mercedes reserve, Mick Schumacher will also be part of McLaren’s pool for the upcoming campaign.
Both Aston Martin and McLaren head into the new season with revised driver line-ups: Fernando Alonso has joined Lance Stroll at the Silverstone squad and F3 and F2 Champion, Oscar Piastri links up with Lando Norris at the Woking squad.
AMF1 has agreed that McLaren will have access to our reserve drivers, Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne, in the instance that they are required for driving duties for the first 15 races of 2023. pic.twitter.com/mHLM730BgT
F1 pre-season testing has come to an end after three days of running at the Bahrain International Circuit.
It’s not long until we have the cars back on track, but whilst the paddock is taking a breather lets take a look at how each team fared with their new machines.
AlphaTauri
Total Laps – 456, Fastest Lap – 1m 31.261s (Yuki Tsunoda)
Alpha Tauri topped the mileage charts in Bahrain as Nyck de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda complete 456 laps of Bahrain. The Italian team have more reasons to be happy as Tsunoda sets the sixth-fastest time of the whole test, and De Vries was second in mileage charts as he readies for his maiden season.
Williams
Total Laps – 439, Fastest Lap – 1m 32.549s (Logan Sargeant)
With a combined total of 439 laps of Bahrain, or 2,376km Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon notched up the second-highest lap count of pre-season testing. Bar an unusual issue with the car’s electrical system, Williams’ three days of testing were trouble-free.
Ferrari
Total Laps – 416, Fastest Lap – 1m 31.024s (Charles Leclerc)
The Scuderia had a positive three days, with both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc occasionally finding themselves at the top of the timesheets, and matching Red Bull. They did contend with a few issues, such as bouncing and the degradation of their tyres.
Haas
Total Laps – 414, Fastest Lap – 1m 31.381s (Kevin Magnussen)
Kevin Magnussen set the seventh-fastest time of testing on Friday and the Dane notched up 95 laps as the team had a smooth three days. Returnee Nico Hulkenberg also got useful mileage – a minor throttle issue on Day 1 was the only hurdle they faced in reliability.
Red Bull
Total Laps – 413, Fastest Lap – 1m 30.305s (Sergio Perez)
It was a strong pre-season test for Red Bull that ended in Sergio Perez setting the fastest time of the week on the final day. They enjoyed a trouble free three days with limited reliability woes, putting them in a good position ahead of the season.
Alfa Romeo
Total Laps – 402, Fastest Lap – 1m 30.827s (Valtteri Bottas)
It was a mixed pre-season for Alfa Romeo. They managed a good haul of laps, and Zhou Guanyu topping the timesheets on Day 2. But they also caused two red flags, the first when Zhou stopped at the end of the pitlane and the other when Valtteri pulled over with a power unit problem.
Mercedes
Total Laps – 398, Fastest Lap – 1m 30.664s (Lewis Hamilton)
Mercedes, endured a mixed pre-season as well, as they were able to go through their programme on Day 1, George Russell stopped on track on Day 2 with a hydraulics issue. They were able to get the car fixed for Day 3, with Lewis Hamilton ending the day 2nd, although they seemed to struggle with the balance of their 2023 challenger.
Aston Martin
Total laps – 387, Fastest Lap – 1m 31.440s (Fernando Alonso)
While Felipe Drugovich did an admirable job in the two sessions he drove as he stepped in for Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso was the one to watch. The Spanish driver settled in well at his new environment, with the car seemingly responding to his every request.
Alpine
Total Laps – 353, Fastest Lap – 1m 32.762s (Pierre Gasly)
Alpine had a low-key three days of running in Sakhir, with both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finishing towards the bottom the combined timesheets. Ocon was keen to talk up the A523 as a clear step forward, with the general feeling that there is more to come.
McLaren
Total Laps – 312, Fastest Lap 1m 32.160s (Lando Norris)
McLaren had another challenging pre-season in Bahrain after their brake related woes 12 months ago, with aerodynamic efficiency – or rather an apparent lack of it. Add in the need for temporary strengthening work on the front winglets between runs on Saturday, McLaren ended the test with the least mileage out of all 10 teams.
Spanish Grand Prix venue, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will feature a revised configuration for this year’s race – the eighth round of the championship.
Furthermore, the track will feature new safety features and renovated paddock facilities.
The circuit just outside Barcelona, first hosted the Spanish Grand Prix in 1991 – where Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell went wheel to wheel for championship glory – and has undergone several changes since.
In 2007, a chicane was introduced before the final corner in Barcelona but this year, the chicane (currently Turns 14 – 15) will be removed to return the section to its original layout.
New TECPRO barriers will be introduced in the last two high speed corners and the official length of the track for the Spanish Grand Prix will be 4.657 kilometres which is 18 metres shorter than the previous track.
The Spanish track will also make other changes, with a widening of the run-off area in Turn 1, including 70 more metres of gravel plus a slope of 5% and a new fence protecting Turns 1 and 2 to improve the safety of the drivers.
The scoreboard at the pitlane exit will be remodelled for 2023, including a more modern signalling tower.
