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.
The Formula 3 2022 grid is complete before the first round this weekend in Bahrain, the first of 9 rounds and 18 races across the year.
There are 14 rookies this year, including Zak O’Sullivan in which his come of the back of 3 impressive year, being runner up in Ginetta Junior Championship, runner-up in F4 British Championship and GB3 Champion last year. Ollie Bearman, also comes inot F3 being the ADAC Formula 4 Champion and Italian F4 Champion.
Which drivers should we look out for this season?
Trident drivers, they are coming of the back of winning the 2021 Team standings, and no doubt will be wanting to do it again.
PREMA, you can never ever count out, obviously they have won the drivers championship 3 years in a row. As well as this, Arthur Leclerc has already won one championship this year and it looks like F3 will now be his main focus.
Martins and Collet, both with Alpine Academy will be looking to fight for the championship this year. It is their second year in F3 and will be hoping to move up to F2 next season if they provide the results.
Juan Manuel Correa sticking with ART Grand Prix, hoping to fight for more points this year as he goes into his second year in Formula 3.
Niko Kari, is making a shock return to Formula 3 this weekend at the season opener in Bahrain.
Kari is filling Jenzer Motorsport’s third car in a one-off, marking his first appearance in the Formula 1 support series since 2019. The 22 year old, race in F3’s GP3 from 2016 to 2018, where he won one race and coming 10th in 2017.
After getting an opportunity to do two rounds in F2 with MP Motorsport in 2018, he then raced in F3’s inaugural season in 2019 where he finished 12th with Trident, he was then set to race for Charouz Racing System in 2020 but lost his seat just before the season started.
After that, he fount a seat in the European Le Mans Series’ LMP3 class. He came fourth in the standings with two class podiums and also appeared in the supporting Le Mans Cup.
His focused then switched to animal hunting in his home country and did not contest in the F3 pre-season testing earlier this month. It is not anticipated to remain in F3 for the second round- if Jenzer did not fill its full roster of three cars for the season opener, it would have been subject to a fine.
Kari also has experience in European F3, Masters of F3, Formula 4 North European zone champion, with him winning the latter.
Alexander Smolyar has joined a number of Russian drivers who have opted not to continue International racing in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Smolyar finished F3 in sixth last year and was due to return for a third season with MP Motorsport. However the FIA announced a few weeks ago that any Russian competitors in its series would have to participate as neutrals.
The sport’s governing body also required Russian drivers to sign declarations that they “acknowledge the strong commitment made by the FIA to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine” and undertake to “not express any support (direct or indirect) for the Russian and/or Belarusian activities in respect of Ukraine”.
Smolyar is backed by Russian junior driver programme SMP Racing, he took to social media to confirm he has decided to pull out of the championship.
“I will not compete in FIA F3 and any international racing series this year. I stand with the decision of SMP Racing to stop its European program as a result of an unprecedented requirements that FIA put on any Russian driver as a condition for access to international competitions. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support in these difficult times.”
He is the latest in a series of Russian drivers who have either lost their seats or opted not to compete this year. F1 driver Nikita Mazepin was dropped by his team after they severed ties to his father’s company Uralkali. In the World Endurance Championship, Russian team G-Drive has withdrawn, leaving ex-F1 racer Daniil Kvyat and Roman Rusinov without drives.
HiTech Grand Prix who race in FIA F2 and FIA F3 have terminated their Uralkali sponsorship deal with immediate effect.
The Silverstone based team, had been sponsored by the company since 2016. It’s CEO being Nikita Mazepins dad, Dmitry Mazepin.
HiTech ran without the branding during pre-season testing last week as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued.
The team took to social media today, to announce its agreement with Uralkali as well as adding that it was “shocked and saddened” by the war and wished for a “swift and peaceful end” to the conflict.
In a statement, the team said: “Hitech Grand Prix has elected to terminate, with immediate effect, the sponsorship agreement of Uralkali. As with the rest of the motorsport community, the team are shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wish for a swift and peaceful end to the ongoing conflict.”
Uralkali became a major team partner when Mazepin signed with the team in 2016 for the FIA European Formula 3 Championship remaining with the team the following year. He then returned to HiTech in 2020 for the F2 Championship.
