2022 F3 Season Roundup: Round Nine – Italy

Roundup of the 2022 F3 season finale as Victor Martins was crowned champion in a seven-way tussle in Monza, Italy.

Martins headed a seven-way title scrap as F3 rolled into Monza for the finale weekend, yet a series of twists and turns throughout the weekend saw six drivers still in with a shot at the title come the final race which ultimately delivered a crazy climax befitting of the series’ entertainment this season.

In the end, it would be Alpine F1 junior, Martins who clung on to secure the championship in tense fashion, as the vice-champion and third-placed championship finishers were finalised following further changes of position across the weekend.

Now, here’s a full roundup of the ninth and final round of 2022 F3 season.

 

Practice

MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet, Alexander Smolyar and Kush Maini led the field out onto a wet track following torrential overnight rainfall, with Collet plus title leader – Victor Martins both amongst several cars to go down the escape road at Turn 1.

Martins soon set the initial benchmark time of 1m 51.455 as drivers adapted to the tricky conditions which saw Rafael Villagomez and Isack Hadjar both spin in the opening 12 minutes.

Martins lowered his benchmark time in the 13th minute to 1m 50.658 but his time was soon bettered by his ART GP teammates, Juan Manuel Correa and Gregoire Saucy before the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed in the 17th minute after Jenzer’s Federico Malvestiti stopped at the pit exit.

Once the VSC was withdrawn, Maloney went fastest from Kalyen Frederick in the 21st minute with 1m 50.275, which was quickly displaced by Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan who posted 1m 49.587 two minutes later to lead at the halfway mark of the session.

Drivers soon switched to the carryover medium slick tyres as the track dried sufficiently with Smolyar posting 1m 49.446 to go top in the 37th minute, as the Russian then found 0.633 seconds on his next flier to lower the fastest lap.

Saucy briefly went fastest in the 41st minute but PREMA’s Oliver Bearman posted 1m 47.228 to go fastest and the Brit proceeded to further find 2.355s by the checkered flag, as he finished top ahead of Hadjar and Arthur Leclerc.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	1m 44.873
2	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	+ 0.048
3	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	+ 0.244
4	Jonny Edgar	Trident	+ 0.250
5	David Vidales	Campos	+ 0.253
6	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	+ 0.255
7	Victor Martins	ART GP	+ 0.404
8	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	+ 0.599
9	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	+ 0.601
10	Jak Crawford	PREMA	+ 0.677
11	Franco Colapinto	VAR	+ 0.856
12	Brad Benavides	Carlin	+ 0.920
13	Pepe Marti	Campos	+ 0.995
14	Roman Stanek	Trident	+ 1.054
15	Reece Ushijima	VAR	+ 1.121
16	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	+ 1.424
17	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	+ 1.517
18	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	+ 1.680
19	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	+ 1.796
20	Zane Maloney	Trident	+ 1.812
21	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	+ 2.313
22	Alexander Smolyar	MP Motorsport	+ 2.986
23	Juan Manuel Correa	ART GP	+ 3.038
24	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	+ 3.098
25	Hunter Yeany	Campos	+ 3.950
26	William Alatalo	Jenzer	+ 4.489
27	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	+ 4.669
28	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	+ 7.613
29	Alessandro Famularo	Charouz	+ 8.409
30	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	+ 8.628

 

Qualifying

Jenzer’s Ido Cohen, Malvestiti and William Alatalo were first out on a now-dry track but it was ART GP’s Saucy who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 43.086 on the soft tyre, although Trident’s Roman Stanek set the pace at end of the opening flying laps from Jonny Edgar and Hadjar.

Edgar’s time however was soon deleted for exceeding track limits but he regained second at end of second round of flying laps behind Stanek but ahead of Zane Maloney, Leclerc, Hadjar and Bearman.

Bearman though found further time as he climbed to second on his third flier, whilst Hadjar ran deep and scraped the gravel at Curva Alboreto, which sent him bouncing into the barriers.

The red flag consequently came out and once the session resumed nine minutes later, a game of cat and mouse ensured, as some deliberately drove through the pit lane to create space for their flying lap only for everyone else to copy on repeat.

Eventually everyone attempted a flying lap in the final minutes from which Smolyar claimed his second pole position in three rounds ahead of Maloney by just 0.047s ahead of his title rivals, Stanek, Martins, Leclerc and Bearman who rounded out the top six.

Jenzer’s Alatalo was a shock seventh ahead of Jak Crawford, Manuel Correa, Edgar, Pepe Marti and Collet, although Manuel Correa received a 10 place grid penalty for the Sprint due to failing to slow under yellow flags for Campos’ Hunter Yeany at Turn 1 at end of session.

