Roundup of the opening round of the 2022 FIA Formula 3 season in Bahrain as drivers battled to seize an early advantage in the title fight.
With 15 rookie drivers all looking to impress against several returning drivers, this opening round of the season saw plenty of thrills and spills, as everyone got to grips with new Pirelli tyres and format changes which provided plenty of on-track drama.
Come the checkered flag of the Feature Race, two returning drivers reigning supreme in the driver standings ahead of a promising rookie who enjoyed a tough introduction to life in F3.
Now, here is a roundup of the action across the entire weekend.
Practice
Van Amersfoort Racing’s (VAR) Rafael Villagomez was the first driver out on track but it was Alexander Smolyar, Caio Collet and France Colapinto who traded the fastest lap in the opening laps.
Juan Manuel Correa soon afterwards snatched top spot ahead of his ART GP teammate – Gregoire Saucy, only for Colapinto to post 1m 48.402 to go fastest, which was briefly bettered by Saucy who posted 1m 48.036 but his effort was deleted for exceeding track limits.
Track conditions however ramped up in the closing stages with Roman Stanek emerging fastest overall with 1m 48.012, which was just 0.024 seconds faster than Leclerc with Saucy, Isack Hadjar and Colapinto rounding out the top five.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 1m 48.012 |
| 2 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | + 0.024 |
| 3 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | + 0.078 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | + 0.273 |
| 5 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | + 0.390 |
| 6 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 0.407 |
| 7 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | + 0.416 |
| 8 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 0.458 |
| 9 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | + 0.545 |
| 10 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | + 0.630 |
| 11 | Zane Maloney | Trident | + 0.724 |
| 12 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.770 |
| 13 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | + 0.783 |
| 14 | David Vidales | Campos | + 0.790 |
| 15 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | + 0.790 |
| 16 | Kaylen Fredericks | Hitech GP | + 0.857 |
| 17 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | + 0.877 |
| 18 | Niko Kari | Jenzer | + 1.103 |
| 19 | Nazem Azman | Hitech GP | + 1.113 |
| 20 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | + 1.176 |
| 21 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 1.193 |
| 22 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | + 1.258 |
| 23 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | + 1.433 |
| 24 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | + 1.463 |
| 25 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | + 1.545 |
| 26 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | + 1.558 |
| 27 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | + 1.629 |
| 28 | Ayrton Simmons | Charouz | + 1.696 |
| 29 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | + 1.712 |
| 30 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | + 2.181 |
Qualifying
Carlin’s trio of Zak O’Sullivan, Brad Benavides and Enzo Trulli were first out in a hectic start to Qualifying as drivers fought for track position, with O’Sullivan proceeding to set the early benchmark lap time of 1m 47.942 after two warm-up laps.
Saucy meanwhile found himself fastest after the opening runs ahead of Stanek and Collet as Jonny Edgar and Zane Maloney saw their respective fifth and eighth quickest lap times deleted, after the pair were adjudged to have exceeded track limits.
Manuel Correa meanwhile ran in the gap and went third quickest whilst Smolyar leapt to the top of the timesheet with 1m 46.642.
Colapinto however had other ideas in the closing minutes as he stunned the paddock with his and VAR’s shock maiden pole position on their debut in the series, having posted a 1m 46.249 just three minutes from the checkered flag.
Stanek meanwhile was just 0.065s slower in second to complete the front row for the Feature Race ahead of Kush Maini, who was instructed to start both races from the pit-lane after failing to stop at the weighbridge.
Saucy consequently will start from third ahead of Victor Martins, Manuel Correa, Maloney, Smolyar and Hadjar who complete the first four rows.