Formula 3 returned to the Bahrain International Circuit, as a new-look field featuring 15 rookies headed out on track with their first lot of action of the year.
Day 1-
AM:
Roman Stanek topped the timesheets during the opening stages, but his unrepresentative time of 2:13.030 was easily beaten by Reece Ushijima. HiTech Grand Prix’s Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar went 2nd with his teammate in 3rd.
In the final 30 minutes of the session, Arthur Leclerc who was crowned Asian F3, champion during the off-season replaced Ushijima at the top with a 1:48.005. Maloney went second shortly after, while Ushijima managed to hold on to third.
Enzo Trulli brought the session to slight stop as the Carlin driver stopped on track due to an engine issue just minuted before the chequered flag. MP duo Kush Maini and Caio Collet completed the most laps in the morning session, both doing 25 each.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
1:48.005
10
2
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:48.018
8
3
Reece Ushijima
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:48.035
16
4
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:48.089
12
5
Kaylen Frederick
HiTech Grand Prix
1:48.128
14
Top 5 Morning Session
PM:
Caio Collet, went first and was followed by Ayrton Simmons, but as the laps got more competitive, rookie Gregoire Saucy jumped to the top with a 1:48.045 ahead of Francesco Pizzi and Jak Crawford.
There were only two red flags during the session, the first being caused by Stanek who stopped at Turn 8, and the second by Patrick Pasma, in the final few minutes at Turn 7.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:47.614
23
2
Williams Alatalo
Jenzer Motorsport
1:47.783
24
3
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
1:47.799
34
4
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:47.854
21
5
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:47.943
29
Top 5 Afternoon Session
Day 2-
AM:
Martins set the benchmark at 1:47.602 ahead of Edgar in the early stages of a hot morning. The Alpine junior, remained up front for the majority of the session, but his time was eventually beat by Isack Hadjar who went 0.086s.
ART driver Gregoire Saucy, put in the most laps this session, completing 45 runs overall.
Position
Drivers
Teams
Laptime
Laps
1
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:47.516
30
2
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
1:47.602
43
3
Jonny Edgar
Trident
1:47.629
30
4
Gregoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:47.804
45
5
Juan Manuel Correa
ART Grand Prix
1:47.834
43
Top 5 Morning Session
PM:
The afternoon session of Day 2 was a mix of long runs and fast laps as the session began in hot condition but then cooled as the session went on. Francesco Pizzi knocked his teammate of the top spot, but he didn’t remain there for long as Franco Colapinto and Olli Bearman each enjoyed spells in first.
But it was Martins, who took control of the session as he out in a 1:48.250. Edgar was the busiest in the afternoon as he completed 43 laps before a minor collision between Ido Cohen and Correa brought out a red flag.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
1:48.250
36
2
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:48.379
34
3
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:48.490
38
4
Gregoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:48.622
37
5
Alexander Smolyar
MP Motorsport
1:48.697
34
Top 5 Afternoon Session
Day 3-
AM:
All cars headed out to an cloudy and humid track, but it was Hadjar who led the field and the mileage. The Red Bull backed driver ended the session with a 0.381s gap to 2nd.
The only red flag of the session came because of Kaylen Frederick stopping at Turn 3.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:47.247
44
2
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
1:47.628
36
3
Gregoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:47.719
36
4
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:47.782
32
5
Alexander Smolyar
MP Motorsport
1:47.909
31
Top 5 Morning Session
PM:
The grid had to battle a sandstorm as Stanek topped the final session, setting a 1:48.182, in the final hour. But it was Colapinto who set 43 laps the most out of any of the drivers.
There were 3 red flag during the session, with Josep Maria Marti, Laszlo Toth and Saucy all stopping on track for separate reasons.
Position
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:48.182
34
2
Reece Ushijima
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:48.798
38
3
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:48.807
28
4
Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:48.975
43
5
Jonny Edgar
Trident
1:49.167
38
Top 5 Afternoon Session
Formula 3 will be back and returning to Bahrain for the opening round of the season from March 18th to 20th.
Nazim Azman, joins HiTech Grand Prix for the 2022 campaign, which makes him the first Malaysian driver to race in Formula 3. Azman completes HiTech’s line-up, joining Kaylen Frederick and Isack Hadjar.