The tyres for the first round of the 2023 season have been chosen as the new C1 makes its debut this weekend.
This year, Pirelli has expanded the range of available compounds to six, with three still chosen for every race. The brand new C1 compound fills the gap between the hardest C0 (used as the C1 in 2022) and the C2 which is unchanged from last year.
The selection is: C1 (Hard tyre), C2 (Medium tyre), C3 (Soft tyre). The teams will have at their disposal two sets of hard tyres, three sets of mediums and eight sets of soft per car.
The Bahrain International Circuit, features some of the most abrasive asphalt of the year while the track – consisting of low to medium speed corners – mainly places traction and braking demands on the tyres. The layout also requires a good level of stability at the rear of the car.
The Bahrain Grand Prix, takes place on a circuit surrounded by the Sakhir desert. Wind can sometimes blow sand onto the track, which can affect the grip levels during the sessions.
The support races include Formula 2 and Formula 3, with them resulting rubber laid down influencing track evolution.
Tyre degradation will be a key factor when it comes to deciding the strategy. Last season, all the drivers bar one stopped three times (rather than the anticipated two-stopper) due to a late race safety car.
Everything you need to know about the tyres ahead of this week's #BahrainGP 🇧🇭🤓
Alpine have announced that Jack Doohan will be acting as the squad’s reserve driver during the upcoming F1 season. As it marks the next step for the Aussie after his recent test and practice outings.
Doohan joined the Alpine Academy from Red Bull’s junior programme in 2022, combining work for the F1 team with a second F2 campaign which yielded three wins, three pole positions and sixth in the standings.
In the closing stages of the year, Doohan also made his official Grand Prix weekend debut with FP1 outings in Mexico and Abu Dhabi. Now, having also taken part in the 2022 post-season test in Abu Dhabi, 20 year-old Doohan has been given the official title of Alpine reserve driver.
It means he will be called upon should regular Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly – the latter arriving from AlphaTauri to replace Aston Martin bound Fernando Alonso – be unable to compete.
Alongside his F1 reserve duties, Doohan will be continuing to compete in F2 for a third campaign in 2023, sticking with the Virtuosi Racing squad as Alpine set him the target of claiming the title.
Round 5 is here, and we are in Cape Town South Africa for a first time appearance, lets take a look at how the weekend went.
FP1-
Maserati’s MSG Racing’s Edoardo Mortara topped the timesheets with a time of 1m 09.700s.
It’s the first time in Season 9 that one of the Maserati cars have topped a session, despite the team looking strong in pre-season testing. Mortara’s teammate, Maximilian Guenther finished the session in seventh.
Fresh from a disappointing result last time out in Hyderabad, Jaguar’s Sam Bird was on a mission and finished the session in second, 0.158s off Mortara’s time. Sacha Fenestraz slotted into third on the timesheets to round out the top 3.
But minutes into the start of the session, Sebastian Buemi brought out the red flags after a heavy impact with the walls of the rapid street circuit between Turn 9 and 10.
FP2-
The final session before qualifying ahead of the Cape Town E-Prix, Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy headed the pack with a 1m 08.118s.
Cassidy was 0.307s ahead of Maserati MSG Racing’s Edoardo Mortara and some 1.6 seconds faster than the pace set in Free Practice 1’s session.
Rounding out the top three was NIO 333’s Dan Ticktum with an impressive lap time. As well as the Jaguar cars looking rapid, Mitch Evans and Sam Bird were fourth and fifth.
Qualifying-
Nissan’s, Sacha Fenestraz sealed his first Julius Baer Pole Position for the inaugural Cape Town E-Prix, as well as setting the fastest-ever lap in the process.
Fenestraz managed to beat the Maserati of Maximilian Guenther by over four tenths of a second to set a stunning time of 1m 07.848s.
Disappointment came for all four Mahindra-powered cars as the quartet were withdrawn due to rear suspension safety concern. As well as a big shunt fro Edoardo Mortara and Sam Bird which brought out the red flag at the end of Group B.
Round 5-
Antonio Felix da Costa drove a storming race from 11th on the grid to his first win for TAG Heuer Porsche, after producing a copy of one of the best moves you’ll ever see for the lead, on two seperate occasions.
The season 6 champion returned to form last time out with third in Hyderabad but this was something else in a properly attritional race at another meg, all new track with only 13 drivers making it to the finish line.
With the quartet out front nose to tail thanks to Guenther clipping a wall and pulling the car over into retirement, throwing that caution, Cassidy headed Fenestraz by less than half a second with da Costa and Vergne for company.
On Lap 24, Da Costa produced an outrageous pass to steal the lead from Cassidy at the trickiest part of the track – the Turn 7,8 and 9 combo.
The Porsche driver then pulled enough gap to take his second mandatory ATTACK MODE and retake the lead but he missed the activation loop.
Meanwhile, Fenestraz had made it by Cassidy to take a potential podium but heartbreakingly, the Nissan driver hit the wall on the final lap.
