Trident has confirmed Gabriel Bortoleto as their first recruit for the 2023 FIA Formula 3 campaign, with the rookie joining off the back of a successful post-season test with the team in Jerez and is the first driver to be announced for next season.
Currently competing in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, the 17 year old has one win, three podiums to his tally across the first eight rounds. Earlier this year he also took home a victory in Formula Regional Asian Championship at Yas Marina.
Prior to stepping up to FRECA, Bortoleto finished fifth in Italian F4, claiming one win, five podiums and two pole positions along the way.
Topping the time sheets on Day 2 of post-season test for the Italian team, Bortoleto also recorded the fastest overall time from the three-day event around the Spanish circuit.
I am extremely delighted for the chance to compete in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship with a high-level team like Trident Motorsport. I would like to thank every member of the team for the warm welcome I have been given. I feel ready for a new chapter in my career and to move to a higher series in single-seaters. I will put my best effort to make the most of this great opportunity.
Bortoleto on his move.
We are proud to welcome a promising driver like Gabriel Bortoleto to our line-up. He needs no introduction as he has been extremely competitive since his karting days and is now collecting impressive results in the FRECA championship as well. We are sure that by joining the Trident Motorsport family, Gabriel will receive solid support from every team member and prove his value and qualities.
Maloney had a great launch off the line and got alongside Alexander Smolyar into Turn 1 to take the lead on the inside. Martins managed to clear Stanek into the first corner after making use of the tow.
A safety car was deployed on the opening lap after contact between Villagomez and Vidales at the second Lesmo with both ending up in the gravel and out of the race. The green flags were back out entering Lap 4 and race leader Maloney went halfway down the back straight.
The PREMA Racing drivers weren’t taking things easy against one another. Leclerc managed to re-pass Bearman on the first lap back to racing, using the exact move the Briton pulled on him at the start.
Isack Hadjar wasn’t having a good feature race and found himself well out of contention. He was relegated to 14th by Reece Ushijima on Lap 11 into Turn 1.
The Safety Car was back out on Lap 16 after Kush Miami and Brad Benavides crashed out of the second Lesmo. The debris and barrier repair required the red flag, with five laps of the 2022 season to go. As things stood at the red flag, Martins held the lead of the Championship with Maloney 2nd and Bearman third. As the drivers sat in the pitlane it was confirmed that the race would not restart whilst Martins was simultaneously handed a five second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
The classification was taken from count back which meant with Martins’ time penalty applied and a further penalty for track limits violation for Alatalo taken into account, the Frenchman finished P4, the 12 points for fourth ensured he had enough to seal the Driver’s Championship.
The full top 10 are- P1: Maloney, P2: Bearman, P3: Crawford, P4: Martins, P5: Leclerc, P6: Stanek, P7: Alatalo, P8: Edgar, P9: Hadjar and P10: Ushijima.
The Championship-
With the feature race results, Victor Martins takes the 2022 Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship on 139 points. Zane Maloeny and Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 3 in the standings on 134 and 132 points.
PREMA Racing secured the Teams’ Championship ahead of Trident in P2, and ART Grand Prix keeps third.
A massive congratulations to Victor! A well deserved Championship for the Frenchman, hopefully we get to see him graduate to Formula 2 next year! But overall, a massive congratulations to all the title contenders, amazing season by them all!
Oliver Bearman hit the ground running at Monza, finishing the opening session of the Championship-deciding weekend fastest of all. Isack Hadjar also looked quick out of the starting gates, ending up just a fraction off the top spot. Arthur Leclerc made it two PREMA Racing drivers in the top three in third.
With heavy rain overnight and into the morning, Free Practice got underway in damp conditions as drivers headed out onto the circuit. Rafael Villagomez was the first to suffer a spin, pirouetting out of Turn 2.
With half an hour to go, Juan Manuel Correa led the way on 1:50.513 narrowly ahead of Alexander Smolyar and Zak O’Sullivan. A virtual safety car was deployed briefly for the Jenzer Motorsport of Frederico Malvestiti, who had a temporary halt at pit exit.
Entering the final 10 minutes, the track hit the crossover point. Martins shot to the top by four tenths until Gregoire Sacuy and Oliver Bearman dipped into the 1:47s with five minutes to go.
Bearmans next lap was almost a second quicker as the track continued to dry out rapidly in the final moments. Vidales, Martins and then Edgar each the took the top spot in quick succession before Bearman restored his name to the top of the times on 1:44.873.
Qualifying-
Alexander Smolyar claimed pole position for MP Motorsport after a qualifying session interrupted by a significant red flag. Isack Hadjar crashed out of qualifying midway through the session which saw him end up 16th.
In the title race, Zane Maloney led the way, qualifying second for Trident ahead of teammate Roman Stanek in P3. Victor Martins, Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Bearman followed nose to tail, fourth,fifth and sixth on the grid with Jak Crawford ended the session eighth for PREMA.
The title contenders took two of the three top spots following the first laps, Stanek first ahead of Hadjar in P2. Leclerc slotted into seventh after a huge snaps of oversteer out of the second Lesmo.
As the third laps filtered through, Hadjar looked set to take the fastest lap with two good sectors. Through Parabolica, he ran wide, picked up gravel and then spun into the barriers and bringing out the red flag.
The full top 10 are- P1: Smolyar, P2: Maloney, P3: Stanek, P4: Martins, P5: Leclerc, P6: Bearman, P7: Alatalo, P8: Crawford, P9: Edgar and P10: Marti.
Day 2-
Franco Colapinto won the Monza Sprint Race from pole position, winning ahead of Oliver Bearman after the PREMA Racing man put in a great drive to secure P2. Collet, ended up P3 after holding off a number of threats behind for a podium result.
Martins, Hadjar and Leclerc all had contact at some point during the Sprint Race and fell down the order, it was Bearman though who secured the best result to give himself a real chance of the championship.
The Safety Car came out on lap 4 after Zak O’Sullivan came unstuck into Turn 1. Missing his braking point, he had to take avoiding action to steer clear of his teammate and tagged the barriers as a result.
Hadjar’s title hopes suffered another blow on the restart after he damaged his front wing in contact with Maini. He was forced to pit for a new one on Lap 10.
The full top 10 are- P1: Colapinto, P2: Bearman, P3: Collet, P4: Maloney, P5: Edgar, P6: Saucy, P7: Crawford, P8: Leclerc P9: Marti and P10: Martins.
Formula Motorsport Limited (FML) have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Formula 1 Global Partner, Aramco to introduce the use of sustainable fuels in both championships from 2023.
It demonstrates how the FIA Forula 2 and Formula 3 Championships are pioneers in this important area of development, whilst continuing to bring the FIA Formula One World Champions of the future through the single-seater pyramid.
The agreement is subject to FIA World Motor Sport Council approval. It will form part of the wider sustainability strategy announced by the FIA and Formula 1 which will see the sport become net zero carbon by 2030.
By 2026, all FIA Championships will be required by regulation to power their cars with 100% sustainable fuels. A key milestone in the journey will be the introduction of a 100% sustainable fuel from the 2026 F1 season, alongside the next generation hybrid power units.
Sustainability is at the top of the global motor sport agenda, and it is vital to see this work not only going on in Formula 1, but also in Formula 2, Formula 3 and throughout the entire ecosystem. Our sport is developing and evolving rapidly and it will continue to lead the way, pioneering the technologies, including sustainable fuels, that will be crucial to tackle climate change. We are a key part of the solution to the problems we are facing worldwide, and the partnership is going to bring huge benefits to the sport and to the wider industry.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President.