The Malaysian racer, spent the 2021 season in the Euroformula Open, where he won once and took seven podiums to finish 4th overall.
He then spent all three days of post-season testing in Valencia, the first two with Jenzer Motorsport and the final with Charouz Racing System as he got his first taste of F3 machinery.
Azman made his single seater debut in the 2016-17 season of Formula 4 SEA and has since gained further experience with races in Spanish F4, SMP F4, Formula Masters Asian Series and Italian f4.
The 20 year old, then spent two season in BRDC British F3, where he finished third with Carlin in 2020, before making the move to Euroformula.
“I’m really excited to be stepping up to the FIA F3 series with Hitech GP,” said Azman. “The team is an established race and championship winner in the F3 category and will provide me with the perfect platform from which to focus on racing against some of the best young talent in the world. I’m looking forward to racing in Bahrain again, visiting some of the most iconic circuits in Europe — some of which I am already familiar with and others that will be new to me. I can’t deny that this is a big step up for me but, having raced — and won — in both the British and EuroFormula Open series, I believe that I am ready for the challenge.”
Team manager Jay Davenport added: “We are delighted to have Nazim join the team for the 2022 season, he has a competitive track record in the other series and we aim to give him a package to do the same this season. We have been working hard over the winter and we are keen to get back to business on track in Bahrain.”
Enzo Trulli has complete the Carlin line-up for this season, with the racer set to join, Zak O’Sullivan and Brad Benavides.
Trulli, debuted with Carlin in the second half of last season competing for the British team in Euroformula Open where he took three podiums in the final four races.
He finished 7th overall, with spending the first nine races with Drivex School scoring one podium and nine top eight finishes before he made the switch to Carlin.
The Italian, jumped into single seaters for the first time competitively in early 2021, Trulli’s first taster was in the UAE Formula 4 Championship, which he won with four victories and 13 podiums.
“It is with great pleasure that I announce my commitment with Carlin for the 2022 FIA F3 Championship,” said Trulli. “I am so happy to stay in the Carlin family for this fantastic experience, after a very successful first season with them in the Euroformula. I am truly thankful to Trevor Carlin and the team for believing in me. Of course, it’s going to be a learning season for me, considering the limited experience I have and the limited mileage available in the car. Yet, I’m ready to work hard and to support the team’s work and progress, in order to bring Carlin on the top of the F3 list. It is such a fantastic opportunity and I look forward to starting the learning process!”
Carlin Racing Director Trevor Carlin added: “Enzo has made a remarkable start to his single seater career. He impressed us greatly with his performances in Euroformula Open despite having extremely limited experience. His performance in the rain in Monza, his first ever wet single-seater race, was particularly indicative as to his mindset and approach. This season will be massive learning curve for him. FIA F3 is a hugely competitive series and a huge ask for a driver in only their second season of racing. Enzo needs to focus on learning and taking something from each weekend. We are thrilled to be working with him and look forward to helping him progress with each race.”
Kush Maini completes MP Motorsport’s line-up for 2022, in which the rookie will line up with Caio Collet and Alex Smolyar.
Maini began his single-seater career in 2016 racing in Italian Formula 4, he then continued to race in the series in 2017 where he finished eight overall.
He switched to BRDC British Formula 3 in 2018, where he placed third with eight podiums and a win, before he stepped up to Formula Renault Eurocup, ending the year in sixth. Maini, then returned to BRDC British F3 in 2020 where he finished as vice-champion with 12 podiums and 3 wins.
In 2021, the 21 year old began in Asian F3, partnering F2 racer Jehan Daruvala at Mumbai Falcons, he also made his FIA World Endurance Championship – LMP2 debut last season competing in 6 hours of Bahrain.
“I’m excited to join MP Motorsport for my first year in FIA F3”, said Maini. “In 2021, MP proved to be race winners and in the final standings they were the only FIA F3 team to have two rookies finish in the top-ten. This shows their ability to coach rookie drivers on their way to immediately performing well in the series. I can’t wait to get going for pre-season testing and the first round at Bahrain!”
MP Motorsport Team Principal Sander Dorsman added: “I’m pleased to welcome Kush to our FIA F3 team. In the past few years, Kush has proved himself extremely well at regional F3 levels, now it’s time for him to step up to FIA F3. I’m sure he will mix well with Alex and Caio, and we will do our best to help him shine during each of the nine race weekends coming up in the championship.”
