Roundup of the Third Round of 2023 F3 season in Monaco.
Following the cancellation of Imola due to floods in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, F3 arrived in Monaco off the back of two in-season tests as drivers looked to take a step forward in the series’ first-ever trip to Monaco.
Trident’s Gabriel Bortoleto entered this round looking to consolidate his title lead on a weekend where other rookies looked to step up alongside more experienced drivers, with a view to cut the Brazilian’s lead down and ignite a title battle.
Now, here is a full roundup of the Third Round of the 2023 F3 season in Monaco.
Practice
Early afternoon showers meant that the grid were met with wet track conditions at the start of Practice, which saw Van Amersfoort Racing’s (VAR) Caio Collet set the benchmark time of 1m 50.605 in the opening minutes.
Christian Mansell, Gabriel Bortoleto and Sebastian Montoya quickly bettered Collet’s effort, only for Franco Colapinto to go fastest with 1m 42.796 in the 10th minute from his fellow Williams F1 junior – Luke Browning.
Montoya responded two minutes later to go fastest but was displaced a further two minutes later as Browning posted 1m 41.269 to go top, only for Pepe Marti to go 0.482s faster in the 16th minute.
Browning however immediately hit back a minute later with 1m 39.879 to displace Marti, whilst Hugh Barter and Bortoleto both ran deep at Mirabeau with Barter hitting the barriers but both reversed safely.
Up front, Browning lowered his benchmark time to 1m 39.270 shortly before the half-way mark to head Colapinto as the red flag came out, following a spin for MP Motorsport’s Jonny Edgar upon entry at Massenet.
The session resumed in the 28th minute with Collet, Gregoire Saucy and Leonardo Fornaroli all going top as the track began to dry up, until Browning posted 1m 36.015 in the 34th minute to go fastest as drivers began switching to slick tyres.
Colapinto was the first driver to set a representative lap time on slick tyres as he posted 1m 36.096 in the 39th minute to go second, just seconds before Browning crashed at the Grand Hotel Hairpin and caused a brief Virtual Safety Car as he reversed out of the barriers.
Colapinto and Nikola Tsolov both went top in the closing stages but at the checkered flag, Hitech’s Gabriele Mini snatched the fastest time with 1m 26.686 ahead of Colapinto whilst Tsolov and other drivers had lap times deleted due to a yellow flag at Turn 1 following an incident for Oliver Goethe.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | 1m 26.686 |
| 2 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.233 |
| 3 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | + 0.635 |
| 4 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 0.638 |
| 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | + 0.815 |
| 6 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 0.822 |
| 7 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | + 0.858 |
| 8 | Caio Collet | VAR | + 1.007 |
| 9 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | + 1.504 |
| 10 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.585 |
| 11 | Paul Aron | PREMA | + 1.960 |
| 12 | Christian Mansell | Campos | + 2.107 |
| 13 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | + 2.329 |
| 14 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 2.433 |
| 15 | Kaylen Frederick | ART GP | + 2.459 |
| 16 | Hugh Barter | Campos | + 2.547 |
| 17 | Oliver Gray | Carlin | + 2.697 |
| 18 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 2.965 |
| 19 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing | + 3.080 |
| 20 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 3.208 |
| 21 | Hunter Yeany | Carlin | + 3.208 |
| 22 | Zak O’Sullivan | PREMA | + 3.398 |
| 23 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | + 4.341 |
| 24 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 4.880 |
| 25 | Piotr Wisnicki | PHM Racing | + 5.016 |
| 26 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer | + 8.582 |
| 27 | Alejandro Garcia | Jenzer | + 10.906 |
| 28 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | + 13.553 |
| 29 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | + 14.387 |
| 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing | + 21.043 |
Qualifying
Qualifying Group A
Carlin’s Oliver Gray was first out on track in Group A but Rafael Villagomez initially headed Browning on the timesheet, until Goethe went fastest one minute later only for Mansell to displace the Trident driver seconds later.
Beganovic though found himself fastest with 1m 25.308 at the halfway mark ahead of Browning and Colapinto, until Browning posted 1m 24.650 in the 11th minute to go fastest from Beganovic and Colapinto.
Browning lowered his benchmark to 1m 23.883 three minutes later before running wide at the Swimming Pool chicane on his final flying lap, which ultimately cost him provisional pole as Beganovic struck at the checkered flag to top Group A by 0.003s ahead of Browning with 1m 23.880.