Aramco is a leader in this space and, subject to the approval of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, will deliver our sustainable fuel ambitions, working closely with our colleagues in F2 and F3, who not only bring through the drivers of the future but offer a superb testing ground for the latest engineering in motorsport. In 2026, F1 will move to zero-emission sustainable fuel that offers a game-changing solution for the automotive sector and beyond. With the support of Aramco and all our manufacturers, we can accelerate the sector’s move to net zero.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO Formula 1.
Sustainability is a top priority in today’s world, and we have been working on making our sport more sustainable for some time now. The goal to switch to synthetic fuel can only be achieved through the partnership with a company of the scale of Aramco, which is determined to produce advanced sustainable fuel in the near future. It’s easier to implement such a significant change in F2 and in F3, as they are single-make categories with single suppliers. We’re very happy to undertake an innovation role – as we did last season with the introduction of the 18-inch tires now used in F1 – and take the first steps towards synthetic sustainable fuel.
Dominating the front row were two black and white ART Grand Prix cars, as Correa lined up on reverse grid pole ahead of teammate Saucy, whilst O’Sullivan and Collet lay in the second row.
In his Formula 3 race, Sebastian Montoya found himself sitting in P6 meanwhile title protagonists could be found up and down the field, with Hadjar in seventh ahead of Stanek and Crawford in ninth and tenth. The third ART of Martins lined up P11, whilst PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc started in P13 and P20.
Collet, was ready for his opportunity to pounce on Lap 4 and take the race lead from Correa. Attempting to make the move stick around the outside of Turn 1, the Brazilian dipped his wheels across the kerbs into Turn 3.
Things began to settle down towards the mid point of the race as the medium Pirelli compounds began to fade, leaving those who managed the yellow-walled tyres the best with the upper hand towards the latter end of the 21 lap sprint race.
Approaching the final seven laps, Bearman’s defence came un-done with a wobble into Turn 4. The Ferrari Academy driver went over the kerbs and across the grass , dropping him behind Stanek.
The full top 10 are- P1: Collet, P2: Correa, P3: O’Sullivan, P4: Edgar, P5: Saucy, P6: Hadjar, P7: Martins, P8: Montoya, P9: Crawford and P10: Stanek.
Day 3-
Martins would have been rubbing his hands with glee as the ART GP driver nailed his getaway off the line, immediately going side-by-side with Maloney up the inside of Turn 1. The Trident driver attempted to cover him off but went wide soaring over the kerbs.
Futher back, Bearmans day went from bad to worse. A poor start saw the Ferrari Academy driver junior loosing three places at lights out, allowing Leclerc to close in on his teammate.
With the battles showing no sign of settling down, it wasn’t long until the Safety Car made its first appearance of the weekend Lap 4. Brad Benavides was caught out by William Alatalo’s braking point into Turn 2 and sending both into the gravel and then retire.
There was no doubt Martins was beginning to struggle. A rough looking left front tyre left him vulnerable to Colapinto behind but the Van Amersfoort driver couldn’t get past him.
The full top 10 are- P1: Maloney, P2: Martins, P3: Colapinto, P4: Stanek, P5: Hadjar, P6: Crawford, P7: Collet, P8: Montoya, P9: Edgar and P10: Bearman.
We now only have one round remaining next weekend, and we are in Monza, will we be finding out who is going to be our Formula 3 2022 Champion!
Victor Martins’ effort to reignite his fight for the title after a difficult weekend last time out in Spa, were given a boost after the ART Grand Prix driver led the way during the opening session in Zandvoort.
Laying down a benchmark of 1:25.688 ahead of the all-important qualifying, he went nearly four-tenths clear of the MP Motorsport duo, Caio Collet and Alexander Smolyar.
It was a leisurely start to the session with only five drivers setting a time during the opening 12 minutes, as Francesco Pizzi set a 1:18.014 to go half a second clear of his teammate David Schumacher.
Brand Benavides didn’t have the ideal start to the weekend off the back of his maiden points finish in Spa-Francorchamps, going off into the gravel at Turn 9 to bring out the Virtual Safety Car.
Qualifying-
Zane Maloney exuded confidence as he claimed his second pole position of his rook rookie season, whilst Victor Martins reignited his title hopes by securing a spot on the Feature Race front row.
After two virtual safety car appearances in practice, it was no surprise that a queue of cars formed along the pit lane as the lights went green, with the whole field eargely heading out early and try to get a banker lap in.
As the clock started to tick down to 16 minutes, it seemed the perfect time for Caio Collet and the rest of the field to head back out on track. But off the back of his maiden victory last time out in Spa, Maloney set about claiming his spot on the front row for the third consecutive race.
Lining up on reverse grid pole, Juan Manuel Correa will be hungry for his first podium finish of the 2022 season in Sprint Race. He’ll have familiar company on the front row in the form of ART teammate, Gregoire Saucy.
The full top 10 are- P1: Maloney, P2: Martins, P3: Crawford, P4: Stanek, P5: Colapinto, P6: Hadjar, P7: Montoya, P8: Edgar, P9: Collet and P10: O’Sullivan.
Zak O’Sullivan retained the lead from pole into La Source with teammate Benavides attempting to wrestle second from Juan Manuel Correa. With the two on the Kemmel Straight, the ART driver turned defence into attack, taking the lead but only momentarily.
Title rival, Victor Martins meanwhile had made his way up to 16th by the time the Safety Car was deployed but had jumped the start, he was handed a drive-through penalty as a result.
A wide moment, from Oliver Goethe heading into Stavelot left the Campos driver under pressure from the Trident duo of Roman Stanek and Zane Maloney. Stanek was able to clear the Monegasque driver for fifth but contact on the exit of Blanchimont between Goethe and Maloney resulted in a big crash for the pair, but thankfully both drivers were able to walk away from their cars.
Leclerc’s charge continued at the expense of Benavides, another DRS pass down the Kemmel Straight moved him up to fifth position and within range of Edgar as a result of the latter’s pending time penalty.
The full top 10 are- P1: Bearman, P2: Stanek, P3: Smolyar, P4: Edgar, P5: Leclerc, P6: Alatalo, P7: Vidales, P8: Benavides, P9: Hadjar and P10: Collet.
Day 3-
Having become the seventh different driver to take pole this season, Collet lined up on the front row along side Maloney whilst four of the top five in the Championship found themselves starting P20 or lower.
Maloney’s time out front didn’t last long as he was ordered to give the place back by his team. In the mean time, Goethe had gotten past Collet for P2, forcing the Trident to drop down to third behind the MP in order to return the position.
Disaster soon struck for title contender, Martins. The ART Grand Prix driver found himself collected in chaos ahead as Kush Maini overshot the corner sending him into the side of Pizzi, tagging Ido Cohen and Martins.
No sooner than the action resumed did the safety car return to the track after Gregoire Saucy and Josep Maria Marti touched wheels, resulting in the early retirement of a second ART car.
Having been handed a five second penalty for rejoining the track unsafely, Collet knew it was time to be strategic as he battled with Stanek for second.
As the penultimate lap began, it was Bearman’s time to strike as Goethe went too deep into Turn 1, the pair flew up side-by-side into Eau Rouge, but the Prema Racing driver cautiously decided to back out and go again one lap later.
The full top 10 are- P1: Maloney, P2: Stanek, P3: Bearman, P4: Goethe, P5: Edgar, P6: Collet, P7: Vidales, P8: Alatalo, P9: Smolyar and P10: Ushijima.
We don’t have long to wait till the next round, we are back next weekend and are in Zandvoort for Round 8, we only have two rounds left now…
Reece Ushijima left the rest well adrift after his 2:05.172s put him above anyone else on the grid. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver ended the session over a second clear of anybody else, with Campos enjoying a 2-3-4.