Brad Benavides will be making his Formula 3 debut with Carlin this year, alongside fellow rookie Zak O’Sullivan.
The American-Spanish spent the first half of last season in the Formula Regional European Championship before switching to Euroformula Open in the second half of the year where he finished in the top 10 in eight out of nine races with Carlin.
The British team then ran him in their Formula 3 machinery on Days 1 and 3 of post-season testing, where he impressed to earn a deal.
The 20 year old, made his single-seater debut at the end of 2018, in the final two races of the Euroformula Open Championship at Barcelona, before opting to run in Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019, after a year out in 2020. Benavides returned to Europe with a seat in Formula Regional European in 2021.
“I’ve been a die-hard fan of racing my whole life, and I now have in my hands the greatest opportunity I’ve ever had,” said Benavides. “I feel like, at the same time, my greatest achievements are closer than ever. I am going to give my maximum effort this season and make it one to be proud of.”
Racing Director Trevor Carlin added: “Brad is still a very young driver at the start of his career. Making the step up to FIA F3 in only his second season in Europe will be a big learning curve but Brad has a fantastic attitude both in and out of the car. We’re delighted he has chosen to stay with the team for this next step in his career and we can’t wait to get started with testing later next month in Bahrain.”
David Vidales completes the Campos Racing line-up for 2022, with the team announcing he will be joining Hunter Yeany and Josep Maria Marti for this season.
He steps up to Formula 3 on the back of a year in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, he finished 10th overall with three podiums and a win. He took part in the post-season test in Valencia for day 1 and 2, he finished top 10 in both sessions on day 2.
The Spanish driver, only made his single-seater debut in 2020, racing for JD Motorsport in Formula Renault Eurocup, he placed sixth with six podiums and a win to his name. Vidales then remained in the series as it merged with Formula Regional European Championship.
On joining Campos, Vidales said: “It’s an honour for me to become part of the team founded by the late Adrian Campos, the man who, together with my manager Salvatore Gandolfo, helped me in my first steps in single-seater driving. Also, I am very proud to join a Spanish team and I can’t wait to start working with them to aim for wins in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 series!”
“I would like to welcome David (Vidales) as new Campos Racing driver,” said Campos Racing Team Principal Adrián Campos. “He is a very competitive driver who got his first taste of single-seater racing with us. We all know his real potential and how well he is able to perform. Whenever we have the opportunity to work with Spanish talents, we definitely do it. Our goal this season is to hoist the Spanish flag at the top of the podium as much as possible.”
Charouz Racing System have completed their line up for Formula 3 2022 season, in which they announced that Ayrton Simmons will join Laszlo Toth and Francesco Pizzi.
Simmons, first debuted in F3 with Charouz in the season finale at Sochi last year on the back of a season in GB3, where he finished as runner up to rookie Zak O’Sullivan. Simmons won four times, and finished on the podium on five occasions.
The British driver arrives to F3 with 6 years of single-seater experience including title challenges in British F4 in 2018 and in BRDC British F3, as well as competing in Asian F3 and opening races of the Euroformula Open Championship.
“I’m very grateful to Antonín and the whole Charouz Racing System team for this opportunity,” said Simmons. “Having my first full season in the FIA Formula 3 will be a demanding and exciting challenge for me, I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel and try immediately to find a good feeling with the Dallara in order to start off on the right foot from the first race in Bahrain. It will be interesting to race against some of the best young drivers in the world and to race on legendary tracks like those on the calendar, especially at Silverstone which will be my home race. A good result there would be a dream, but we’ll obviously try to give our best in every round and take every opportunity to end in the top positions.”
Team owner Antonín Charouz added: “It’s a pleasure for us to be able to continue to have Ayrton in the team after last year’s positive debut, a first experience that I’m sure will be of enormous value for him as he approaches this new and demanding season. With his reconfirmation, our Formula 3 team can now count on three drivers of undoubted talent and potential, with whom we’ll aim to get into the points from the very first races. The guys are already working really hard to prepare for the first test sessions, we’ll do everything possible to make the most of the three days at our disposal and get to the first round in the right conditions to show a good level of competitiveness.”