His penalty consequently meant that he started the Sprint Race from 14th on the grid, whilst Franco Colapinto inherited pole position ahead of Collet.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Alexander Smolyar	MP Motorsport	1m 37.559
2	Zane Maloney	Trident	+ 0.047
3	Roman Stanek	Trident	+ 0.191
4	Victor Martins	ART GP	+ 0.215
5	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	+ 0.386
6	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	+ 0.401
7	William Alatalo	Jenzer	+ 0.464
8	Jak Crawford	PREMA	+ 0.472
9	Juan Manuel Correa	ART GP	+ 0.476
10	Jonny Edgar	Trident	+ 0.550
11	Pepe Marti	Campos	+ 0.623
12	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	+ 0.665
13	Franco Colapinto	VAR	+ 0.724
14	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	+ 0.885
15	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	+ 0.929
16	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	+ 0.939
17	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	+ 0.941
18	David Vidales	Campos	+ 1.114
19	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	+ 1.123
20	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	+ 1.255
21	Brad Benavides	Carlin	+ 1.307
22	Reece Ushijima	VAR	+ 1.356
23	Hunter Yeany	Campos	+ 1.546
24	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	+ 1.563
25	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	+ 1.603
26	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	+ 2.089
27	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	+ 2.241
28	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	+ 2.449
29	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	+ 2.758
30	Alessandro Famularo	Charouz	+ 3.301

 

Sprint Race

At lights out, Colapinto fought off Collet and Edgar whilst Leclerc punted title rival, Martins off at Curva Grande but the Frenchman rejoined the race having avoided the barriers.

Bearman was the highest-placed driver of the seven title contenders in seventh at end of the opening lap as the next lap saw further drama, as Stanek passed Frederick for tenth but was repassed moments later with the American then spinning Smolyar at Variante della Roggia.

Leclerc meanwhile slipped out of the top ten following his first-lap tangle with Martins which enabled Bearman to make moves to boost his title prospects, as the Brit passed his PREMA teammate – Crawford for sixth on Lap 3.

The Safety Car however was deployed on Lap 4 after O’Sullivan spun out at Variante del Rettifilo and stayed out for five laps.

Racing resumed on Lap 9 as Colapinto tactically bunched the field up on the restart before he legged it down the start-finish straight out of Curva Alboreto as he again fended off Collet.

Pepe Marti who ran third on the restart momentarily claimed the lead after he cut the opening chicane but gave the positions back to Colapinto and Collet, which enabled Edgar to follow through with Bearman following suit two laps later.

Bearman briefly lost fourth to Crawford at Variante del Rettifilo on Lap 12 but quickly recovered his position at Variante della Roggia, from which he charged up towards the front trio of Colapinto, Collet and Edgar.

Edgar meanwhile lined up an inside move on Collet into Variante del Rettifilo on Lap 15, only for Bearman to sweep around the outside to take the pair for second as Edgar slotted into third ahead of Collet.

Maloney one lap later cleared Crawford for fifth to end the American’s title chances whilst Leclerc cleared Stanek and Marti for eighth.

Up front, Collet cleared Edgar for third on the penultimate lap whilst Bearman reeled in Colapinto but couldn’t produce a last-lap pass, as Colapinto clung on for his second Sprint victory of the season ahead of Bearman and Collet.

Maloney finished fourth ahead of Edgar following a last lap pass whilst Saucy further demoted Crawford to seventh as Leclerc, Marti and Martins rounded out the top ten finishers.

In the driver standings, Martins now leads Hadjar by six points as Bearman closed his deficit to 13 points in third, whilst Maloney, Stanek and Leclerc must all win the Feature Race and hope the top three all realistically don’t score points if they’re to snatch the title.

Martins simply needs to finish ahead at least six points clear of Hadjar in the Feature Race to secure the title, whilst Hadjar must finish the Feature Race at least seventh with the point for fastest lap and Martins to not finish in top ten if he is to claim the title.

Bearman meanwhile need to finish on the podium and hope that Martins fails to finish in the top ten plus Hadjar finishes seventh or lower, if he is to realistically snatch the title on a weekend in which Great Britain is in national mourning following Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Franco Colapinto	VAR	18	34m 09.813
2	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	18	+ 0.432
3	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	18	+ 2.109
4	Zane Maloney	Trident	18	+ 3.404
5	Jonny Edgar	Trident	18	+ 4.121
6	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	18	+ 4.279
7	Jak Crawford	PREMA	18	+ 4.614
8	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	18	+ 6.061
9	Pepe Marti	Campos	18	+ 6.547
10	Victor Martins	ART GP	18	+ 6.878
11	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	18	+ 7.755
12	Roman Stanek	Trident	18	+ 7.983
13	Juan Manuel Correa	ART GP	18	+ 8.157
14	William Alatalo	Jenzer	18	+ 9.252
15	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	18	+ 12.316
16	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	18	+ 12.998
17	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	18	+ 13.468
18	Brad Benavides	Carlin	18	+ 13.750
19	Reece Ushijima	VAR	18	+ 15.953
20	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	18	+ 17.476
21	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	18	+ 18.710
22	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	18	+ 22.362
23	Alessandro Famularo	Charouz	18	+ 30.912
24	Hunter Yeany	Campos	18	+ 50.936
25	Alexander Smolyar	MP Motorsport	18	+ 69.799
26	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	18	+ 70.263
27	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	18	+ 70.409
RET	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	11	Damage
RET	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	13	Spin
DNS	David Vidales	Campos	0	Mechanical