Jenzer Motorsport’s William Alatalo set the first representative time on a 2:09,590s but that was bettered by Carlin driver Brad Benavides with the American setting a 2:09.421s soon after.
Roman Stanek came to a halt on the Kemmel Straight with just over 10 minutes remaining of the session, briefly bringing out yellow flags before the Trident driver was able to get his car restarted to continue.
The full top 10 are- P1: Ushijima, P2: Goethe, P3: Vidales, P4: Marti, P5: O’Sullivan, P6: Stanek, P7: Hadjar, P8: Maloney, P9: Edgar and P10: Bearman.
Qualifying-
Caio Collet, put his foot to the floor to storm his way to his first Formula 3 pole position, mastering the wet to drying conditions in Spa-Francorchamps to become the seventh different driver to take pole in as many rounds.
There was no shortage of contenders in the fight for P1 in the fight for P1 as last-minute improvements mixed up the order but it was the MP Motorsport driver who reigned supreme, over two tenths clear of Maloney.
Downpours during the break between Practice and Qualifying forced the whole field to bolt on the wet weather Pirelli tyres and given the conditions it was no surprise that the track was immediately full of action.
The session soon ground to a halt with 19 minutes on the clock, as Jak Crawford found himself facing the wrong way. In his attempt to sprint his car around, the driver got caught out by the gravel trap and was forced into a frustratingly early end.
Even the appearance of the chequered flag didn’t mean that the order was final. Maloney leaped half a second clear of his teammate but there was nothing he could do to stop Collet’s final effort of 2:11.289.
The full top 10 are- P1: Collet, P2: Maloney, P3: Pizzi, P4: Goethe, P5: Stanek, P6: Edgar, P7: Smolyar, P8: Bearman, P9: Colapinto and P10: Benavides.
Caio Collet, brought home his first win in Formula 3 in an impressive fassion mastering the wet to drying conditions in a race of attrition that caught several of the title contenders out.
Starting fourth, the MP Motorsport driver made his presence known, slicing his way through the field and up into the lead before driving off into the distance to finish 8.7s clear of second place Franco Colapinto.
The celebrations continued for MP, as Kush Maini made it at a double podium for the Dutch team having carved his way up from P7 to P3 at the chequered flag.
As the spray faded and the tyres waned, the race turn into survival of the fittest as the field attempted to conserve their wet Pirelli compounds to the chequered flag with five laps remaining. Nobody seemed to be immune – Leclerc’s moment of oversteer saw him take a hefty whack over the red and white kerbs at Turn 4.
The full top 10 are- P1: Collet, P2: Colapinto, P3: Maini, P4: Hadjar, P5: Bearman, P6: Martins, P7: Saucy, P8: Goethe, P9: Stanek and P10: Maloney.
Day 3-
Maloney got a great launch but was immediately covered off by pole sitter. The Trident driver tried a move around the outside at Turn 1 but was unsuccessful. It allowed Bearman to get a great driver on the corner exit to make it three-wide into Turn 2.
Behind that trio, Maini climbed up to fourth but was closely watched by Crawford after the pair had cleared Gregoire Saucy off the line. The red and white PREMA claimed P4 on the run to Turn 4 whilst Reece Ushijima was on the move too, rising up to ninth after Lap 1 from P19 on the grid.
Championship leader heading into the Feature Race, Isack Hadjar meanwhile was going backwards. He dropped down to 18th after being forced to take avoiding action at Turn 2 on the outside of the corner.
Towards the end of the race, Correa was flying on his slick tyres and lapping seconds quicker than the race leaders. Edgar displayed just how much quicker the dry tyres were by unlapping himself from Maloney, Bearman and Crawford as they fought for second.
O’Sullivan was another to have swapped the wets for dry tyres down in 17th and was 10 seconds quicker than race leader Smolyar on Lap 22. He passed the ART Grand Prix car of Correa to be the highest placed driver on the slick tyres.
The full top 10 are- P1: Smolyar, P2: Maloney, P3: Bearman, P4: O’Sullivan, P5: Crawford, P6: Correa, P7: Maini, P8: Leclerc, P9: Collet and P10: Martins.
Now we have the summer break, but when we are back we have a triple header, which means the Formula 3 2022 season is coming to an end!
F3 action resumed bright and early this morning, and it was Jak Crawford who hit the ground running almost immediately. Entering the weekend off the back of his first victory in the Championship last time out in Spielberg, the PREMA Racing driver left it to the last second to knock Zane Maloney off the top spot by a tenth of a second.
Ideal conditions greeted the field of 30 at the Hungaroring. The session got underway with the field bolting on their sets of red-walled soft tyres, that they carried over form the previous round, and off the bat Josep Maria Marti got up to speed, laying down a 1:36.144.
Times continued to tumble as David Vidales, Juan Manuel Correa, Gregoire Saucy and Zak O’Sullivan all took turns at the top of the order before Alexander Smolyar followed by Kush Maini put MP Motorsport up into P1.
The full top 10 are- P1: Crawford, P2: Maloney, P3: Leclerc, P4: Hadjar, P5: Collet, P6: Smolyar, P7: Edgar, P8: Maini, P9: Stanek and P10: Villagomez.
Qualifying-
Alexander Smolyar secured pole position around the Hungaroring, avoiding a hectic conclusion to the session following a late red flag stoppage. Though time remained on the clock following a restart with three minutes to go, Zane Maloney was the closest anyone got to the MP Motorsport driver, ending the session second fastest 0.126s down.
The track fell quiet with 10 minutes gone, Collet leading from Isack Hadjar and Victor Martins. Debutant, Oliver Goethe climbed up to P6 on his second flying lap for Campos Racing but lost his time for exceeding track limits at Turn 4 dropping him down to P10.
None of the PREMA drivers had recorded a lap time in the opening half of the session due to deletions because of track limits violations. Purple sectors across the board from Arthur Leclerc which put him in P1 with a 1:32.912, whilst teammate Jak Crawford couldn’t quite match. Bearman meanwhile managed to go better than both to secure a PREMA 1-2-3.
The full top 10 are- P1: Smolyar, P2: Maloney, P3: Bearman, P4: Leclerc, P5: Saucy, P6: Maini, P7: Crawford, P8: Martins, P9: Collet and P10: Hadjar.
Christian Mansell is racing for Charouz Racing System this weekend in Budapest. The Czech team confirmed that Mansell would be competing in both Rounds 6 & 7 of the season in Budapest and Spa in place of Zdenek Chovanec in the #15 car.
The 17 year old, has been racing in EuroFormula Open this year and is currently second in the Drivers’ standings. He has secured multiple wins and podium finishes already this season, including runner-up results at both Hungary and Spa.
The Australian driver, who is racing under a British license said that he was looking forward to the challenge of jumping into a Formula 3 car and his hoping his experience would bode well around both upcoming circuits.
I’m super excited to be joining FIA Formula 3 with Charouz Racing System. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to put myself against an incredibly talented grid of drivers and get my name out there racing on the Formula 1 weekends. It will be my first time in the car so there will be a lot to learn from the start, but I like both circuits so I will be able to hit the ground running with those. I’m mega excited and can’t wait to get started this weekend in Hungary.
Mansell on his opportunity this weekend.
I’m really happy to welcome Christian in the team and I’m looking forward to see him in the car. He’ll need all of our support to get confident with a single-seater different from the ones he already raced with, but I’m confident that it will happen very naturally and very quickly given how talented he is. The fact that he already had experiences at both Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps is definitely an optimum starting point for his debut. The team and I are really excited to have him on board, I’m sure that he’s excited too and he’ll show everybody what he’s capable of.