Victor Martins will be spending his 2022 season with ART Grand Prix in Formula 3 for his second season. The French racer completes ART’s line up, as he joins rookie Gregoire Saucy and Juan Manuel Correa.
Marts spent the 2021 campaign with MP Motorsport, finishing as the highest placed rookie in fifth. He took his first win in Zandvoort, and managed to score six podiums in total.
The 20 year old, switched to ART for post-season testing, he finished second in the times in both sessions on Day 1.
Martins made his single-seater debut in the final four races of the French Formula 4 series, before stepping up full time in 2017 and finishing as vice champion. The Alpine Academy driver then spent three seasons in Formula Renault Eurocup, finishing fifth in 2018, second in 2019 and then winning the title in 2020 with seven wins and 14 podiums.
“I am very happy to be able to collaborate with ART Grand Prix once again,” said Martins. “This time for the 2022 FIA F3 Championship, following on from a 2020 season that was filled with common successes. I am excited for this opportunity and to start this new adventure together. Our goals are big, and we are ready to achieve them. I have already done a lot of work this winter to start the season well prepared from the first few laps behind the wheel. I can’t wait to get back in the car!”
ART Grand Prix Team Principal Sébastien Philippe added: “We are delighted that Victor returns to the team. He has great qualities as a driver and of a man that were beneficial to us during the Formula Renault Team and Driver title in 2020. We have followed his progress very closely, last year. In 2022 we are hoping to harness both ART Grand Prix and Victor’s full potential so we can put our names on the Formula 3 charts.”
Caio Collet has been retained for his second season in Formula 3 by MP Motorsport, where he will join Alex Smolyar.
The Brazilian driver, enjoyed a positive debut season with MP finishing as the second-highest rookie in ninth place, he managed to grab a podium in his very first race before adding a second in Round 2
But after this, the 19 year old went through a tricky spell of one points’ finish in six races. He then went on to finish in the top 5 in six of the final eight races. Collet then remained with MP for post-season testing in Valencia and finished in the top 10 in five out of six sessions.
In 2018, Collet made his debut in to single seaters, he went on to win the French Formula 4 title the same year, which saw him take seven wins and 11 podiums from 20 races.
He then took a step up to Formula Renault Eurocup for 2019, placing fifth in his rookie year and second to Victor Martins in his second, before he made the jump to F3.
“I’m very happy to continue in FIA F3 with MP Motorsport and the enduring support of the Alpine Academy”, said Collet. “We were strong in 2021 – and that was while taking on many accomplished drivers in an intensely competitive championship. With the knowledge that I have gained in my first season, I’m very much aiming to improve on last year’s results. I’m also looking forward to again racing in the special atmosphere of the Grand Prix weekends, and in front of the F1 teams.”
MP Motorsport Team Principal Sander Dorsman added: “Caio staying with us for a second year is a massive coup. Last year, with three rookies, Caio being one of them, we showed that we were right on the pace with the longer-serving top runners in the series and took home a lot of points to bag a fighting fourth in the Team’s Championship. Building on Caio’s talent and increased experience, and teaming him up with Alex, hands us a very strong package for 2022. I can’t wait to attack the season with these guys.”
My Opinion-
Yesss! This is the right decision by far, if you look back at what his done so far and how well he has done including his rookie seasons it shows he is very talented and deserves a spot in F3 as well as the Alpine Academy.
Jenzer Motorsport have signed two out of three drivers for their 2022 season in Formula Three.
Ido Cohen switches to Jenzer, for his second year in Formula 3 after switching from Carlin, he comes of an educational rookie season, where he took a highest finish of 12th but came close to scoring points multiple times.
The 20 year-old, first experienced Jenzer machinery on the final day of post-season test in Valencia and impressed enough to earn a full time seat.
“I am really happy to join the Jenzer Motorsport family,” said Cohen. “I drove with the team in Valencia and it was a really good experience. The people there were very professional, so with the team capabilities and the experience I already have in the championship, I am confident I can achieve good results. I am excited and looking forward to driving in Bahrain.”
Jenzer have signed 19 year old, William Alatalo for his first ever season in Formula 3, he is making the step up from Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, he finished 11th with Arden Motorsport, scoring his podium at Le Castellet.
