Roundup of the final round of 2023 season as the final standings were finalised in Monza, Italy.
Gabriel Bortoleto entered this round needing just two points to seal the title which he achieved without racing in anger, which in-turn led to a dramatic pair of concluding races in the 2023 season as one team clinched both victories amidst a series of twists and turns.
Now, here is a full roundup of all the action from the final round of 2023 F3 season at Monza, Italy.
Practice
Carlin’s Oliver Gray set the initial pace of 1m 41.612 but was displaced by Campos debutant, Joshua Dufek who posted 1m 40.661 to go fastest in a quiet start to the session.
The majority of the field eventually ventured out after the opening 15 minutes as Leonardo Fornaroli and Taylor Barnard soon scrapped over the fastest lap, before Gregoire Saucy then Gabriele Mini displaced the pair.
Oliver Goethe eventually topped the session with 1m 38.677 from Paul Aron as the red flag came out after MP Motorsport’s Mari Boya spun off at Turn 11 to end the session early.
Position | Driver | Team | Time |
1 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 1m 38.677 |
2 | Paul Aron | PREMA | + 0.113 |
3 | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | + 0.304 |
4 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | + 0.599 |
5 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.607 |
6 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | + 0.661 |
7 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer | + 0.800 |
8 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.879 |
9 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 0.979 |
10 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 1.074 |
11 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | + 1.170 |
12 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.188 |
13 | Caio Collet | VAR | + 1.190 |
14 | Kaylen Frederick | ART GP | + 1.242 |
15 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | + 1.248 |
16 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | + 1.308 |
17 | Zak O’Sullivan | PREMA | + 1.360 |
18 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 1.371 |
19 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | + 1.485 |
20 | Christian Mansell | Campos | + 1.760 |
21 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.973 |
22 | Joshua Dufek | Campos | + 1.984 |
23 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing | + 2.041 |
24 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 2.155 |
25 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | + 2.231 |
26 | Oliver Gray | Carlin | + 2.275 |
27 | Francesco Simonazzi | Carlin | + 2.715 |
28 | Woohyun Shin | PHM Racing | + 3.680 |
29 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing | + 4.212 |
30 | Alejandro Garcia | Jenzer | + 5.117 |
Qualifying
Aron was first out on track for Qualifying but the action rapidly descended into a game of cat and mouse as everyone tried to avoid being the first driver to attempt a flying lap and provide a slipstream.
Such was the chaos that Cohen got spun out by Gray out of the Lesmo chicane to cause the first red flag, with Collet heading Aron and Goethe once everyone banked a flying lap in upon the resumption.
Gray subequently was handed a three-place grid penalty for the Sprint Race for his incident with Cohen.
Dufek however soon spun off at Variante della Roggia to bring the red flags back out and upon the second restart, Goethe went fastest with 1m 38.909 only to spin out at Turn 7 and cause a third and final red flag which secured him pole position for the Feature Race.
Collet, Aron, Edgar, Bortoleto, Mini, O’Sullivan, Fornaroli, Browning and Barnard rounded out the top ten, whilst Saucy inherited reverse-pole ahead of Tsolov.
Mini, Browning, Montoya, Simonazzi and Cohen however were disqualified post-session after their tyres were changed under parc ferme conditions post-session, which meant that Boya inherited reverse-pole position for the Sprint.
Goethe’s pole position also confirmed his Trident teammate, Bortoleto as champion with Aron and Marti unable to catch him in the standings.
Position | Driver | Team | Time |
1 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 1m 38.909 |
2 | Caio Collet | VAR | + 0.092 |
3 | Paul Aron | PREMA | + 0.134 |
4 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | + 0.228 |
5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | + 0.352 |
DSQ | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | + 0.379 |
7 | Zak O’Sullivan | PREMA | + 0.410 |
8 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.431 |
DSQ | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 0.533 |
10 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer | + 0.664 |
11 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.671 |
12 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | + 0.692 |
DSQ | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | + 0.801 |
14 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | + 0.875 |
15 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.970 |
16 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 1.205 |
17 | Christian Mansell | Campos | + 1.267 |
18 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.294 |
19 | Kaylen Frederick | ART GP | + 1.302 |
20 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.731 |
DSQ | Francesco Simonazzi | Carlin | + 1.912 |
22 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing | + 2.286 |
23 | Woohyun Shin | PHM Racing | + 2.330 |
24 | Joshua Dufek | Campos | + 2.510 |
25 | Alejandro Garcia | Jenzer | + 2.513 |
26 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing | + 3.602 |
27 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | No Time |
28 | Oliver Gray | Carlin | No Time |
DSQ | Ido Cohen | Carlin | No Time |
30 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | No Time |
Sprint Race
Boya headed Colapinto on the race start but Collet made contact with Aron, which sent the Estonian spinning out and he collected Edgar plus Marti amidst the chaos as several cars cut the Variante della Roggia chicane.
Collet subsequently received a ten-second time penalty for causing the collision as Saucy and Tsolov sat third and fourth just as the Safety Car was deployed.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 5 with O’Sullivan passing Tsolov for fifth followed by Bortoleto.
Up front, Colapinto made a overtake on Boya into Variante della Roggia for the lead on Lap 10, but was displaced two laps later only to reclaim the lead and victory on Lap 13.
Bortoleto meanwhile calmly picked off several cars to finish second after he passed Boya on the final lap, as Barnard, Browning, Fornaroli Goethe, Mini, Mansell, Fornaroli, Tsolov and Villagomez rounded out the top 12.