Campos Racing has announced that Oliver Goethe will replace Hunter Yeany for the sixth round of the 2022 FIA Formula 3 season in Budapest this weekend.
Yeany was forced to withdraw from the previous round in Spielberg after sustaining a broken wrist in the Sprint Race. The American rookie still managed to finish the race but pulled out of the Feature Race the following day.
Seizing the opportunity, Goethe is determined to gain lots of knowledge and an understanding about the car at a track he is fairly familiar with.
After beginning his single-seater career in Spanish F4 in 2019, Goethe made the step up to Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in 2021. Earlier this year he competed in the Formula Regional Asian Championship and won on his debut in the 24H GT Series, taking victory in his GT4 class at the Dubai 24H.
Currently, the Danish-German driver, who is racing under a Monegasque licence, sits at the top of the Euroformula Open Championship standing, with eight wins and four podiums to his name across the first five rounds including a victory in the Hungarian capital earlier this month.
I’m extremely excited to make my FIA F3 debut this weekend with Campos! I can’t wait to try out the car and compete amongst the best! It’ll be a great learning experience and I will make the most of it.
Showers overnight saw Practice commence around a slippery Red Bull Ring. Fortunately for the 30 drivers the rain held at bay for the whole session, as they took the time to make some exploratory laps on the wet tyres.
Immediately getting to grips with the challenging conditions, Trident’s Roman Stanek laid down a cautious but representative 1:30.622, before he and MP Motorsport’s Alexander Smolyar began to trade fastest times.
At the halfway point, it was clear the wet tyre had served their purpose as a dry line had started to form around the Red Bull Ring, taking a gamble, the first driver to switch over to slicks was Arthur Leclerc. Turning the timing screens purple, times tumbled as drivers began clocking in their best laps of the session, the change in conditions saw lap times over 10 seconds quicker than those at the start.
Arthur Leclerc finished the practice session on the top spot, with Smolyar finished 2nd and Jonny Edgar 3rd.
Now onto qualifying, HiTech’s Grand Prix, Isack Hadjar claimed his first Formula 3 pole position, going two-tenths clear of title rival and Championship leader Victor Martins who will join his fellow Frenchman on the front row.
Oliver Bearman bettered PREMA Racing teammate, Arthur Leclerc for P3, whilst Kaylen Frederick made it two Hitech’s in the top five.
There was no sign of the damp conditions that drivers dealt with in practice, but the wind had picked up from the morning session as Caio Collet was warned of a headwin into Turn 3.
Day 2-
Caio Collet covered off Correa to retain the lead into the first corner, whilst Franco Colapinto challenged Crawford for third. Further back it was as much as four wide entering Turn 3.
Correa got a run into Turn 4 and went around the outside of the MP Motorsport car to take the lead. Colapinto also managed to sneak through on Crawford in the same place before a Safety Car was deployed.
The Safety Car was withdrawn entering Lap 4, and it was three Tridents that were instantly wheel to wheel, as Zane Maloney and Roman Stanek scrapped, Jonny Edgar slipped up the inside of the pair of of them at Turn 4. Corrrea’s strong start was for nought as on Lap six he coasted to a halt front he race lead to leave Collet at the head of the field.
On the next lap, Oliver Bearman made a late dive down the inside of Stanek to steal sixth position, however his move opened the door for Leclerc at Turn 4 and both PREMA drivers were through on the Trident man.
But it was Jak Crawford who wins his first F3 race, Caio Collet in 2nd and Franco Colapinto finished 3rd rounding out the podium. The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Leclerc, P5: Stanek, P6: Frederick, P7: Edgar, P8: Martins, P9: Smolyar and P10: Hadjar.
Day 3-
A big challenge arrived for the grid for the Feature Race, as heavy rain at the Red Bull Ring saw the drivers face a contest of attrition on wet tyres, with standing water everywhere and spray creating a lack of visibility, it was up to maiden pole-sitter Hadjar to lead the field away in a rolling start.
Despite never started from the front row in Formula 3, Hadjar nailed his launch allowing him to hold off an attack from Championship leader Martins. However, an error saw the rookie run wide into Turns 1 and 9, allowing fellow Frenchman Martins to close in on him.
The pair’s duel wasn’t slowing them down, as they continued to pull a gap to the PREMA duo of Bearman and Leclerc behind. As predicted, conditions began to east and a drier line began to form along the circuit, with the field urgently searching for wet patches of tarmac in order to run the blue walled tyres to the end of the race.
Outside the points, the two Charouz Racing System drivers of Francisco Pizzi and Zdenek Chovanec made contact whilst Josep Maria Marti charge to try to claim his first points finish in F3 took a knock.
But it was Hadjar who took the win in Austria, Victor Martins finished 2nd and Oliver Bearman grabs another podium in the bag! The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Leclerc, P5: Maloney, P6: Stanek, P7: Colapinto, P8: Smolyar, P9: Alatalo and P10: Cohen.
We are back in less than 3 weeks for round 6 at Budapest, Hungary on the 29th to 31st July, where the championship is hotting up!
Holding his nerve until the final few minutes of the race, Isack Hadjar took the victory out of Victor Martins hands, with a breath-taking lunge around the ART Grand Prix driver on the penultimate lap was enough to secure his second Formula 3 win in his rookie season.
Martins was forced to settle for second after sustaining pressure from rookie, Reece Ushijima in the final few laps, a brilliant effort from the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, who started on reverse grid pole, paid off to seal his maiden F3 podium in third.
12th placed qualifier, Reece Ushijima had a little bit longer to wait to get off the line in his highest ever starting position. Ushijima had to led the field for a second formation lap after an issue for a slow Brad Benavides led to an aborted start.
Determined to make up for a disappointing Fridays, Martins wasted no time driving up the inside of Ushijima to snatch the lead of the race and the VAR racer found himself under a bit of pressure from Maini going side-by-side in the opening sectors.
But the full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Martins, P3: Ushijima, P4: Maini, P5: Frederick, P6: Stanek, P7: Maloney, P8: Leclerc, P9: Bearman and P10: Crawford.
Day 3-
Zak O’Sullivan covered off Arthur Leclerc to retain the lead in the opening corners. Jak Crawford fought with Zane Maloney for third but was squeezed out by the Trident driver, allowing PREMA teammater Ollie Bearman to gain a run onto the Wellington Straight. The Briton tried to hang it around the outside, but Maloney made his Trident as wide as possible, heading into Luffield, Bearman didn’t back out which resulted in contact which spun the Bajan off track and down the order.
Looking at the front of the gird, Leclerc had fought back and with a two down Hangar Straight, swept around the outside of O’Sullivan into Stowe. Just as the move happened the Safety Car was deployed and Leclerc relinquished the position to the Brit.
O’Sullivan got a good restart, but Leclerc had clung with him and with DRS enabled on Lap 6, the Monegasque made a move and led the race. Hadjar and Crawford were fighting for fifth and the pair came to blows on Lap 8. Side-by-side out of the final corner and down the main straight, the duo entered Abbey with Crawford on the outside but just ahead, Hadjar narrowly clipped the rear right tyre of the PREMA driver, sending him off track and down to P8.
A slight collision between Gregoire Saucy and Roman Stanek required both to pit at the end of lap 9 for repairs. The ART GP driver was able to re-join but the Trident driver was out of the race. Another Safety car was deployed, following a crash for Rafael Villagomez at Copse. Contact with Nazim Azmna resulted in the front wing becoming stuck underneath the VAR driver’s car, sending him straight into the barriers.
With just three laps remaining, the top five was separated by just 1.5s, Bearman had been shaping up a move on Collet for several laps and finally made a lunge into Brookland on the penultimate lap for third.
