Gabriel Bortoleto won the Formula 3 feature race in Bahrain despite crossing the line behind Gabriele Mini as the race finished behind the Safety Car.
The Hitech Grand Prix driver crossed the line in first but a five-second time penalty for a starting grid infringement by his team sent him to eighth.Mini was on course to finish at least third before the Safety Car was deployed on the penultimate lap. However Tommy Smith’s late retirement meant the race had to be neutralised, the pack bunched up and Mini’s five-second penalty became more costly.
Oliver Goethe followed team mate Bortoleto home to secure a one-two for Trident. Dino Beganovic completed the feature race podium.
After Pepe Marti won on a partially reversed grid yesterday, the cars lined up to the order they finished in qualifying. Mini, who finished 20th in the sprint race, started from pole position.
However the Alpine junior driver made a poor start and lost the lead heading into turn one, Bortoleto lunging down the inside. Things soon got worse for Mini as Gregoire Saucy overtook him around the outside of turn seven on the opening lap for second.
The battle continued as Saucy and Mini engaged in a wheel-to-wheel scrap for the whole of lap three. The following lap, the pole winner regained second around the outside of turn four by using DRS down the straight.
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But this battle allowed Bartoleto to build a lead of up to 3.5 seconds. However he lost that advantage when the Safety Car was deployed on lap seven, as Mari Boya spun out of the race after hitting Smith at turn eight.
On the lap 10 restart, Mini regained the lead after overtaking Bortoleto through the quick bends of turn five and six. But around the same time word was given of his five-second penalty.
While Bortoleto stayed within a second of Mini for the following laps, there was a change for third place. On lap 15, Goethe overtook Saucy down the start-finish straight with the help of DRS.
Mini never pulled far enough ahead to overcome his five-second penalty. But his position became far worse on the penultimate lap when Smith and Roberto Faria tangled at turn one.
With Mini relegated to eighth, Bortoleto inherited the win ahead of Goethe and Beganovic and takes the early lead in the championship. Saucy finished fourth ahead of Luke Browning, Marti, Frederick and the luckless Mini. Sebastian Montoya and Paul Aron completed the top 10.
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Formula 3 Bahrain race two results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident |
| 2 | 6 | Oliver Goethe | Trident |
| 3 | 2 | Dino Beganovic | Prema |
| 4 | 8 | Gregoire Saucy | ART |
| 5 | 16 | Luke Browning | Hitech |
| 6 | 23 | Pepe Martí | Campos |
| 7 | 7 | Kaylen Frederick | ART |
| 8 | 15 | Gabriele Minì | Hitech |
| 9 | 14 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech |
| 10 | 1 | Paul Aron | Prema |
| 11 | 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP |
| 12 | 3 | Zak O’Sullivan | Prema |
| 13 | 24 | Christian Mansell | Campos |
| 14 | 17 | Caio Collet | Van Amersfoort |
| 15 | 9 | Nikola Tsolov | ART |
| 16 | 27 | Alexander Smolyar | MP |
| 17 | 26 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer |
| 18 | 20 | Oliver Gray | Rodin Carlin |
| 19 | 22 | Ido Cohen | Rodin Carlin |
| 20 | 18 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| 21 | 29 | Sophia Floersch | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 22 | 21 | Hunter Yeany | Rodin Carlin |
| 23 | 12 | Jonny Edgar | MP |
| 24 | 31 | Piotr Wiśnicki | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 25 | 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 26 | 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos |
| 27 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident |
| 28 | 19 | Tom Smith | Van Amersfoort |
| 29 | 28 | Alejandro García | Jenzer |
| 30 | 11 | Mari Boya | MP |
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Formula 3
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- Beganovic passes Fornaroli and Mini for Australia feature race victory
- Red Bull junior driver’s track limits penalty cancelled by stewards
- Stenshorne holds off Lindblad for first F3 win in sprint race
- Fornaroli pips Mini in late scramble for pole after Meguetounif crash
Miane
5th March 2023, 11:54
Bortoleto deserved the win, but Mini also deserved at least a podium, sad for him. But it’s only the first weekend, his pace is promissing. Bortoleto good run was expected in my opinion, he always had good pace in previous seasons and now he’s in a top team.
Dex
5th March 2023, 14:04
I don’t see a thing Mini’s done wrong, he was in front of Bertoleto and he’s the one who deserved the win; at least speaking of the drivers and their efforts. It’s only his team that failed him. But I don’t see how Bertoleto deserves the win more, if he was behind…
Nimba (@nimba)
5th March 2023, 19:28
FiA could be more lenient in such a tight field to award a 2.5 sec penalty instead of full 5 sec like in F1. This is F3, they are bound to finish closer.