The full top 10 are: P1: da Costa, P2: Vergne, P3: Cassidy, P4: Rast, P5: Buemi, P6: Ticktum, P7: Vandoorne, P8: Nato, P9: Lotterer and P10: Hughes.
McLaren have announced that they have reached an agreement with Mercedes which will see them add Mick Schumacher to their pool of reserve drivers, for the 2023 season.
Schumacher joined the silver arrows as a reserve driver in December last year – after two seasons racing at Haas – where he scored 12 points in 43 starts.
This means, Schumacher joins IndyCar Champion, Alex Palou in McLaren’s list of reserve drivers for the 2023 season, with the German able to step in if one of Lando Norris or the team’s newest recruit, Oscar Piastri is unable to take part in a race weekend.
McLaren shared an image of Schumacher getting accustomed to their cockpit and getting the seat moulded around him in Woking, so the German will be ready to step in if needed.
Schumacher, will be on hand for the squad which is led by Team Principal Andrea Stella who was his father, Michael’s Performance Engineer at Ferrari from 2002 to 2006 – during which they won three drivers’ titles together.
McLaren will be able to call on @SchumacherMick as a reserve driver during the 2023 F1 season as part of our arrangement with Mercedes. Welcome to the family, Mick. 👊🧡 pic.twitter.com/DNiJ5s99rQ
— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team 🧡 (@McLarenF1) February 1, 2023
F1 Academy has revealed the calendar and format for its inaugural season of racing, with the all-women series set to feature seven events, with 21 races in total.
Kicking off in Speilberg, Austria on April 28th-29th, the new series will then head to the Spanish cities of Valencia and Barcelona on May 5th-7th and May 19th-21st, respectively.
From there, June 23rd-25th will see them pay a trip to the historic Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands. After taking on Monza’s Temple of Speed from July 7th-9th they’ll head to Le Castellet in France for the penultimate round of the year.
Finally, the 2023 season will draw to a close at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas, as a support event to the United States Grand Prix from October 20th-22nd.
Designed to feature as many F1 tracks as possible, the calendar provides an opportunity for the 15 drivers to compete on a variety of challenging circuits, helping to develop their technical skills and prepare them to progress to higher levels of competition.
The grid will take to the track for the first time at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from April 11th-12th whilst 13 additional days of testing throughout the season will also be revealed in the coming weeks.
The race weekend format is as follows:
Two 40 minutes free practice sessions
Two 15 minute qualifying sessions
Three races per weekend.
The first qualifying session will set the grid for Race 1, whilst the second will set the order for Race 3. Race 2’s grid will be set by reversing the top eight drivers from Qualifying 1, with ninth and below lining up in the positions they qualified in.
Races 1 and 3 will be 30 minutes long and award 25 points to the winner. Whilst Race 2 will be a slightly shorter 20 minutes and offer 10 points. one point for the fastest lap will be up fr grabs in each race, provided the driver finishes in the top 10.
Abbi Pulling will be racing with Rodin Carlin this season in the F1 Academy, as well as becoming a fully-fledged member of the Alpine Academy driver programme.
Pulling was an Alpine Affiliate last season during which she achieved a seventh place finish in the 2022 W Series campaign.
The British driver began her career at nine, racing in karting before graduating up to Ginetta Juniors. In 2020, she moved to British Formula 4 where she took four podiums on the way to P6 in the championship.
A second British F4 campaign and a further three podiums followed. She also completed her maiden season in W Series, finishing the 2021 season seventh. The following year, she climbed to fourth place overall, achieving four top five finishes in 2022.
It is great to be competing in the first season of the F1 Academy, especially to be working with such a successful team as Rodin Carlin. Having spent time with the team before, I can’t wait to get the season started, working alongside some incredible people. I have lots of trust in them and know they will push me to be the best I can be. I’m very thankful for the continued support of the Alpine Academy for a second season and the great work of Gazing Performance and Alice Powell behind the scenes. I’m also excited to welcome My First Alert who are supporting my programme for the first time this year.
Abbi Pulling on her F1 Academy seat.
We’re delighted to welcome Abbi to the team for this first season of F1 Academy. Our paths have crossed in the past before and Abbi is a driver we’ve wanted to work with for some time now. We’re really excited that we are able to work on this programme together and have no doubt that Abbi will be a huge asset to the team. Thank you to the Alpine Academy for entrusting us with this next stage of Abbi’s career. We can’t wait to get on track.
ART Grand Prix have confirmed their second of three drivers for the inaugural F1 Academy season, with Carrie Schreiner joining Lena Buhler.
Schreiner, began her career in karting, where she become the first female to win the 2012 ADAC Kart Masters in the X30 Junior Category.
After competing in British and German F4 in 2016, she switched to GT and endurance racing, claiming both the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East (Pro-Am) and DMV Gran Turismo Touring Car Cup (GT3 Class) titles in 2018.
The 24 year old also became the first woman to win a race in the selective Porsche Sports Cup and in 2021, she finished fifth in the Italian GT Championship.