However, Leclerc was untroubled and secured his third victory in F3 and his first of the 2022 season! O’Sullivan came home to finish 2nd, his first podium in F3 and infront of his home crowd. And Ollie Bearman finished the podium places, in front of his home crowd aswell.
The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: O’Sullivan, P3: Bearman, P4: Collet, P5: Hadjar, P6: Crawford, P7: Martins, P8: Edgar, P9: Vidales and P10: Ushijima.
We don’t have long to wait until we see F3 cars back on track, we are returning next week for Round 5 at Spielberg, Austria from the 8th to 10th July!
All three MP Motorsport cars were on track immediately to make the only practice session of the weekend. The track started to fill up slowly with just under half the field during the opening 10 minutes.
Barcelona Sprint Winner, David Vidales traded the top sport with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Franco Colapinto during the initial stages as representative times filtered through.
Championship leader, Victor Martins was pushing the limits at Copse corner, which saw him run wide and scraping the floor over the exit kerbs, loosing his laptime for exceeding track limits in the process.
Entering the final 10 minutes of the session, drivers started to search for a slipstream for the final fast laps. Despite almost dropping the car through several corners in the final sector, Hadjar wrestled his car across the line to post a 0.25s improvement to lover the benchmark to a 1:45.116.
But it was an MP Motorsport double punch as Kush Maini leading his teammate, Caio Collet first and second respectively. Kaylen Frederick managed to improve and push himself up in to 3rd.
Qualifying-
Zak O’Sullivan gave local fans an early celebration as he pushed it to the limit to secure his first pole position, as well as writing his name into Carlin history by securing the teams first pole in the championship. Meanwhile, Arthur Leclerc banished his qualifying woes to snatch second as Zane Maloney rounds out the top 3.
Collet was quick out of the box, becoming the first driver to set a flying lap, MP Motorsport were on the pace from the start as Collet’s 1:45.602 was momentarily bested by his teammate Maini before he regained P1.
Traffic and track limits coming in to play as Oliver Bearman set a blistering 1:44.873 which put him up in P1 before being deleted. Meanwhile, the Trident trio were on the charge as Maloney climbed up into third ahead of teammate Edgar, who was returning at his home race following a two-race absence.
As the clock ticked down to zero, a flurry of fast laps once again switched up the order as Leclerc jumped up to P1 but nothing could stop O’Sullivan from pipping the PREMA. Almost identical times in the opening sector mean that there was virtually nothing between the pair who ended the session separated by only 0.027s.
Lining up on reverse grid pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race, Maini has the perfect opportunity to secure a maiden rostrum finish in the opening race of the weekend.
Trident has confirmed that Jonny Edgar will be making his return to Formula 3 at Round 4 of the 2022 season after recovering from health issues, Edgar will be back driving for the team on home soil at Silverstone.
The Briton underwent a recovery process that has been successful and his progress means that he will be fit enough to race next week. Edgar last raced with the time at the first round in Sakhir but was forced to step away from racing to focus on his health.
His return means, that Oliver Rasmussen will depart but the Trident team thanked him for his work and wished him the best for the future and racing career.
Only missing out on a total of 4 races, Edgar already can’t wait to get stuck back into as well as thanking his medical team to return to the competitive championship.
I am extremely delighted to share this amazing news. I have no words to express how happy I am to welcome Jonny Edgar back and be able to follow him on track again. We are absolutely thrilled to know that the British racer, a Red Bull Junior driver, has finally overcome his health issues, winning a battle that will make him even stronger. Trident Motorsport will follow his return with its maximum commitment to help him recover the time he missed in two rounds he was forced to sit out from.
Giacomo Ricci, Trident team manager.
I am delighted to announce that I will be resuming my FIA F3 Championship campaign with Trident Motorsport next weekend at Silverstone. Following my Crohn’s diagnosis and period of illness, I have now improved sufficiently to make my return to racing.As well as my family and friends, I have so many people I would like to thank for making this possible, particularly Dr Helmut Marko and everyone at Red Bull, Trident Motorsport, Dr Phil Batty, Mr Mike Davison, Dr Ally Speight & his team at RVI Newcastle, Sam Village, Jeff Thorpe and The BRDC. Everyone has worked so hard to support me getting healthy again and their unwaivering support will always be appreciated.
Following Formula One’s announcement that the Australian Grand Prix will stay in Melbourne until 2035, the FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 promoters have announced that from 2023 both championships will feature the Albert Park circuit on their calendars, subject to World Motor Sport Council approval.
The surprise announcement was made as part of the new deal, since F1 has been racing at the Albert Park circuit in 1996, it has never been joined by its main support series.
The trip to Melbourne will be the furthest either championship has ventured from their European heartlands.
F2’s predecessor GP2, previously reached the Pacific region with rounds at Sepang in Malaysia and Singapore’s Marina Bay Circuit. F3 was scheduled to debut in the United States in 2021 but the event was cancelled because of logistical issues.
This great news for Formula 2 and 3, as well as fans! I feel like both series’ are getting more and more fans, as they both race on the same weekends as F1 and it’s shown by them going further afield and securing their place in motorsport.
I am extremely happy to add Melbourne to both F2 and F3 calendars from 2023. It further enhances the international aspect of both our championships, having them race on a new continent. It also shows that more and more circuits believe that F2 and F3 are an added value to the Formula 1 Grand Prix experience, showcasing the next generation of drivers.
Campos Racing’s David Vidales, held his nerve to achieve his first victory in Formula 3 at both his and his team’s home race. The rookie coped under pressure from the start, getting a strong start from reverse-grid pole and managed to keep a charging Jak Crawford back, the PREMA driver had to settle for second.
Meanwhile, there was a battle behind the top 2, for the final podium spot as Juan Manuel Correa fought hard on his return to F3 after an injury. However the ART driver’s tyres faded and he was overtaken by Caio Collet and Arthur Leclerc, to finish fifth.
The full top 10 are: P1: Vidales, P2: Crawford, P3: Collet, P4: Leclerc, P5: Correa, P6: Smolyar, P7: Frederick, P8: Stanek, P9: Ushijima and P10: Hadjar.
Day 3-
Victor Martins put the disappointment of an early retirement in the Sprint Race behind him, after putting on a dominant display to secure his second win of the Formula 3 season. The ART Grand Prix driver, seized the lead into the opening corner and didn’t look back even with controlling the pace during two Safety Car restarts.
Pole-sitter, Roman Stanek, put up a strong defence to keep Isack Hadjar at bay for second.
The full top 10 are- P1: Martins, P2: Stanek, P3: Hadjar, P4: Smolyar, P5: Bearman, P6: Crawford, P7: Collet, P8: Colapinto, P9: Frederick and P10: Correa.
The Championship-
Victory promotes Victor Martins back into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship. Another solid weekend of results, moves Roman Stanek up into second, six points clear of Red Bull junior Jak Crawford. Isack Hadjar is in fourth, and Arthur Leclerc rounds out the top five.
PREMA Racing, retain their hold at the top of the Teams’ Championship on 120 points, ART Grand Prix remain second ahead of Trident. Hitech Grand Prix are fourth and MP Motorsport sit in fifth.
Formula 3 will be back in July, and we will have 3 rounds across the month, but the first round is Silverstone on the 1st to 3rd.
We are back at Barcelona for Round 3 of the Formula 3 2022 Championship, lets take a look at how the first day has gone.
Free Practice-
For the second round in a row, ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martin set the pace during practice, clocking in a 1:32.196. With the cooler early morning temperatures, it was somewhat leisurely start to running as the 30 car field, turned their focus towards the end of the session.
