Movers and shakers in Monte Carlo: F3 Weekend Wrap-Up

30 May 2023

There really is nowhere else quite like Monte Carlo, but who has left the Principality feeling fresh and who will be aiming to bounce back in Barcelona?

Here is a team-by-team round-up following Round 4 of the 2023 FIA Formula 3 season.

STEADY PROGRESS

His lead in the Drivers’ Championship fell by just three points and that is not a bad result for Gabriel Bortoleto. The Brazilian claimed another two points-scoring finishes with sixth and fifth places on Saturday and Sunday, extending his streak of finishing in the top six to five races in a row. Only Grégoire Saucy has a stronger points-scoring record this year, and it’s the kind of consistency that can build a driver’s Championship hopes.

Teammate Leonardo Fornaroli secured his maiden F3 podium in the Sprint Race with P2, while Oliver Goethe struggled to match his teammates’ performances around the streets. The good news for Trident is the team has never started a Formula 3 season as strong as it has done in 2023. The Italian team has more points this year than ever before after six races in the Championship. A slight worry might be the form of closest rivals, PREMA Racing…

BACK ON TOP FORM

It was a weekend that was much closer to what PREMA Racing is truly capable of in FIA Formula 3. The Italian team experienced its strongest Feature Race result of the season so far, with a double podium courtesy of Dino Beganovic and Paul Aron in second and third places respectively. The Swede finally put together a clean weekend from start to finish, securing a result that reflects his true pace better. Aron achieved his best result of the campaign in third place and was fighting for pole position on Friday with Beganovic, a marked step forward for the Estonian after the flyaway races that kicked off the campaign.

PREMA more than halved the gap in the Teams’ Standings to leaders Trident, with the deficit now at 14 points between them. One lap pace looks to be at its strongest so far in 2023 for all three PREMA drivers and the return to European tracks, ones in which all the drivers have far more experience of, should only boost performances further.

A LOT OF POTENTIAL

All three Hitech Pulse-Eight drivers looked fast at various stages of the Monte Carlo race weekend. Luke Browning and Sebastián Montoya were pushing one another for provisional pole in Group A in Qualifying, while Gabriele Minì put on a clinic in Group B to leave rivals well adrift. It might be a slight disappointment then leaving the Principality with just a single podium finish, courtesy of Minì’s mature drive to victory on Sunday, his maiden F3 success.

Browning was sure a better result was lost after missing out on the top spot in Group A by just 0.003s in Qualifying. Montoya had great race pace, but his race came undone during his scrap with Caio Collet in the Feature Race after contact. Minì’s dominance on Sunday will be a worry for his rivals heading to Barcelona at the weekend. Interestingly though, the Spanish circuit was one of only three venues that he didn’t achieve a podium finish last year in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, a fact he’ll be itching to put right this season.

AIMING HIGHER

Formula 3’s only driver with a 100% scoring rate so far in 2023, Grégoire Saucy kept himself out of trouble to take P3 in the Sprint Race, his second rostrum appearance in a row. Difficult Qualifying results for all three ART Grand Prix drivers though made things tough for the French squad around a circuit like Monaco.

Teammates Nikola Tsolov and Kaylen Frederick endured contrasting fortunes in their efforts across the weekend. The young Bulgarian driver narrowly missed out on points on Sunday, finishing P11 and half a second behind teammate Saucy, while Frederick fell to 25th in the Feature Race. Looking to next weekend in Barcelona, scene of his clean sweep in Spanish Formula 4 last season, Tsolov could be one to keep an eye on. All three will be targeting a better time of it this weekend.

CLIMBING UP THE ORDER

With just a single finish outside of the top 10 all year, Josep María Martí is leading the Campos Racing charge in 2023. With his win in the Monte Carlo Sprint Race and more points on Sunday, the Spaniard is now sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, 10 points from Saucy in P3. It was a stellar drive from reverse grid pole as he notched up a comfortable winning margin by the end ahead of Fornaroli.

Teammates Hugh Barter and Christian Mansell endured tougher weekends, leaving Monaco without adding to their respective points totals. Returning to home soil though around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Campos will be hoping to emulate scenes from a year ago, as David Vidales held off Jak Crawford for a memorable home victory in the 2022 Sprint Race. Can compatriot Martí do the same this time around? On current form, you wouldn’t bet against it.

WEAR AND TEAR

Monte Carlo’s layout ordinarily means there is less stress placed on the tyres than traditional venues on the F3 calendar. At MP Motorsport though, Franco Colapinto said that degradation was the limiting factor for the Dutch squad across the race weekend. Spins for Mari Boya and Jonny Edgar in Free Practice were evidence of a tricky start to the weekend. Colapinto added two points scoring finishes to his record, but the team is struggling comparatively to 12 months ago.

MP currently has less than half the total points at the same stage it did last year. Heading to Barcelona next weekend, a track that is more conducive to overtaking, Colapinto and Co will be aiming for much stronger results across the board, something all three drivers and the team are capable of.

STEPS FORWARD

Following a positive mid-season test earlier in the year, Jenzer Motorsport arrived in Monte Carlo with high hopes. Round 4 represented the team’s strongest weekend so far this year, with Taylor Barnard securing two points finishes while Nikita Bedrin achieved his best finish in 2023 so far in P12. The Briton was happy after stepping out of the car post-Qualifying, pleased that their testing pace had carried through into the race weekend.

Heading back to a venue the team tested at prior to Monte Carlo, Jenzer will continue to raise expectations after positive signs last month in testing. Improvements in one lap pace will certainly go a long way to helping their drivers achieve better results and on the evidence Barnard provided in Monaco, it’s an attainable goal heading into Barcelona.

BUILDING EXPERIENCES

Limited by a lack of experience relative to rivals, Tommy Smith and Rafael Villagómez were able to survive tricky races, achieving strong pace along the way to respectable finishes having qualified outside of the top 20. Villagómez pulled off one of the finer overtakes of the weekend on Hugh Barter at Rascasse, while Smith battled away for P15 in the Feature Race. Both gained important experience and some momentum heading into Barcelona.

Caio Collet’s weekend fell away on Sunday following contact with Hitech’s Montoya. It was the third race in a row that Collet had been set for a strong result, but sustained contact that took potential points away. Despite that, Van Amersfoort Racing was satisfied with the pace, even if the result wasn’t what it had hoped for overall.

A NEW CHALLENGE

For the Rodin Carlin trio, Monte Carlo was a mixed experience on a difficult weekend for the team. Oliver Gray, Hunter Yeany and Ido Cohen each experienced Monte Carlo for the first time and gained vital experience that will come in use throughout the remainder of the year.

Cohen and Yeany have prior experience of the upcoming Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but for Gray it will be the fourth new circuit he samples out of four this season. All things considered, the Briton is doing a fine job building up his knowledge bank and making the chequered flag in all the races so far in 2023.

MOVING ON

A difficult weekend made tougher by a breach of Operational Staff Regulations, PHM Racing by Charouz will be looking to move on quickly and refocus on Barcelona. With Monaco representing a true one-off on the F3 calendar in terms of challenge and layout, this weekend will be a return to the norm. That should only help PHM as they aim to get their season back on track at the earliest opportunity.