O’Sullivan and Oliver Bearman meanwhile secured an all British reverse-grid front-row lockout by virtue of the top 12 finishers in Qualifying being reversed for the Sprint Race after qualifying 12th and 11th for the Feature Race.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | 1m 46.249 |
| 2 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 0.065 |
| 3 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | + 0.073 |
| 4 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | + 0.161 |
| 5 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.163 |
| 6 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | + 0.351 |
| 7 | Zane Maloney | Trident | + 0.373 |
| 8 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | + 0.393 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | + 0.400 |
| 10 | David Vidales | Campos | + 0.458 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 0.543 |
| 12 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | + 0.611 |
| 13 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | + 0.696 |
| 14 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | + 0.712 |
| 15 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | + 0.776 |
| 16 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 0.837 |
| 17 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | + 0.874 |
| 18 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | + 0.910 |
| 19 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | + 0.958 |
| 20 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 1.054 |
| 21 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | + 1.122 |
| 22 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | + 1.195 |
| 23 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | + 1.250 |
| 24 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | + 1.317 |
| 25 | Niko Kari | Jenzer | + 1.397 |
| 26 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | + 1.446 |
| 27 | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | + 1.453 |
| 28 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | + 1.547 |
| 29 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | + 1.681 |
| 30 | Ayrton Simmons | Charouz | + 1.760 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, O’Sullivan got a sluggish start but fended off Bearman to seize the lead and swiftly built a one second lead, as Smolyar cleared Maloney for fifth at Turn Five whilst Hadjar passed Vidales for third into Turn 14.
Vidales and Maloney however demoted Hadjar to fifth on the next lap, whilst Leclerc leapt from 13th at the start to ninth by the end of Lap Two as the Monegasque looked to mount a challenge for points which were awarded to the top eight finishers.
Up front, Bearman slowly reeled in O’Sullivan and made an on-track winning pass at Turn Five on Lap Five, from which he calmly proceeded to control the race to the checkered flag.
O’Sullivan tried to stay close to Bearman initially but just struggled for pace and found himself passed by Maloney and Hadjar on Lap 15, demoting him to fourth with Smolyar following through on the next lap as Hadjar passed Maloney for second.
Leclerc meanwhile had quietly weaved his way through a mid-race scrap with Juan Manuel Correa, Caio Collet and Vidales to find himself sixth with four laps left, when he fought his way past O’Sullivan to finish fifth at the checkered flag.
Just ahead of Leclerc, Smolyar continued to chase down Maloney for third and managed to make a vital pass on Lap 18 at the first corner, which saw him clinch third at the flag without much challenge as Maloney settled for fourth and the point for fastest lap.
Up front, Bearman took victory on the road but was suddenly hit by a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits, which handed Hadjar his maiden F3 victory on debut much to Bearman’s ire as he dropped to second in the classification.
Outside of the top six, Collet finished seventh ahead of Kaylen Frederick who picked up the final point in eighth place, ahead of Manuel Correa and Vidales who rounded out the top ten.
Elsewhere, Gregoire Saucy and Victor Martins were the only retirees from the Sprint Race after the ART GP teammates collided at Turn One on Lap Five, consequently picking up race-ending damage despite both recovering to the pits.
Maini drove a strong race from the pit-lane to finish 15th at the checkered flag in a strong rookie drive on race debut for the MP Motorsport driver.
Niko Kari meanwhile received a five-place grid penalty for the Feature Race after missing the pit entry for the support paddock, which led to him spinning his Jenzer around and driving in the wrong direction to join the paddock.