Initially, the Carlin trio led the way with the Williams Racing Academy driver, Zak O’Sullivan setting a benchmark of 1:35.420. 15 minutes in and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Reece Ushijima leaped to the top of the timesheets, becoming the first driver to break the 1:34s barrier.
Title contenders Arthur Leclerc and Victor Martins were nip and tuck on track with less than a tenth between them. The PREMA Racing driver went quickest, only for Championship leader Victor Martins to go 0.076s quicker.
Martins ended the session fastest, ahead of Leclerc. Stanek slotted into third, just over half a second behind the leading time. Jak Crawford was fourth ahead of Imola Sprint Race winner Franco Colapinto and pole-sitter last time out Maloney. Oliver Bearman made it three PREMAs inside the top seven ahead of Kaylen Frederick.
Qualifying-
Roman Stanek left it late but secured himself pole position ahead of Victor Martins. The Trident driver had made an early error in the session but rebounded brilliantly to take pole position in the final moments of the day.
Alex Smolyar followed ahead of Isack Hadjar and Arthur Leclerc, who will have to make up places to fight with his championship rivals ahead. Meanwhile Juan Manuel Correa made it inside the top 10 on his return.
The full top 10 are: P1: Stanek, P2: Martins, P3: Smolyar, P4: Hadjar, P5: Leclerc, P6: Bearman, P7: Collet, P8L Frederick, P9: Crawford and P10: Correa.
Lirim Zendeli will be returning to the Formula 3 Championship this weekend, as he replaces David Schumacher with Charouz Racing System.
Schumacher himself replaced Ayrton Simmons in the Barcelona test and second round at Imola, but this weekend he has other commitments as he races in DTM for Mercedes-AMG Team Winward.
Zendeli is no stranger to the team as he has taken the ADAC Formula 4 title with the Czech team, they then stepped up together to FIA F3 under the Sauber Junior team by Charouz in 2019.
After moving to Trident for the 2020 season, the German driver scored his only victory in the category in the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Zendeli then went on to Formula 2 last year, but it fell short due to a lack of budget, he has not raced since Sochi.
I’m really happy to be back and drive again. We have to be realistic, I haven’t been in a car for ten months and it will not be easy having only have 45 minutes of practice before quali, but I’ll do my best and try to help the team as much as possible.You can never leave out some surprises but let’s focus on the weekend and get the best possible result.
As the five red lights went out, Colapinto made the perfect getaway from pole position, but behind him Ido Cohen went down from his front row spot to fifth, whilst Collet went from fourth to second. Collet remained glued to the rear of Colapinto and with the assistance of DRS along the pit straight he breezed past his opponent.
Collapinto’s pursuit of Collet was halted as a safety car was developed after O’Sullivan spun out of seventh and was joined moments later in the same gravel trap by Josep Maria Marti. Racing resumed on lap 10 but the green flags were only out for a couple of minutes as Reece Ushijima and Federico Malvestiti clashed exiting the first chicane necessitating the Safety Car once again.
There was a frantic two lap race to the flag and Colapinto seized the initiative to sweep past Collet along the pit straight. The Brazilian was left vulnerable as the fast charging Hadjar but the two cars interlocked on the approach to the first chicane, Collet was out whilst Hadjar relinquished positions after going through the gravel.
Position
Driver
Team
1
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
2
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
3
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
4
Roman Stanek
Trident
5
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
Top 5 sprint race
Day 3-
Feature Race-
Stanek held his position off the line, then briefly took the lead from teammate and polesitter, Zane Maloney before the Barbados driver took charge of the race. Stanek then inherited the lead from his teammate as Maloney spun on the second safety car restart. But it wasn’t all sunshine for Trident driver as Bearman got the better jump and went ahead into Tamburello.
Jak Crawford, then repeated Stanek’s move on his teammate, Bearman to take 2nd place on the final lap, with Isack Hadjar capitalising on a clash between Bearman and Saucy at the first Rivazza further around the lap to take third as Bearman dropped to 4th.
A drying track led much of the field to opt for slicks but several drivers risked the wets in a bid to make a jump up the order. One of those who risked it, Caio Collet managed to charge through from ninth on the grid to lead by the end of lap one but his advantage was short lived as their was a safety car.
Position
Driver
Team
1
Roman Stanek
Trident
2
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
3
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
4
Oliver Bearman
PREMA Racing
5
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
Top 5 Feature Race
The Championship-
It’s heating up at the front now, as Victor Martins still leads the championship but he is tied on points with PREMA’s Arthur Leclerc. With Roman Stanek in third just one point behind, we then have Jak Crawford in 4th again one point behind Stanek and rounding out the top 5 is Isack Hadjar who is again one point behind.
Looking at the teams, it is PREMA who are comfortably sitting in the top spot on 95 points. ART Grand Prix are in second with 63 points so quite a big gap between the two. In third is Trident with 50 points.
We now have a months break until round 3 of the 2022 championship, where we will be in Barcelona, Spain!
Persistent heavy rainfall throughout the preceding night left the circuit drenched but the free practice session managed to begin on time, with the field of 29 eager drivers to check out the tricky conditions.
Jenzer Motorsport’s Ido Cohen registered the first time, but his bench mark was beaten by HiTechs Kaylen Frederick as the drivers began exploring the limits. His stint though was short-lived as championship leader, Victor Martins move to the front with a time of 1:50.134s.
Martins remained on top as a sequence of incidents started which caused a quick-fire run of red flags. Cohen spun off into the gravel at Tamburello whilst shortly after the restart David Schumacher who returns to Charouz for this week, slid off at Rivazza 1.
Once the green flag was waved once more, it was only a couple of minutes before MP Motorsport teammates Caio Collet and Kush Maini suffered separate incidents at the Villeneuve chicane and Acqua Minerale respectively, whilst Campos Racing’ Hunter Yeany returned to the pits with damaged suspension. That caused a third stoppage and the decision was taken not to restart the session.
Position
Driver
Laptime
1
Victor Martins
1:50.134
2
Isack Hadjar
1:50.168
3
Roman Stanek
1:50.959
4
Kaylen Frederick
1:51.283
5
Rafael Villagomez
1:51.324
Top 5 Practice Session.
Qualifying-
Trident’s Zane Maloney claimed his maiden Formula 3 pole position during a frantic conclusion to Qualifying. On a circuit which was rapidly drying, Maloney vaulted to the front of the pecking order to register a lap that would not be beaten.
All 29 drivers were eager to lay down a benchmark and the top spot exchanged multiple times with purple and green sector times dominating the timesheets. It all came to a juddering halt following a clash between Enzo Trulli and Arthur Leclerc that left the PREMA driver in the gravel at Rivazza 1. The incident brought out the red flag, which forced the drivers return to the pits with only five minutes on the clock.
Once it was restarted there was a frantic jostle for track position and immediately lap times tumbled due to the rapidly improving track conditions.
Qualifying determined the starting order for Sundays Feature Race but the Sprint Race line p is dictated by the top 12 being reversed. That means that the front row of the grid for the Sprint Race will consist of Franco Colapinto and Ido Cohen, who qualified 12th and 11th respectively.
The Sprint Race is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 9:35am (BST) and the Feature Race on Sunday 7:50am (BST).
Juan Manuel Correa will not be racing this weekend in Imola for Round 2 of the Formula 3 2022 Championship. This means that ART Grand Prix will make the unprecedent move of running two cars instead of 3.
Correa participated in Bahrain’s season opener without many complications, a metatarsal fracture on his left foot put him in a serious amount of pain and led him to cut his running short at the Jerez test and also skip the Barcelona test.
