The 2023 Melbourne FIA Formula 3 round was a motor racing event held between 31 March and 2 April 2023 at the Albert Park Circuit. It was the second round of the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship and was held in support of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
Franco Colapinto won the sprint race behind the safety car, in which resulted as a 1-2 finish for the Williams Academy. However, Colapinto, and his two teammates, Mari Boya and Jonny Edgar, have all been disqualified from the sprint as it was found the suspension keels on all three MP Motorsport cars did not conform to regulations.
As a result, Zak O'Sullivan inherited the win and Luke Browning was credited with the fastest lap. However, ninth-placed finisher Christian Mansell received the fastest lap point as he posted the fastest lap among the drivers classified among the top ten.
Classification Qualifying
DriverTeamTime/Gap 15 Gabriel BortoletoTrident1:33.02512128 Grégoire SaucyART Grand Prix +0.171112315 Gabriele MinìHitech Pulse-Eight +0.28210344 Leonardo FornaroliTrident +0.3459453 Zak O'SullivanPrema Racing +0.3488561 Paul AronPrema Racing +0.38376710 Franco ColapintoMP Motorsport +0.5636782 Dino BeganovicPrema Racing +0.57958916 Luke BrowningHitech Pulse-Eight +0.740491017 Caio ColletVan Amersfoort Racing +0.851310116 Oliver GoetheTrident +0.9922111214 Sebastián MontoyaHitech Pulse-Eight +1.0691121324 Christian MansellCampos Racing +1.20213131412 Jonny EdgarMP Motorsport +1.2511414159 Nikola TsolovART Grand Prix +1.26515151611 Mari BoyaMP Motorsport +1.3011616177 Kaylen FrederickART Grand Prix +1.33917171827 Taylor BarnardJenzer Motorsport +1.36918181918 Rafael VillagómezVan Amersfoort Racing +1.52119192026 Nikita BedrinJenzer Motorsport +1.74320202120 Oliver GrayRodin Carlin +2.07721212225 Hugh BarterCampos Racing +2.10822222322 Ido CohenRodin Carlin +2.33423282429 Sophia FlörschPHM Racing by Charouz +2.49424232530 Roberto FariaPHM Racing by Charouz +2.66325242621 Hunter YeanyRodin Carlin +2.75529252731 Piotr WiśnickiPHM Racing by Charouz +2.99426262819 Tommy SmithVan Amersfoort Racing +3.28928272928 Alex GarcíaJenzer Motorsport +3.5712729107% time: 1:39.536 (+6.511)—23 Pepe MartíCampos Racing No time set3030Source:
Notes: – Hunter Yeany originally qualified 22nd by setting a lap time of 1:35.132, but was given a 10-place grid drop for Saturday's Sprint Race and his time was deleted as he was found to be significantally speeding under double yellow flag conditions while setting his fastest lap time. As a result, the penalty dropped him to P26 in the final classification and to P29 for the Sprint Race. – Tommy Smith originally qualified 28th, but was given a carrying penalty from the Sakhir Feature Race for his involvement in two incidents. For both, he was assigned a three-place grid drop and a ten-second time-penalty, with the latter being converted into another three-place grid drop. However, the penalty will not have any effect of his grid position as Yeany got penalised and Pepe Martí did not set a time during qualifying. – Pepe Martí failed to set any valid time after crashing at the opening stages of qualifying, but was later given permission to start both races from the back of the grid.