 

Feature Race

At lights out, Smolyar initially retained his lead but Maloney seized the inside line into Variante del Rettifilo to gain the lead, whilst Stanek was passed for third by Martins who found himself on course for the title as the Safety Car was deployed after Vidales and Villagomez collided.

Racing resumed on Lap 5 as Maloney went early but Smolyar was alert and regained the lead with Martins following through at Variante del Rettifilo, which enabled him to get the lead into Variante della Roggia whilst Leclerc cleared Bearman for fifth.

Smolyar though locked up his front tyre on the restart which soon proved costly as he lost second to Maloney on Lap 8, who then challenged Martins into Variante della Roggia for lead but ran wide and conceded position back.

Maloney though was able to pass Martins one lap later to claim the lead as Smolyar got clipped by Leclerc and Stanek in a three-way sandwich at Variante del Rettifilo, which enabled Bearman to climb to fourth whilst Smolyar steadily fell down the order.

Bearman then passed Martins for second on Lap 12 but was squeezed wide at Variante del Rettifilo by Maloney as he passed for the lead on Lap 15, which prompted complaints from the Brit despite handing the lead back to Maloney.

The race however came to a dramatic climax as Maini spun out of the second Lesmo on Lap 16 and wiped out Benavides, which triggered another Safety Car but the race was red flagged one lap later due to barrier damage and not resumed.

Stewards however dished out multiple 5s time penalties for track infringements which triggered tension and confusion across the pit lane as to who had won the title, with Martins ultimately crowned champion – despite a 5s time penalty – by five points from Maloney as Bearman finished third.

Maloney though was declared winner of the Feature Race after 15 laps ahead of Bearman and Crawford as Martins dropped to fourth, whilst Alatalo slipped from fourth to seventh with his own penalty as Edgar kept eighth amidst his own penalty but Collet fell out of the points due to his penalty for track limits.

PREMA were crowned as the teams’ champions ahead of Trident and ART GP.

Post-race, MP Motorsport’s Kush Maini saw his 5s time penalty rescinded after stewards reviewed stewards and found he had exceeded track limits on three occasions instead of initially adjudged four occasions, which lifted him from 15th to 13th in the classification.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Zane Maloney	Trident	15	28m 00.288
2	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	15	+ 0.587
3	Jak Crawford	PREMA	15	+ 5.024
4	Victor Martins	ART GP	15	+ 6.061
5	Arthur Leclerc	PREMA	15	+ 6.086
6	Roman Stanek	Trident	15	+ 6.420
7	William Alatalo	Jenzer	15	+ 9.628
8	Jonny Edgar	Trident	15	+ 12.080
9	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	15	+ 13.555
10	Reece Ushijima	VAR	15	+ 14.228
11	Zak O’Sullivan	Carlin	15	+ 14.696
12	Ido Cohen	Jenzer	15	+ 15.613
13	Kush Maini	MP Motorsport	15	+ 15.958
14	Brad Benavides	Carlin	15	+ 16.820
15	Franco Colapinto	VAR	15	+ 18.031
16	Francesco Pizzi	Charouz	15	+ 21.196
17	Hunter Yeany	Campos	15	+ 21.298
18	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer	15	+ 21.807
19	Laszlo Toth	Charouz	15	+ 23.790
20	Caio Collet	MP Motorsport	15	+ 24.324
21	Nazim Azman	Hitech GP	15	+ 29.215
22	Enzo Trulli	Carlin	15	+ 30.145
23	Alessandro Famularo	Charouz	15	+ 43.109
24	Juan Manuel Correa	ART GP	15	+ 61.827
25	Kaylen Frederick	Hitech GP	15	+ 62.568
26	Pepe Marti	Campos	15	+ 93.017
27	Alexander Smolyar	MP Motorsport	14	+ 1 Lap
28	Gregoire Saucy	ART GP	14	+ 1 Lap
29	David Vidales	Campos	0	Collision
30	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	0	Collision