Although Correa was replaced for the Barcelona test by stock car racing bound Matteo Nannini, who is also a winner in FIA F3 and a former F2 racer, the only ART GP cars on the grid will be Correa’s teammates.
Teams in Formula 2 and 3 are deterred from not racing all of their cars when a seat becomes vacant, with disincentives that put teams in a position where filling the car as a loss-making venture with a driver without the budget needed is fiscally less punishing than not running the car at all.
I’ve taken the difficult decision not to race in Imola. Very sad to not be there, but after assessments with my doctors, and with the profile of the injury, we feel the risk of making the injury worse is too high. I’ll be cheering ART GP on from home and I hope to be back soon.
Juan Manuel Correa took to social media to tell the news.
Victor Martins & Gregoire Saucy will be the only two ART GP drivers racing this weekend. We wish JM a quick recovery. See you soon on track.
The team also confirmed with the above.
Wishing you well JMC, hopefully not to long and we will see you back on track!
Jenzer motorsport have confirmed that Federico Malvestiti will be racing for them for the rest of the 2022 season, joining Ido Cohen and William Alatalo.
The Italian driver had previously raced for the team back in 2020 and worked with the team at both in-season tests at Jenzer and Barcelona in the past few weeks.
2020 wasn’t the first time Jenzer and Malvestiti have been together. They first joined forces in 2017 and 2018 in Italian F4, before a season of Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019. The same year, Malvestiti had his first taste of F3 machinery at Silverstone before a tricky rookie season…
I’m very happy to be back in the team in a such prestigious championship. After I moved to GT cars for one year and a half I’m happy to be back in formula. Thanks to the team for giving me this great opportunity that I never expected for this season. I will do my best to work well with the team and achieve the best possible result.
Federico said on the news.
We welcome Federico! It is very motivating for all of us that he is back with his “old team”! Obviously, it was not originally planned like this. We now look forward and will work hard to make the best out of this second chance together.
The past few days, Formula 3 have been testing in Barcelona at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for their second and final in season test of the year. Formula 2 had spent three days laying down rubber in mostly cold conditions before F3 hit the track on Friday.
Day 1-
David Schumacher had arrived as a late replacement for Ayrton Simmons for Charouz, the German driver needed a seat fitting before getting out onto track, he managed eight laps towards the end of the session as he looked to get back up to speed with F3 machinery.
When the laps started flowing, Zane Maloney set the benchmark at 1:33.926 before his teammate, Stanek broke the 1m 33s barrier with a 1:32.678. Isack Hadjar was one of two stoppages, with the driver coming to a stop at Turn 2 in the middle of the session. ART Grand Prix’s Matteo Nannini was the other, stopping at Turn 10.
In between the two red flag, Nannini’s teammate Saucy set the quickest time of the morning, with a 1:32.247. Colapinto completed the most mileage in the morning with 49 laps in total.
Onto the afternoon session, all 30 drivers made a swift exit from the pitlane when the light went green and got stuck into the long runs. MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet set the benchmark at 1:34.465, before it was replaced by Hadjar at the midway point.
Smolyar dropped a 1:33.342 to steal the top spot of Collet again pushing him to second, Stanek put in a late lap of a 1:33.642. It was Franco Colapinto who completed the most laps in the afternoon session, adding 54 to his 49 he already done in the morning.
It was a busy final morning, as many of the drivers got stuck into some qualifying simulations. Gregoire Saucy set the marker at 1:32.109 for ART GP. Collet then drooped a 1:31.507 to put himself top of the standings.
Coalpinto’s one lap speed was shown once again, as the Round 1 pole sitter made the top three for the second day in a row. The Argentine was the busiest man for the third session in a row adding a further 51 laps to his tally from Day 1.
HiTech’s rookie, Isack Hadjar was another one impressing as his short run speed put him up to 4th and just over three tenths off P1. Tridents, Roman Stanek completed the top five.
The field dedicated the afternoons running to race simulations, with Jenzer heading out as soon as the lights went green. Alatalo set the benchmark at 1:34.488 before they were joined by the ever-busy Van Amersfoort Racing trio. When the remainder of the grid left the pits to head out on track, Marti jumped to second for Campos.
Villagomez, ended the afternoon session with the highest lap count, completing 58 tours of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He also spent the majority of the session in third but was bumped down to fourth by Ferrari junior Leclerc, who couldn’t quite beat the 1m 35s barrier.
Formula 3 doesn’t have to wait long till there back on track, as Round 2 starts in Imola on Friday the 22nd of April.
Juan Manuel Correa, will not be taking part in the Formula 3 test in Barcelona this week after a metatarsal fracture on his left foot, his participation in Imola for Round 2 is also at risk.
Correa, was in pain during the whole two day F3 testing at Jerez last week, even being forced to cut short his running on the second day as the pain became unbearable.
His ability to brake was unsurprisingly impaired, particularly in the dry conditions of the test’s second day when he could only manage 47 laps in total.
Entering his second season in F3 with ART Grand Prix after his comeback after he sustain injuries whilst racing in Formula 2 at Spain in 2019, Correa qualified and finished in fourth position in the feature race in Bahrain, despite the pain that he was in.
After the Barcelona test, Correa was due to make his European Le Mans Series debut at Paul Ricard this weekend for Prema’s new LMP2 team alongside Louis Deletraz and Ferdinand Habsburg, which he will also have to miss.
I couldn’t drive too much unfortunately because I have still a bit of an issue with the leg from the race in Bahrain. In the last race of the weekend, I got some inflammation in the tendons in the left foot and it still hasn’t recovered so I’m in quite a bit of pain when I drive.I was actually lucky that it rained all day yesterday because it’s softer on the brake. Ever since Bahrain, we’ve been working mainly on trying to reduce that but it’s still not perfect. The whole left foot has a lot of inflammation. And the nerves have gotten inflammated. Everything at the end goes back to that [the Spa crash] and both to my physical limitations, especially the ones I had last year, and that I’m having now which I was not expecting to have this year. It is a very frustrating to be in that position right now.
Juan Manuel Correa, talking at Testing in Jerez.
We did an MRI scan yesterday night (Thursday), got the results today (Friday) and there is indeed a stress fracture there. The doctors have recommended a couple of weeks rest. Lets see how it heals itself, how the pain improves. We are going to try to push the recovery to be able to do the Imola race but nothing is guaranteed.
Correa took to social media at the weekend, with a video message.
Absolutely gutted for him, it seems like just as things were getting good for him something like this happens! But health always comes first, so its the right decision for him to sit out of testing in Barcelona. Hopefully we see Correa back on track in Imola!
Formula 3 was back for the past two days as they were testing in Jerez. Let’s take a look at how it went down.
Day 1-
A few drivers, braved the wet and windy conditions at Jerez when the lights went green, with the majority of the field just doing an installation lap. As the rain began to ease, the field headed out for some flying laps and HiTech Grand Prix’s Isack Hadjar set the baseline time.
With the people below him chopping and changing times, Hadjar was the only red flag, with his car coming to a stop on the gravel. This allowed Collet to take his place at the top of the leaderboard, with the MP Motorsport driver dipping below 1m 42s. But it was PREMA’s Arthur Leclerc who finished on top at the end of the morning session.
Moving onto the second session of Day 1, Arthur Leclerc dropped a 1:43.790 once things started up again. Collet didn’t get the chance to improve as he brought out a red flag at Turn 4.
Martins, Stanek, Rasmussen, Leclerc and Bearman all shared P1 between them as the times started to drop once the track was drying out. But it was Bearman who come out on top in the afternnon!