Sprint race
DriverTeamLapsTime/Gap13 Zak O'SullivanPrema Racing20 42:06.098810214 Sebastián MontoyaHitech Pulse-Eight20 +0.2191931 Paul AronPrema Racing20 +0.59378415 Gabriele MinìHitech Pulse-Eight20 +0.778107 52 Dino BeganovicPrema Racing20 +1.3695665 Gabriel BortoletoTrident20 +1.54212574 Leonardo FornaroliTrident20 +1.9699488 Grégoire SaucyART Grand Prix20 +3.49863924 Christian MansellCampos Racing20 +7.327132 (1)107 Kaylen FrederickART Grand Prix20 +8.523171119 Nikola TsolovART Grand Prix20 +8.816151227 Taylor BarnardJenzer Motorsport20 +9.913181323 Pepe MartíCampos Racing20 +11.009301418 Rafael VillagómezVan Amersfoort Racing20 +13.025191526 Nikita BedrinJenzer Motorsport20 +13.136201629 Sophia FlörschPHM Racing by Charouz20 +14.102241716 Luke BrowningHitech Pulse-Eight20 +15.11241830 Roberto FariaPHM Racing by Charouz20 +15.813251925 Hugh BarterCampos Racing20 +16.332222020 Oliver GrayRodin Carlin20 +17.662212117 Caio ColletVan Amersfoort Racing20 +18.80232221 Hunter YeanyRodin Carlin20 +19.981292331 Piotr WiśnickiPHM Racing by Charouz20 +20.54526DNF28 Alex GarcíaJenzer Motorsport17 Accident27DNF19 Tommy SmithVan Amersfoort Racing12 Accident22DNF22 Ido CohenRodin Carlin5 Collision damage23DNF6 Oliver GoetheTrident0 Puncture damage2DSQ10 Franco ColapintoMP Motorsport20 Disqualified6 DSQ11 Mari BoyaMP Motorsport20 Disqualified16DSQ12 Jonny EdgarMP Motorsport20 Disqualified14Fastest lap set by Luke Browning: 1:34.880 (lap 18)Source:
Notes – Franco Colapinto, Mari Boya and Jonny Edgar all have been disqualified from the Sprint Race as it was found the suspension keels on all three MP Motorsport cars did not conform to regulations. Colapinto had finished the race in first place, so following his disqualification Zak O'Sullivan inherited the win and Luke Browning was credited with the fastest lap. However, Christian Mansell received the fastest lap point as he posted the fastest lap among the drivers classified among the top ten.
Feature race
DriverTeamLapsTime/Gap15 Gabriel BortoletoTrident23 43:41.950125 (2)28 Grégoire SaucyART Grand Prix23 +0.596218 (1)315 Gabriele MinìHitech Pulse-Eight23 +3.03231544 Leonardo FornaroliTrident23 +3.21641253 Zak O'SullivanPrema Racing23 +3.56451061 Paul AronPrema Racing23 +4.39368723 Pepe MartíCampos Racing23 +8.738306816 Luke BrowningHitech Pulse-Eight23 +9.19194927 Taylor BarnardJenzer Motorsport23 +13.5891821024 Christian MansellCampos Racing23 +14.3561311112 Jonny EdgarMP Motorsport23 +14.928141219 Tommy SmithVan Amersfoort Racing23 +15.58227132 Dino BeganovicPrema Racing23 +18.55781420 Oliver GrayRodin Carlin23 +18.766211525 Hugh BarterCampos Racing23 +19.034221617 Caio ColletVan Amersfoort Racing23 +19.426101721 Hunter YeanyRodin Carlin23 +19.645251829 Sophia FlörschPHM Racing by Charouz23 +23.606231918 Rafael VillagómezVan Amersfoort Racing23 +28.676192028 Alex GarcíaJenzer Motorsport23 +30.03529219 Nikola TsolovART Grand Prix23 +30.06415226 Oliver GoetheTrident23 +56.084112326 Nikita BedrinJenzer Motorsport22 Accident20DNF22 Ido CohenRodin Carlin11 Collision damage28DNF30 Roberto FariaPHM Racing by Charouz8 Collision24DNF31 Piotr WiśnickiPHM Racing by Charouz6 Accident26DNF7 Kaylen FrederickART Grand Prix4 Collision damage17DNF10 Franco ColapintoMP Motorsport1 Collision7 DNF11 Mari BoyaMP Motorsport1 Accident16DNF14 Sebastián MontoyaHitech Pulse-Eight0 Collision damage12Fastest lap set by Grégoire Saucy: 1:34.405 (lap 17)Source:
Notes – Luke Browning originally finished sixth, but was later given a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Franco Colapinto, dropping him down to eighth. – Dino Beganovic originally finished eighth, but was later given a ten-second time-penalty for causing a collision with Caio Collet, dropping him out of the points in thirteenth. – Nikita Bedrin retired from the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Standings after the event
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Gabriel Bortoleto 58 3 2 Grégoire Saucy 38 3 Dino Beganovic 28 7 4 Gabriele Minì 28 1 5 Pepe Martí 25 Teams' Championship standings Team Points 1 Trident 100 2 Prema Racing 70 2 3 Hitech Pulse-Eight 54 1 4 ART Grand Prix 45 1 5 Campos Racing 29
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also 2023 Australian Grand Prix 2023 Melbourne Formula 2 round
Notes
References
External links Official website