Montoya stopped at the Swimming Pool Chicane on his final lap due to suspension damage but clung onto third ahead of; Colapinto, Fornaroli, Saucy, Bedrin, Edgar, Goethe and Mansell who rounded out the top ten in Group A.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 1m 23.880 |
| 2 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 0.003 |
| 3 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | + 0.242 |
| 4 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.362 |
| 5 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 1.384 |
| 6 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | + 1.576 |
| 7 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | + 1.862 |
| 8 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | + 1.869 |
| 9 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | + 1.990 |
| 10 | Christian Mansell | Campos | + 2.175 |
| 11 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 2,261 |
| 12 | Oliver Gray | Carlin | + 2.662 |
| 13 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | + 3.161 |
| 14 | Alejandro Garcia | Jenzer | + 3.267 |
| 15 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing | + 5.676 |
Qualifying Group B
Due to Montoya’s suspension failure at the end of Qualifying Group A’s session, Group B saw their session delayed two minutes whilst the Colombian’s Hitech car was removed.
Carlin’s Hunter Yeany was first out on track once the pit exit light went green but it was PREMA’s Paul Aron and Zak O’Sullivan who set the initial pace.
Collet went fastest in the eighth minute with 1m 25.568 but Mini went 0.622s faster to head the Brazilian and Bortoleto at the halfway mark of the session.
O’Sullivan went second in the 10th minute but was quickly displaced as Marti posted 1m 24.850 to go top, although the Spaniard was displaced one minute later by Mini who went back onto provisional pole with 1m 24.148 before finding a further 0.009s just three minutes later.
Pole though was set to go to Beganovic who held the fastest outright lap time across both groups until Mini delivered 1m 23.278 at the death, which secured pole for the Italian and ensured those in Group B would line up in the odd-numbered grid slots for both races.
Saucy initially secured reverse-pole for the Sprint Race by occupying that all important 12th position once lined the groups up to their corresponding grid slots, but the Swiss picked up a three-place grid penalty after failing to slow down for a single yellow flag at Turn 15.
Marti consequently inherited reverse-pole whilst Mari Boya dropped from 17th to 25th on the Sprint Race grid, after the Spaniard impeded O’Sullivan which earned him a three-place grid penalty on top of a five-place grid penalty to be served after causing a collision in Australia.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | 1m 23.278 |
| 2 | Paul Aron | PREMA | + 0.874 |
| 3 | Caio Collet | VAR | + 1.079 |
| 4 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | + 1.401 |
| 5 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer | + 1.485 |
| 6 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 1.492 |
| 7 | Zak O’Sullivan | PREMA | + 1.595 |
| 8 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 1.633 |
| 9 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | + 1.845 |
| 10 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.880 |
| 11 | Hugh Barter | Campos | + 1.989 |
| 12 | Kaylen Frederick | ART GP | + 2.610 |
| 13 | Piotr Wisnicki | PHM Racing | + 2.762 |
| 14 | Hunter Yeany | Carlin | + 3.025 |
| 15 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing | + 3.112 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Marti made a clean start to lead Fornaroli as Saucy swept round the outside of Barnard through St Devote to go third.
Further back in the pack, Edgar got punted into the St Devote barriers by Goethe, whilst Boya and Yeany collided at the same corner which forced the pair plus Roberto Faria to pit with damage as the Safety Car was deployed whilst Edgar’s car was removed.
Racing resumed on Lap 6 and Marti proceeded to cruise to victory ahead of Fornaroli by 8.123s, as Saucy settled for third despite trying to push Fornaroli for second in the closing laps of the 23-lap race.
Colapinto overtook Barnard into the hairpin on the Safety Car restart to finish fourth ahead of the Brit who fought off championship leader – Bortoleto, as Montoya, Browing, Collet and Aron rounded out the top-ten.