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Oliver Bearman
PREMA Racing
1:33.009
2
Josep Maria Marti
Campos Racing
1:33.666
3
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:33.736
4
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
1:33.751
5
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
1:33.998
Top 5 Afternoon Session.
Day 2-
The track remained damp on the final and second morning, Josep Maria Marti set the pace for Campos before the field switched to dry weather tyres.
Martins broke the 1m 31s barrier for the first time, and several others joined him, he was bumped down to fourth with Leclerc replacing him at the top with a 1:30.628.
Leclerc’s time was only marginally better than Carlin’s rookie O’Sullivan who dropped a 1:30.634.
Onto the afternoon, the sun decided to make an appearance with a completely dry track, Caio Collet produced a benchmark time of 1:30.359.
Yeany’s Campos caused a red flag and interrupted the action around the halfway point, but once it got underway the quickest time fell. Leclerc took the biggest chunk out of it, posting a 1:29.556 to go quickest for the third session out of four.
The session came to a slightly premature end as Juan Manuel Correa stopped at Turn 6 and brought out a red flag in the final seconds. Ushijima posted the most laps of the afternoon stint, completing an impressive 65 laps of the Jerez Circuit.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
1:29.366
2
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
1:29.380
3
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:29.611
4
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:29.614
5
Oliver Rasmussen
Trident
1:29.634
Top 5 Afternoon Session.
Formula 3 will be back next week, on the 15th April for two more days of in-season testing at Barcelona.
British driver, Jonny Edgar will not continue his FIA Formula 3 Championship season due to health reasons. The decision was made by himself, his family, management, Red Bull and Trident motorsport. They all believe that recovery is the absolute priority for him.
The 18 year old will be replaced by Oliver Rasmussen. Rasmussen will be making his Trident debut at the upcoming test in Jerez. It will be Rasmussen’s second season in F3, having spent his last year with HWA Racelab.
The Danish driver stepped up in 2021 after finishing third in the 2020 Formula Regional European Championship, in which he won six times and took a further seven podiums- finishing inside of the points in every race he started.
The 21 year old, had stepped up to single-seaters with Jenzer Motorsport in the 2018 Italian Formula 4 Championship, before switching to PREMA for a second season. He also has experience in ADAC F4 and the Toyota Racing Series.
It is with great regret that we say goodbye to Jonny Edgar, and we wish him the quickest possible recovery. Since the start of the season, he was weakened by physical issues, but he fought like a lion. He did not back down and continued to race. However, his conditions necessitate a break from his competitive activity to support his recovery. Jonny always gave his maximum to the team, he has a fantastic family and is a wonderful guy. Oliver Rasmussen will be replacing Edgar. He is a quick and experienced driver, and we are proud to welcome him to the Trident Motorsport family. I am sure that he will quickly gain the chemistry needed to gel with the team, making the most of the four days of testing between Jerez and Barcelona, which will be followed by the round at Imola. We will put up our best effort to help Oliver and we are sure that he will provide a great contribution to the team.
Giacomo Ricci, Trident Team Manager.
I am delighted to line up for the upcoming events of the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident Motorsport. Joining the line-up of the reigning champion team is something that only happens a handful of times in a driver’s career, and I want to make the most out of this chance.I want to thank Trident Motorsport for the opportunity and Jota Sport for their continued support. I will give my 100 per cent on track to reward the trust that Trident Motorsport has placed in me, and I cannot wait to wear the team’s colours.
Oliver Rasmussen.
My Opinion-
Gutting for Jonny, but it was the right decision health always comes first! Wishing him well and hope to see him back on track soon!
But moving on to Rasmussen, this is a big opportunity for him now, being in the reigning teams champion car it will be interesting to see what he can do. He has testing to catch up with the car which is the perfect window for him to join the team really.
As the red light went out, O’Sullivan was automatically having to defend from Bearman on the run into the first corner. However further back in the pack, Roman Stanek and pole sitter for the Feature race- Franco Colapinto collided and were forced to pit for repairs.
Arthur Leclerc was the standout mover as he found himself up in 9th following the opening laps after starting 13th.
There was a 3 way battle between the ART Grand Prix team-mates but it was Saucy and Martins who collided at Turn 1 fighting for P8, both had to return to the pitlane but both were forced to retire.
Moments after this, Bearman made his overtake on O’Sullivan stick through Turn 4. Bearman’s team mate Leclerc still continued his charge as he progressed into 7th.
Lap 10 saw Hadjar move up into third as he went past Smolyar. O’ Sullivan’s pace started to drop he fell into a pack of drivers, which ended with Maloney and Hadjar moving past the Williams Academy driver.
Ollie Bearman crossed the line in P1 but due to a 5 second time penalty it meant that he was demoted to P2, and Isack Hadjar took the first win of the year!
Positon
Driver
Team
Points
1
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
10
2
Ollie Bearman
PREMA Racing
9
3
Alexander Smolyar
MP Motorsport
8
4
Zane Maloney
Trident
8
5
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
6
Top 5 finishers.
Day 3-
Even though he qualifying result was a shock, it was set to be a harder task for Colapinto to hold onto the victory. In the opening stages of the race, the Argentine looked very comfortable in the lead, however its never smooth sailing in F3 as he had to deal with a safety car restart, which was required after Pizzi and Maloney coming to a stop on the circuit on the opening lap due to a bit of contact.
Caio Collet was a victim of the first lap drama, as he broke his front suspension while driving over a kerb at Turn 7, as he tried to avoid potential contact with rivals. At the Safety Car restart, Martins overtook Stanek for P2 but the Trident driver would be soon eliminated as he made contact with Alex Smolyar.
Juan Manuel Correa appeared to have rapid pace as he moved into the top three after overtaking Smolyar, with the latter also soon found himself to be behind Leclerc who was on the mission.
It was Victor Martins who took the win, with Leclerc making up 11 positions to finish 2nd!
Position
Driver
Team
Points
1
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
25
2
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
18
3
Gregiore Saucy
ART Grand Prix
15
4
Juan Manuel Correa
ART Grand Prix
12
5
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
10
Top 5 finishers.
F3 will be back in just over a month, 22nd to 24th of April for the second round in Imola, Italy!
With the teams already having some track action here for the pre-season test, the field of 30 drivers took to track so set themselves up for hopfeully a competitive weekend.
After the light went green and a few flurry of laps, it was MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet who set the fastest, however his effort was still some way of the true pace.
The times began to tumber, as the drivers gathered further experience at the Bahrain International Circuit. But it was the reigning team champions, Trident who got off to a strong start this weekend, as Roman Stanek ended Free Practice on top with a 1:48.012.
PREMA’s Arthur Leclerc moved himself up into second place, in which he was less than a tenth of a second behind Stanek. With Rookie, Gregoire Saucy launching himself into 3rd.
In the final 10 minute, there was a brief yellow flag due to Reece Ushijiam coming to a stop in sector one but was able to get his car moving again.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:48.012
2
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
1:48.090
3
Gregoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:48.099
4
Izack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:48.285
5
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:48.402
Top 5 Free Practice
Qualifying-
Gregoire Saucy was the first to jump to the top of the timesheets, placing himself just over one-tenth of a second in front of Roman Stanek. Most of the drivers, then returned to the pit lane as the qualifying session hit the halfway point.
With 10 minutes to go, a lot of the drivers came out of the pitlane and set their minds to some more push laps. Colapinto set a fire laptime, which saw no-one be able to replace him at the top spot.
The top 12 switch round for tomorrows sprint race, so we will have Rookie, Zak O’Sullivan on pole position, lined up next to another rookie and FDA driver, Ollie Bearman with David Vidales rounding out the top 3 for tomorrows starting grid.
Jordan's Track Talk 