It’s a great honour to be driving for ART Grand Prix. Not many teams have the amount of records they do, or have been champion so many times. I am proud to be joining the list of their drivers and excited about what we can achieve together. I think it’s an important step that F1 has its own championship for women. The car is quite similar to an F4 car and I had some experience in this category a few years ago. It will certainly be fun to drive the car with the new aero and with a team like ART. I have the best requirements I need to perform well. I will give everything to achieve the best results and compete for front positions.
Carrie on her move to the F1 Academy.
I’m happy to welcome Carrie into our team. Her experience and technical background will be important pillars for building a strong career in the new F1 Academy championship. She has already proven that she can adapt to some very different championships and I have no doubt she will find her feet right from the start of the season.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship makes it two brand new events in a fortnight, with the series’ maiden visit to South Africa and Cape Town for Round 5.
The inaugural Cape Town E-Prix is Formula E’s first sub-Sahraran African event, with the spectacular Table Mountain providing the backdrop for the second of three consecutive events at new venues to the championship.
The Mother City’s Green Point district provides the location for the high-speed 2.921km circuit, snaking around the DHL Stadium and skirting the coastline.
It’s a fast-paced track, with bumpy braking zones, a tight chicane at Turns 4, 5 and 6 with a pacy, eye of the needle section midway around the lap.
The Championship-
With a quarter of the season complete, lets take a look at who is leading the championships.
It’s TAG Heuer Porsche leading the Teams’ Championship, and Pascal Wehrlein leading the Drivers’ Championship. A double-win for the German in Diriyah followed a podium in the season-opener in Mexico City.
Porsche didn’t have it their way in Hyderabad and neither did Jake Dennis in the Avalanche Andretti. The Brit was uncermoniously removed from a potential top three finish by an overenthusiastic move from Rene Rast.
The resulting 16th-placed finish proved costly for Dennis – who’d won Round 1 in Mexico and followed it up with two 2nd places in Diriyah – allowed Wehrlein to extend his advantage.
Jean-Eric Vergne kickstarted his and DS Penske’s season as they picked up the race win and silverware in Hyderabad with a vintage defensive drive.
Morning– Everyone was out of the garages immediately, but it was Tommy Smith who was the first to put a laptime on the board for VAR, with the Australian’s 1:51.521 was the only time on the board in the opening hour.
With just over half an hour remaining, the track began to fill up. Nikita Bedrin was the first beneath the 1:50s, but plenty followed. Gregoire Saucy managed to better the Jenzer Motorsport driver’s time, beating it fractionally with a 1:51.155.
Luke Browning was the busiest driver of the session, logging 29 laps in the Hitech Pulse Eight.
The top three are: P1: Gregoire Saucy, ART Grand Prix, P2: Taylor Barnard, Jenzer Motorsport, P3: Zak O’Sullivan, PREMA Racing.
Afternoon– A much faster start to the afternoon followed, with all teams bar Hitech Pulse-Eight immediately out on track. Gabriel Bortoleto set the early pace on a 1:49.366. It put him 0.241s ahead of Collet in P2.
With just under an hour and a half remaining, Gabriele Mini went fastest and then beat his own time to go onto a 1:48.453.
PREMA made a leap up on the table as the grid entered the final 45 minutes of running, Paul Aron closed to within 0.033s of Mini’s table-topping time before going P1 with a 1:47.889.
Saucy lowered the time to beat to a 1:47,563 inside the final 10 minutes as plenty of personal best times filtered through, but the ART driver remained fastest to the chequered flag.
The top three are: P1: Gregoire Saucy, ART Grand Prix, P2: Paul Aron, PREMA Racing, P3: Josep Maria Marti, Campos Racing.
Day 2-
Morning– Sophia Florsch led the way out of the garages for the morning session. Gabriele Bortoleto put in a 1:47.808 to go quickest in the opening minutes. Gregoire Saucy slotted in two-tenths behind and Taylor Barnard third.
The ART Grand Prix driver didn’t take long to retake the top spot with a 1:46.697. But with an hour and a half to go, the only red flag of the morning session after Alejandro Garcia stopped on track at Turn 6.
Once the track went back to green, Dino Beganovic, Grabiele Mini and Bortoleto could hardly be split in second, third and fourth places respectively.
The top three are: P1: Gregoire Saucy ART Grand Prix, P2: Dino Beganovic PREMA Racing, P3: Gabriele Mini Hitech Pulse-Eight.
Afternoon– Hunter Yeany led the way for the afternoon running, as Josep Maria Marti topped the timing sheets early on. The second red flag of the day was shown, due to Saucy stopping out on track but the session was soon underway.
Marti broke into the 1:49s to extend his advantage at the top, before a second red flag of the session was for Oliver Gray. The session then went back to green with an hour 45 minutes remaining.
Times began to improve once more as the sun began to set, with Bortoleto returning to the top of the timing screens with a 1:48.388. Mini then moved back into P1 with just over half an hour left, with teammate Sebastian Montoya joining him in second.