The Finnish born driver first tried out Jenzer machinery at post-season testing on days 2 and 3.
”I am extremely happy to drive FIA F3 with Jenzer Motorsport,” said Alatalo. “This is one step closer to my dream, and I will do everything I can to score good results. The championship is going to be really tough. We as a team need to do our best to get good results. I believe me and Jenzer can achieve good results along the season. I trust the team, and I will do my best on and off-track. I will do better than before, and that’s a promise I intend to keep.”
Kaylen Frederick has signed with HiTech Grand Prix for his second season of Formula 3, eh will be joining Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar at the Silverstone based squad.
Frederick spent his first season with Carlin, only making the points once with a ninth-place finish at the Red Bull Ring, however he then missed the following two rounds of the season due to injury and illness. Returning for the final two rounds of 2021, Frederick came close to scoring points on two occasions but narrowly missing out.
The American, spent all three days of testing with HiTech, where he punched in four top 10 times out of six sessions.
The 19 year olds single seater career started back in America, with stints in the F1600 Championship Series and the U.S F200 National Championship before he made a full time move to European racing in 2019, competing for Carlin in the BRDC British F3.
Finishing ninth in his rookie year, the American remained in the Championship for a second season where he took the title with nine wins and 12 podiums from 24 races.
“I am thrilled to race with Hitech GP for the 2022 FIA F3 season,” said Frederick. “Hitech have an established presence among many championships and a solid platform to build for success. We had a strong post-season test in Valencia and have continued to develop our working relationship. The entire team has been helpful in getting me acclimated to the new environment, so I am feeling super comfortable and confident heading into this year. I also would like to thank Pilot ONE Racing for their long-standing support which has allowed us to realize this great opportunity together. We have a great foundation under us with which to show our abilities. The season has an exciting calendar so I can’t wait to get started.”
Hitech General Manager Jay Davenport added: “We are really pleased to have Kaylen join us for the 2022 season, he produced a strong performance driving a Hitech car at the Valencia test at the end of last season and we are eager to see him carry this form over into the coming race season. We have been working hard over the winter break fine-tuning our cars and our approach and we are keen to get back to business on track in Bahrain next month.”
Van Amersfoort Racing have confirmed their final spot by signing Franco Colapinto for the 2022 season he will be along side, Rafael Villagomez and Reece Ushijima.
The 18 year old will step up on the back of a busy season, where he took on single-seater and LMP2 racing. He finished sixth in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, as well as making appearances in the European and Asian LeMans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The Buenos Aires born racer made his Formula 3 debut at the post-season test in which he was the fastest on track on the second day.
He first made his single-seater debut in the final round of the Spanish Formula 4 Championship in 2018 winning the last of four races, which resulted in stepping up full-time in 2019 where he dominated the series, winning 11 times and taking 14 podiums overall.
He then spent 2020 competing in Formula Renault Eurocup and the Toyota Racing Series, where he placed third in both before moving to Formula Regional in 2021.
“I really enjoyed my first time in the F3 car,” said Colapinto. “It is obviously way more powerful than the FRECA car, but at the same time has surprisingly similar driving characteristics to the LMP2 car; fast and loads of downforce. A significant difference to the LMP2 class will of course be tyre management, but I like that intelligent part of racing. I really look forward to teaming up with Van Amersfoort Racing as they have such a strong history. They take their return to the FIA F3 championship extremely serious, and I am really excited to be part of that journey. The crew is motivated and an absolute pleasure to work with. Pre-season testing at Bahrain is just around the corner and I can’t wait for it to start!”
VAR CEO Rob Niessink said: “We are excited to have Franco on board for our debut season in FIA F3. Looking at his career so far, he has shown to not only possess a good portion of raw talent, but that he also has the capability to quickly adapt to circumstances. We had our eye on him already as a potential candidate, which was reinforced after seeing him perform during the post-season test at Valencia, early November last year. We have thoroughly structured our F3 team over the winter period and are more than ready to hit the track early March in Bahrain.”
My Opinion-
This is a good move in my opinion, his definitely talented enough to be in Formula 3 so it will be interesting to see how he can fully adapt to a full F3 season than just the post-seaon test, but he how’s promise.
Jordan's Track Talk 