In the drivers’ standings Bortoleto on 63 points now leads Saucy by 17 points, whilst Marti leapt up to third position on 35 points following his win.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Pepe Marti | Campos | 23 | 35m 47.957 |
| 2 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 23 | + 8.123 |
| 3 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | 23 | + 8.835 |
| 4 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 9.324 |
| 5 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer | 23 | + 11.589 |
| 6 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | 23 | + 13.646 |
| 7 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | 23 | + 13.946 |
| 8 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 23 | + 14.579 |
| 9 | Caio Collet | VAR | 23 | + 15.985 |
| 10 | Paul Aron | PREMA | 23 | + 17.915 |
| 11 | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | 23 | + 18.439 |
| 12 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 23 | + 19.999 |
| 13 | Zak O’Sullivan | PREMA | 23 | + 20.939 |
| 14 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 23 | + 22.291 |
| 15 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | 23 | + 23.258 |
| 16 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 23 | + 24.028 |
| 17 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 23 | + 35.846 |
| 18 | Piotr Wisnicki | PHM Racing | 23 | + 38.467 |
| 19 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | 23 | + 40.369 |
| 20 | Christian Mansell | Campos | 23 | + 40.812 |
| 21 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 23 | + 42.397 |
| 22 | Oliver Gray | Carlin | 23 | + 43.720 |
| 23 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing | 23 | + 45.145 |
| 24 | Kaylen Frederick | ART GP | 23 | + 47.393 |
| 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos | 23 | + 50.076 |
| 26 | Alejandro Garcia | Jenzer | 23 | + 61.393 |
| 27 | Hunter Yeany | Carlin | 20 | + 3 Laps |
| RET | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing | 1 | Collision |
| RET | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 1 | Collision |
| RET | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 0 | Collision |
Feature Race
Prior to the start of the race, all three PHM Racing cars were forced to start from the pit lane after the team were found to have exceeded the number of permitted personnel working on their cars after the Sprint Race.
Fornaroli meanwhile failed to get away on the formation lap due to an oil leak at the rear of his Trident but the Italian was able to join the race from the pit lane.
At lights out, Mini made a clean start ahead of Beganovic, Aron, Browning, Collet and Montoya as Barnard cut the St Devote corner to jump two positions to seventh ahead of Bortoleto and Colapinto, which earned the Brit a 10s time penalty.
The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 2 after Cohen crashed into the Tabac barriers on the opening lap as he tried to pass his Carlin teammate – Gray round the outside.
Racing resumed on Lap 6 as Mini held off Beganovic in a race-long duel in which the Swede was never able to mount a serious attempt to pass for the lead, whilst Aron fought off Browning to round out the podium.
Collet meanwhile fought off Montoya in a fierce contest over fifth place until the Colombian clipped the rear of Collet’s VAR on the run to Massenet on Lap 18, which gave the Brazilian a race-ending puncture as he pulled over at Mirabear whilst Montoya pitted for a new front wing.
Barnard consequently inherited fifth but his time penalty dropped him to eighth at the checkered flag, which meant Bortoleto took fifth ahead of Colapinto, O’Sullivan, Barnard whilst Marti and Saucy rounded out the top ten.
Post-race, Montoya was disqualified after Hitech incorrectly fitted a left tyre to the right side of his car which is a serious breach of driver safety, plus he also was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pits.
In the drivers’ standings, Bortoleto now leads with 73 points as Mini moved up to second with a 17-point deficit, with Saucy dropping to third and one point ahead of fourth-placed Beganovic.
F3 now heads to Barcelona, Spain for Round Four on the weekend of 2-4 June.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | 27 | 41m 45.651 |
| 2 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 27 | + 0.452 |
| 3 | Paul Aron | PREMA | 27 | + 7.214 |
| 4 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 27 | + 7.563 |
| 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | 27 | + 19.495 |
| 6 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 27 | + 19.900 |
| 7 | Zak O’Sullivan | PREMA | 27 | + 20.978 |
| 8 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer | 27 | + 25.764 |
| 9 | Pepe Marti | Campos | 27 | + 26.192 |
| 10 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | 27 | + 27.276 |
| 11 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 27 | + 27.726 |
| 12 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | 27 | + 28.514 |
| 13 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 27 | + 29.340 |
| 14 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 27 | + 32.109 |
| 15 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 27 | + 32.825 |
| 16 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 27 | + 36.420 |
| 17 | Christian Mansell | Campos | 27 | + 39.675 |
| 18 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 27 | + 40.818 |
| 19 | Oliver Gray | Carlin | 27 | + 47.339 |
| 20 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | 27 | + 47.869 |
| 21 | Alejandro Garcia | Jenzer | 27 | + 48.867 |
| 22 | Piotr Wisnicki | PHM Racing | 27 | + 49.536 |
| 23 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing | 27 | + 50.182 |
| 24 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 27 | + 50.570 |
| 25 | Kaylen Frederick | ART GP | 27 | + 56.762 |
| 26 | Hugh Barter | Campos | 27 | + 78.372 |
| 27 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing | 27 | + 82.120 |
| DSQ | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | 26 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Caio Collet | VAR | 27 | Puncture |
| RET | Ido Cohen | Carlin | 0 | Crash |
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