The top three are: P1: Gabriele Mini Hitech Pulse-Eight, P2: Gregoire Saucy ART Grand Prix, P3: Sebastian Montoya Hitech Pule-Eight.
Day 3-
The extended session got underway with Rafael Villagomez taking the top spot in the early laps, but it didn’t take long for Saucy to return to the summit.
Bortoleto was next to take over P1, going just under a tenth clear of Saucy with a 1:47.417 less than an hour gone. Paul Aron moved PREMA Racing inside the top three as the first hour elapsed. Hugh Barter and Dino Beganovic were spearated by 0.004s in fourth and fifth.
Approaching the halfway stage of the final day, ART Grand Prix kept their drivers busiest, logging over 80 laps. Saucy remained second ahead of Kaylen Frederick and Nikola Tsolov, ninth and 10th respectively.
Race runs became the focus for everyone, with the grid logging the mileage on multiple lap runs. It continued that way as the clock ticked into the final hour. Caio Collet broke the 50 lap barrier first, with 30 minutes remaining.
The top 3 are: P1: Gabriel Bortoleto Trident, P2: Gabriele Mini Hitech Pulse-Eight, P3: Gregoire Saucy ART Grand Prix.
After sustaining a hand fracture earlier this season, ABT CUPRA’s Robin Frijns has announced that he will also be sitting out this weekend’s trip to Cape Town.
So Kelvin van der Linde continues in his spot, and what perfect timing as it’s Formula E’s first visit to South Africa for a ‘home’ Cape Town E-Prix
Since the incident, which occurred during the first lap of the season-opener in Mexico, Frijns has been sharing updates of his recovery with fans online.
Frijns had set himself the goal of racing at the upcoming round in South Africa. However, Kelvin van der Linde will continue as the reserve driver for the ABT CUPRA team.
Frijns who has competed in 77 Formula E races will be hoping he’s ready to race at the next E-Prix which is Sao Paulo on the 25th March.
We did the preparation in the simulator, which all went pretty smoothly. But after a few more checks on my hand, it seems that my bone has not fully healed just yet. It is a hard one to make, knowing the effort I put into this, but I will be back.
Aston Martin have announced that Lance Stroll will be missing out on this week’s pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit, after he had an accident whilst training.
Stroll was involved in what has been described as a “minor” incident but the injuries will rule him out of the the three-day session.
Aston Martin also added that they expect Stroll to make a quick recovery and return to driving duties in due course, and his fitness will be assessed daily. And an update will be issued ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix which is scheduled for March 3rd to 5th.
It is not clear whether Aston Martin will call on their reserve driver Felipe Drugovich jump in the car for testing as Stoffel Vandoorne is in Cape Town for Formula E or let Fernando Alonso do all 3 days.
I’ve had an unfortunate accident whilst training on my bike in preparation for the season. I am determined to get back in the car and I am excited about the season ahead with the team. I am motivated to bounce back from this setback as quickly as possible.
Stroll explaining the situation in a press release.
Campos Racing has confirmed Nerea Marti as the team’s first driver to the inaugural F1 Academy.
The Spaniard graduated from karting to single seater racing in 2019, and has since campaigned in both Spanish F4 and W Series.
Marti, scored a maiden podium in her first Spanish F4 race, where she ended the campaign 16th overall. In 2021, Marti moved to the W series after the cancelled 2020 season. She finished the season as the highest-placed rookie, 4th in the standings.
In the 2022 season, Marti took her maiden pole position at the first round in Miami and scored two podiums across the season, finishing the season 7th. Not only this, the Spanish driver took part in the all-woman’s FIA Formula 3 test at Magny-Cours in November.
I’m extremely happy joining Campos Racing for the very first season of F1 Academy. It provides an excellent new opportunity to continue taking steps forward in my racing career and I have no doubts that together I and Campos Racing will manage to meet all our goals.
Marti on her seat for 2023.
We are proud to have Nerea for the first season of F1 Academy. She has regularly been one of the most competitive female drivers in the last seasons, I am sure we will manage to achieve strong results together. It’s exciting to have a driver from Valencia at a Valencian team and fighting for an international championship. Nerea has enjoyed the support of Formula de Campeones and the Circuit de Valencia Ricardo Tormo since she embarked on her single-seater career and we hope she will have their support to continue making progress at the highest international level.
Rodin Carlin has finalised its 2023 line-up with the announcement of Ido Cohen, the 21 year old will line-up alongside Hunter Yeany and Oliver Gray.
His move to Carlin will be a reunion after he raced for the team during his 2020 Euroformula Open campaign and completed his rookie FIA Formula 3 season with the team in 2021.
He claimed two podium finishes in Euroformula Open on the way to finishing seventh in the Standings, as well as finishing the ’21 F3 campaign 24th.
Cohen then spent his second FIA Formula 3 campaign at Jenzer Motorsport last year. The Israeli achieved a best finish of ninth which came in the Spielberg Feature Race.
I’m very happy to back with everyone at Rodin Carlin again. When I went back for my seat fit, it was like going back to family. The team have made some positive changes since we were last racing together and I’m excited to see everything come together again when we get on track next week in Bahrain.