Kari will therefore start the Feature Race from 29th on the grid, having originally qualified 25th.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | 20 | 37m 30.285 |
| 2 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | 20 | + 1.589 |
| 3 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | 20 | + 3.593 |
| 4 | Zane Maloney | Trident | 20 | + 5.649 |
| 5 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 20 | + 5.664 |
| 6 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | 20 | + 8.850 |
| 7 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | 20 | + 9.140 |
| 8 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | 20 | + 11.479 |
| 9 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | 20 | + 12.153 |
| 10 | David Vidales | Campos | 20 | + 19.134 |
| 11 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | 20 | + 21.251 |
| 12 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | 20 | + 21.871 |
| 13 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | 20 | + 28.399 |
| 14 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | 20 | + 29.919 |
| 15 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | 20 | + 30.741 |
| 16 | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | 20 | + 34.890 |
| 17 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 20 | + 34.911 |
| 18 | Ayrton Simmons | Charouz | 20 | + 44.886 |
| 19 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | 20 | + 45.648 |
| 20 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | 20 | + 46.577 |
| 21 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | 20 | + 53.412 |
| 22 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | 20 | + 53.720 |
| 23 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | 20 | + 54.278 |
| 24 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 20 | + 67.166 |
| 25 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | 20 | + 76.651 |
| 26 | Niko Kari | Jenzer | 20 | + 99.371 |
| 27 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | 20 | + 100.417 |
| 28 | Pepe Marti | Campos | 19 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | 6 | Collision |
| RET | Victor Martins | ART GP | 5 | Collision |
Feature Race
At lights out, Colapinto made a clean start to lead from Stanek and Martins as mayhem unfolded behind the front three, with several drivers scrapping for positions through Turns 6, 7 and 8 which led to a slow Maloney spinning Pizzi out as he too retired with damage.
The Safety Car consequently was deployed until the end of Lap Four with Colapinto leaving it to the line on the restart, before he bolted away from Stanek as Nazim Azman spun out after contact with Enzo Trulli at the rear of the field to cause a brief Virtual Safety Car.
Stanek meanwhile was swiftly passed by Martins on the restart before receiving a right rear tyre puncture from Smolyar at Turn 11, which dropped him out of contention for victory.
Leclerc meanwhile started 13th but managed to work his way up to third come the end of Lap 11 after a series of clean moves, especially during the opening lap melee at the start of the second sector.
Up front, Colapinto was unable to break away from Martins who managed to stay within one second until Lap 15, when he was able to make his experience count as he passed the Argentinean for the lead out of Turn 2 after the pair ran wide through the first corner.
Martins consequently slowly but surely sprinted away to victory as Colapinto then lost second to Leclerc at Turn One on Lap 18, before a 5s time penalty eventually saw him finish fifth despite finishing third on the road as Saucy snatched the final podium place in third.
Manuel Correa finished fourth ahead of Colapinto whilst Bearman recovered from a few wide moments to finish sixth ahead of Crawford, Vidales, Alatalo and Frederick who rounded out the top ten.
Martins now leaves Bahrain as the championship leader with 25 points ahead of Leclerc who sits just a point behind in second, with Bearman a further seven points back in third ahead of Saucy and Manuel Correa who complete the top five in the driver standings.
F3 will now head to Spain for two in-season tests ahead of resuming the season at Imola, Italy across the weekend of 22-24 April.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Victor Martins | ART GP | 23 | 46m 47.389 |
| 2 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 23 | + 1.543 |
| 3 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | 23 | + 6.812 |
| 4 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | 23 | + 9.084 |
| 5 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | 23 | + 11.193 |
| 6 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | 23 | + 14.582 |
| 7 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | 23 | + 18.765 |
| 8 | David Vidales | Campos | 23 | + 23.004 |
| 9 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | 23 | + 23.665 |
| 10 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | 23 | + 23.843 |
| 11 | Jonny Edgar | Trident | 23 | + 26.906 |
| 12 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 23 | + 28.274 |
| 13 | Pepe Marti | Campos | 23 | + 30.194 |
| 14 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | 23 | + 33.297 |
| 15 | Niko Kari | Jenzer | 23 | + 35.044 |
| 16 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | 23 | + 35.068 |
| 17 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 35.111 |
| 18 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | 23 | + 35.790 |
| 19 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | 23 | + 36.274 |
| 20 | Ayrton Simmons | Charouz | 23 | + 36.792 |
| 21 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | 23 | + 38.167 |
| 22 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 23 | + 38.303 |
| 23 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 38.795 |
| 24 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | 23 | + 39.952 |
| 25 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | 23 | + 49.781 |
| 26 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | 23 | + 1m 46.611 |
| RET | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | 4 | Collision |
| RET | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | 1 | Suspension |
| RET | Zane Maloney | Trident | 0 | Collision |
| RET | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | 0 | Collision |
Leave a Reply