Post-race, Browning who had finished fifth was disqualified due a floor infringement which promoted Goethe to fifth ahead of Mini and Mansell, after Fornaroli received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits on four occasions.
Shin was handed a five-place grid penalty for the season finale after he sped in the pit lane as he pitted to retire on Lap 3 with damage.
Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
1 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 18 | 34m 06.988 |
2 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | 18 | + 1.325 |
3 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 18 | + 2.118 |
4 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer | 18 | + 2.322 |
5 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 18 | + 8.012 |
6 | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | 18 | + 9.885 |
7 | Christian Mansell | Campos | 18 | + 11.086 |
8 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 18 | + 11.197 |
9 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 18 | + 11.467 |
10 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 18 | + 12.133 |
11 | Zak O’Sullivan | PREMA | 18 | + 12.461 |
12 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | 18 | + 12.766 |
13 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 18 | + 16.276 |
14 | Joshua Dufek | Campos | 18 | + 16.532 |
15 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | 18 | + 20.035 |
16 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing | 18 | + 20.338 |
17 | Alejandro Garcia | Jenzer | 18 | + 21.291 |
18 | Francesco Simonazzi | Carlin | 18 | + 21.784 |
19 | Caio Collet | VAR | 18 | + 23.684 |
20 | Kaylen Frederick | ART GP | 18 | + 30.923 |
21 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | 18 | + 33.316 |
22 | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | 18 | + 96.911 |
RET | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing | 15 | + 3 Laps |
RET | Oliver Gray | Carlin | 11 | Mechanical |
RET | Tommy Smith | VAR | 10 | Collision |
RET | Woohyun Shin | PHM Racing | 2 | Damage |
RET | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 0 | Collision |
RET | Paul Aron | PREMA | 0 | Collision |
RET | Pepe Marti | Campos | 0 | Collision |
DSQ | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 18 | Spin |
Feature Race
Pole-sitter, Goethe failed to take the start after the formation lap as his throttle broke just as he reached the grid, which necessitated another formation lap as his Trident car was removed.
Collet consequently inherited the lead as Edgar passed Aron at Della Roggia for second place, which allowed Bortoleto to sneak through into third just before the Safety Car was deployed, after Colapinto stopped at Turn 5 with broken suspension due to contact.
Racing resumed on Lap 4 with Edgar quickly maximising his slipstream from Collet to take the lead, whilst Bortoleto ran deep at Variante della Roggia and lost third to Aron and O’Sullivan as he slipped to sixth upon rejoining the circuit.
Tsolov, Barnard and Boya soon demoted Bortoleto further at Turn 4 to ninth position, but Saucy got punted off track as he tried to follow through which caused him to slide into the barriers and bring out the Safety Car again.
Racing resumed on Lap 9 with Collet briefly regaining the lead upon the exit of Della Roggia chicane, only for Edgar to hit back into the Lesmo curves to retake the lead.
Lap 12 saw Collet repass Edgar for the lead but he was repassed a lap later whilst Barnard passed O’Sullivan for third on that same lap.
Montoya meanwhile spun out after contact with his Hitech GP teammate, Mini which caused another Safety Car period, which led to a frantic restart on Lap 16 as Edgar fought off Collet and Barnard, which allowed O’Sullivan to pass the pair for second.
The Safety Car however was quickly redeployed after Cohen and Marti both spun out due to contact which also saw Bedrin and Faria retire on Laps 17 and 18 respectively.
Racing finally resumed on the final lap as Edgar fought off O’Sullivan for the win whilst Barnard passed Collet at the first Lesmo to secure an all-British podium.
Bortoleto recovered to finish fifth ahead of Boya, Aron, Mansell, Beganovic and Villagomez who rounded out the top ten.
Post-race, Shin dropped from 11th to 17th in the classification after he gained an advantage by passing Simonazzi off-track and failed to return the position.
Bortoleto finished the season as champion whilst O’Sullivan snatched the vice-champion honour ahead of Aron, Colapinto and Marti.
Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
1 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 21 | 47m 05.178 |
2 | Zak O’Sullivan | PREMA | 21 | + 0.287 |
3 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer | 21 | + 0.825 |
4 | Caio Collet | VAR | 21 | + 1.047 |
5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | 21 | + 1.515 |
6 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 1.945 |
7 | Paul Aron | PREMA | 21 | + 2.136 |
8 | Christian Mansell | Campos | 21 | + 2.911 |
9 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 21 | + 3.383 |
10 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 21 | + 3.692 |
11 | Francesco Simonazzi | Carlin | 21 | + 6.735 |
12 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 21 | + 6.936 |
13 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing | 21 | + 7.616 |
14 | Joshua Dufek | Campos | 21 | + 7.655 |
15 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 21 | + 8.198 |
16 | Oliver Gray | Carlin | 21 | + 8.405 |
17 | Woohyun Shin | PHM Racing | 21 | + 11.107 |
18 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 21 | + 11.276 |
19 | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | 21 | + 21.142 |
20 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 21 | + 53.990 |
21 | Alejandro Garcia | Jenzer | 20 | + 1 Lap |
RET | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing | 18 | + 3 Laps |
RET | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | 16 | Damage |
RET | Pepe Marti | Campos | 15 | Collision |
RET | Ido Cohen | Carlin | 15 | Collision |
RET | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | 12 | Collision |
RET | Kaylen Frederick | ART GP | 12 | Mechanical |
RET | Gregoire Saucy | ART GP | 5 | Collision |
RET | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 0 | Collision |
DNS | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 0 | Throttle |
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