Cohen on his seat.
We’re delighted to welcome Ido back to the team. We have a great working relationship together and a good understanding of what Ido needs to feel comfortable in the car. Combined with Ido’s experience in the championship, we look forward to making a positive start to the season in pre-season testing
PHM Racing by Charouz have locked in the second of their three drivers for the 2023 FIA Formula 3 season announcing that Robert Faria will be racing for the German outfit.
The Brazilian joins the grid for his fifth season of single-seater racing after making his debut back in 2019 where he finished 11th in the British F4 Championship.
The following year saw him dovetail a half-season return to British F4 where he scored two podiums in the opening two rounds, alongside a four-round stint in the British F3 Championship.
Sticking with GB3 Championship in 2021 and 2022, the 19 year old went on to take two consecutive fifth placed finishes in the Standings, achieving one win and a further 14 podiums.
Faria already has plenty of mileage in the F3 car under his belt, having completed 213 laps during post-season testing in Jerez last year.
I’m really delighted to join PHM Racing by Charouz in the FIA Formula 3 on their new project. It feels like a dream coming true. Even without knowing most of the circuits in the calendar I’ll do my best to deliver great results and to show the team why they have put their trust in me. I cannot wait to start racing in Bahrain.
Faira on his new seat.
Roberto ‘Beto’ Faria is one of these young passionate Brazilian talents with raw speed, ambition and demanding focus. His testing was promising, but now, we need to bring him into the working attitude, which is necessary to succeed in FIA F3. So the balance of speed and patience should affect good results through the season. In GB3 UK he was several times on the podium and finished 5th overall.
Alpine have become the final team to reveal their 2023 challenger, pulling the covers off the A523 during a ceremony in London.
Following Monday’s shakedown at Silverstone, the team gathered on Thursday evening for their official launch, which saw them unveil the new car in their now traditional blue livery. As well as this, a pink-themed version in the colours of the team’s title sponsor BWT, which will run at a handful of selected races this year, which are Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
The car will be driven by Esteban Ocon, who is preparing for his third season in Alpine colours, and new teammate Pierre Gasly, who comes from AlphaTauri.
Alpine will be hoping they can yield the next step in their push towards the front of the F1 grid, with the top three now the target after finishing fifth in the constructors’ standings in 2021 and fourth in 2022.
Ocon and Gasly have already shared positive words about their first runs in the A523 on Monday – the latter reporting a ‘very good’ feeling while the team noted that the day was issue-free.
It’s been another milestone ticked for the A523 with our shakedown at Silverstone and I’m pleased the day ran so smoothly. Esteban drove first in the morning to check all the systems were working properly as well as completing the usual install programme for the car. Pierre was then in the car in the afternoon for the first time in the A523 and completed eight stable laps to get an initial feel in his new surroundings. These days are of course limited and not representative, but we’ve certainly had a great day and we now look forward to testing in Bahrain where we expect to continue our learning of the 2023 car.
Rodin Carlin, have announced their first of three drivers for the inaugural F1 Academy – signing Briton Jessica Edgar.
Edgar, cousin of Formula 3 racer Jonny Edgar, began karting at the age of five and in 2021 made the longlist for the FIA’s Girls on Track Rising Stars Programme.
The 17 year old took her first steps on the single-seater ladder last year, competing in the GB4 Championship in the UK where she finished seventh overall with one podium finish.
Jessica is the third driver to be announced for the F1 Academy this year, after Swiss race Lena Buhler was confirmed for ART Grand Prix and Bianca Bustamante joined Prema.
I’m very happy to have signed with Rodin Carlin for F1 Academy. As soon as I heard about the series, the backing of Formula 1 and the teams and people involved, I was extremely keen to be part of this first historic season. I know the Rodin Carlin team pretty well and to go into this first season together is a dream come true. I’m really excited to get the season under way.
Jessica on her new seat.
We’re very proud to announce our first driver in F1 Academy ahead of what we expect to be an exciting and historic season. Jess was already well known to us, and the opportunity to work with her in F1 Academy came at exactly the right time in her career. With only one season in car racing to her name, there is still plenty to learn, but Jess is extremely motivated, and we look forward to unlocking her potential in the season ahead.
Sophia Florsch will be making her return to FIA Formula 3 this season, as she signs with PHM Racing by Charouz. It will be the first time since 2020 that she has driven in the championship.
Florsch has plenty of single-seater experience after her graduation from the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2016. She finished her first two seasons of ADAC Formula 4, 19th and 13th before she moved to European F3 in 2018.
P7 in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in 2019, led her to move to FIA F3 for the 2020 season with Campos Racing.
Since leaving F3, Florsch has accumulated plenty of experience in sports cars, racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours in each of the last three years, as well as racing in DTM and the World Endurance Championship.
I am really excited and very happy to return to FIA Formula 3 this season with PHM Racing by Charouz. My goal has always been to race with the best of the best. Since the beginning of my career, I have been working very hard towards this goal every day with my team in the background.
