2023 F3 Season Roundup: Round Nine – Italy

(Image credit: @Formula3)

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

(Image credit: @Formula3)

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

(Image credit: @Formula3)

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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