Sophia, on her return to F3.
I have lots of respect for Sophia’s decision to come back to Formula sports and to take the challenge in this competitive field. She is very experienced in professional Racing in various classes and has a very professional attitude and working style. The racing world so far helped her to become even more ambitious and focused than many other male drivers. That’s another fact, why we start with Sophia. With our new campaign as PHM Racing by Charouz, we will do our best to support her on her path to the top.
Mercedes became the penultimate F1 team to launch their 2023 challenger – taking the covers off the W14 where they sport an all-black livery.
A day after rivals, Ferrari presented their new challenger, Mercedes showcased the car in which they hope will move them back into regular race wins and title glory.
Mercedes’ latest creation marks a return to black – a colour they ran in the 2020 and 2021 seasons – after they returned to their more traditional silver scheme.
Team boss, Toto Wolff, continuing drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell as well as new reserve Mick Schumacher were all present at the launch at Silverstone.
One change inside the Mercedes camp for 2023, is the absence of James Vowles who recently left his strategy focused role to take the role of team boss at Williams.
Our hopes and expectations are always to be capable of fighting for a World Championship. However, our competitors were very strong last year, and we are playing catch-up. Racing at the front requires resilience, teamwork, and determination. We face up to every challenge, we put the team first, and we will leave no stone unturned in the chase for every millisecond. This year, we are going all in to get back in front. We were overweight last year. This year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram. So now, history repeats itself. You will see that the car has some raw carbon bits, along with some that are painted matte black. Of course, when we changed the livery in 2020 the main driving factor was to support the diversity and equality causes which are always close to our heart. The colour black became part of our DNA at that point, so we are pleased to return to it.
Ferrari kept the launch season moving at speed as they unveiled their latest challenger, the SF-23 during a special presentation from the team’s Maranello headquarters.
Following Monday’s reveals from McLaren and Aston Martin, it was Ferrari’s turn to show off their 2023 creation, which unsurprisingly sports another red-dominated livery.
Present to oversee launch proceedings was new Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, who arrived at Ferrari from Alfa Romeo over the winter – replacement for Mattia Binotto.
The new season is fast approaching, Vasseur is working to address the problems that ended the Italian’s team hopes of beating rivals Red Bull to title glory in 2022, with unreliability, strategic blunders and driver errors all playing a part to their downfall.
Ferrari last won an F1 title back in 2008, when they claimed the constructors’ crown, whilst their last drivers’ championship was achieved with Kimi Raikkonen during the previous season.
It’s always emotional for a team to do the launch. My contribution is very small on this one, but I can perfectly feel the work done on the car. Now it will be a new journey for the project, because the car will move to the race team. It’s a great feeling; when you are back on track, it’s like when you are back at school. I can feel that everybody is very proud of the job done and this feeling is very important for the motivation of everybody and for the season. It will be a quite long season, but the motivation is there and it’s crucial in terms of performance.
Aston Martin unveiled their 2023 Formula 1 car, the AMR23 at their new Silverstone headquarters, their third F1 car since the famous British brand returned in 2021.
The team have called the AMR23 a considerable evolution of last year’s AMR22, which saw them finish seventh in the constructors’ championship but equal on points with Alfa Romeo.
Aston Martin made clear that the new car has a “heavily revised” front wing, new sidepods and a new engine cover with a bigger inlet on the roll hoop. It will be driven this year by Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso who joins from Alpine.
The AMR23 will be taking to the track on February 15th for a filming day at Silverstone, where both drivers will run the car.
I have always said that I could see the ambition that shines bright at AMF1. And, as we launch the car in this brand-new factory, I think everyone can now see the scale of the ambition and determination at the heart of this organisation. Just as important is the car – and the AMR23 looks incredibly neatly packaged and highly efficient. I was pleasantly surprised when I sampled last year’s car for the very first time, and I think there is plenty of performance we can unlock together. I can’t wait to get started.
Two time Champ, Fernando Alonso.
Looking at AMR23, I can see lots of new thinking and some aggressive work around the packaging and aerodynamics that should really help us out as we head into year two of these new rules. I’m massively looking forward to working with Fernando. I’ve always got along very well with him – and it will be fantastic to race alongside him.
McLaren have released their 2023 F1 challenger, the MCL60 during a launch presentation at their Technology Centre with the new livery featuring even more papaya orange for a special anniversary year for the team.
In 2023, McLaren will be celebrating 60 years since legendary New Zealand racer, Bruce McLaren founded the team and, as an initial tribute, opted to jump straight from last season’s MCL36 to MCL60 with the naming of their latest car.
At the launch, was four of the most important people, McLaren CEO, Zak Brown as well as new Team Principal, Andrea Stella who steps up from his previous position of Racing Director. Along with Lando Norris, and his new team mate Oscar Piastri who arrives into F1 as an F2 and F3 champion.
In addition to papaya orange, blue elements remain on McLaren’s livery colours first carried by the outfit in the 1960’s, before then making a popular return in 2018.
When the new season begins, McLaren will be looking to turn their recent decline into something else, as they fell from third to fifth in the constructors’ standings in the space of two campaigns.
We are delighted to launch our 2023 Formula 1 team with Lando and Oscar at the wheel as we celebrate 60 years of McLaren Racing. This year’s driver line-up is extremely exciting as Lando, an intelligent and confident driver with excellent pace, is joined by one of the biggest up-and-coming talents in motorsport with Oscar. 2022 was a challenging season in our continued effort to push towards the front of the grid. We learnt a lot which has been taken into the off-season as the entire team works hard to prepare for another year. Under the guidance of Andrea Stella, who moved into the position of Team Principal in December 2022, we have an excellent team to spearhead the 2023 season and can look forward to seeing our young driver duo continue to grow their partnership throughout the upcoming campaign. We’re now looking forward to heading back to being on track in Bahrain. It’ll be great to see the MCL60 in action ahead of the 2023 season. Let’s go racing!
Alpha Tauri have become the latest F1 team to launch their 2023 season, showing off their livery that will adorn the yet to be presented AT04 challenger during a special event in New York.
Long time team boss, Franz Tost, continuing driver Yuki Tsunoda and new arrival Nyck de Vries were all on hand for Saturday’s reveal, which followed Red Bull’s own season launch in the Big Apple a week ago.
Coinciding with New York’s famous Fashion Week, the launch represented a perfect fit for the Alpha Tauri fashion brand, who are owned by Red Bull and replaced Toro Rosso as the Faenza squad’s official name in 2020.
In a stylish unveiling. Alpha Tauri presented a now traditional deep blue and white colour scheme for their new car, which is powered by Honda engines running under the Red Bull powertrains.
However, red highlights now complement the palette courtesy of Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer, ORLEN having moved across from rivals Alfa Romeo.
Alpha Tauri head into the new season looking to turn their recent F1 fortunes around, having slipped from sixth in the 2021 constructors’ standings to ninth in 2022, when all new technical regulations come into play.
Jenzer Motorsport have announced that Taylor Barnard completes their all-rookie driver line-up for the 2023 Formula 3 campaign.
The British racer makes the step up off the back of finishing runner-up in the German ADAC Formula 4 Championship, with five wins and a further five podiums to his name.
Banard made his single-seater debut in 2020 with a partial campaign in Italian F4 before making a full-time switch to German F4 the next year. 2022 saw the 18 year-old finish ninth in Formula 4 UAE, which he followed up with a dual campaign in both Italian and German F4, finishing eighth and second respectively.
The Brit got his first taste of F3 machinery during the post-season test in Jerez last year, recording four top 10 finishes, including topping the final session of running.
Ahead of pre-season testing in Sakhir in a fortnight’s time, Barnard is currently competing in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship where he currently sits second, with two race wins and two further podiums.
I am very happy to continue working with Jenzer Motorsport after a successful test in Jerez. We’ve made good progress over the winter and I’m more than pleased to start the FIA Formula 3 season! This is by far the biggest step in my career and it will be a challenge, but definitely one I’m up for! I would like to thank everyone at PHM Racing for this great opportunity that will make it possible for me to drive at Jenzer Motorsport in 2023.
Barnard on his new seat.
We got to know Taylor as a very bright driver who doesn’t need long to feel good on a new track. This ability will be a huge asset for him given the limited track time in FIA F3 racing events. Taylor immediately shows strong pace and a quick adaptation, although of course it is clear that there is a learning curve for him to do, too. In any case, we are looking forward to the new season together with our drivers very positively.
PREMA Racing have announced that Filipino driver, Bianca Bustamante is the first driver in their three-car line up for the F1 Academy season.
Bustamante made her single-seater debut last year, competing in W Series, scoaring points in her first race with a ninth-place finish in Miami.
The 18 year old went on to end the season 15th in the drivers’ standings, claiming the top rookie honours.
Bustamante is currently competing in the Formula 4 UAE Championship with PREMA ahead of her debut in the all-female series, where she scored her first points of the season at the third round in Kuwait.
I’m very excited to be joining PREMA for the 2023 season. As a rookie in formula cars, 2022 was a year full of challenges, but today is definitely a big step up in my career. PREMA is one of the most prestigious racing organisations in the world, and I’m incredibly grateful to join their family of drivers. With PREMA, I’m joining a top driver development programme both on and off the race track, and most importantly, I will have a rigorous race and test programme, giving me the much-needed seat time to perform at my best in competition. Thank you PREMA for bringing me into the programme, and Formula 1 for launching this series to support young female drivers. Most importantly, thanks to Laurence Escalante for believing in me and supporting my journey, getting me one step closer to my F1 dreams.
Bustamante on her seat.
We are happy to announce Bianca for our new F1 Academy programme. We enjoy working together in the F4 UAE Championship and we feel there is great potential we can build on for the future. I think she will be an outstanding fit right from the start, especially considering what she was able to achieve in her first experiences, and we are determined to provide her with our best support.
Jordan's Track Talk 