After three exciting days with fifteen hours on the track, the Formula 3 testing at the Bahrain International Circuit has come to an end – but who looks to be going into the 2023 season strong?
Taking place from Tuesday until today, the ten competing teams had the chance to put laps in ahead of the season opener in Sakhir, Bahrain, which will kick off a 9-round 18-race season. Trident, Hitech Pulse-Eight and Jenzer Motorsport were sporting an all-rookie lineup this week in testing.
Eighteen rookies drove alongside 12 established names while new team PHM Racing by Charouz look to make a good impression. Luke Browning found himself in a Hitech Pulse-Eight car this week, but the Brit is yet to be confirmed to have the car for the upcoming season
Looking ahead, the drivers will be put to the test this year with races being held in Melbourne and the notoriously tricky Monaco for the first time in F3 history. Who looks to be an early leader this season after the first few hours on track?
Day 1 – Who hit the ground running in Sakhir?
Tommy Smith of Van Amersfoort Racing was the first driver to put a time on the board on day 1, with teams seemingly playing the long game. Smith’s lap remained the only lap posted for the first hour. Even heading into the last hour of morning practice, only three other drivers completed a timed lap before things started to heat up on track. With just over half an hour left of the session, drivers began to log laps in the 1.50.00s, but it was ART Grand Prix’s Grégoire Saucy who topped the times with a 1.51.155.
A much faster afternoon session followed, with all teams except Hitech Pulse-Eight heading straight onto the track. Rookie Gabriele Minì posted the fastest lap, and then bettered his winning time twice over by the time the session entered its last hour. It was then PREMA Racing’s turn to shoot up the ranks; Paul Aron posted a lap just 0.033s off of Minì’s time before taking the top spot with 1.47.889. However, it was Saucy once again who proved fastest, posting 1.47.567. Josep María Martí ended the session in third behind Minì.
Day 2: The times keep tumbling in Bahrain
Sophia Flörsch was first to leave the garages on the second day of testing as teams opted to get laps in early. Gabriele Bortoleto was the quickest in the opening minutes, with yesterday’s fastest driver Saucy hot on his heels in second; however he didn’t waste time in regaining his spot at the top posting 1.46.697 before shaving another 0.055s of his own time.
The first and only red flag of the morning came after Alejandro García stopped on track. Once the flag was back to green, Dino Beganovic, Gabriele Minì and Bortoleto were almost inseparable in second, third and fourth respectively. Franco Colapinto moved himself into fifth, but with rising temperatures rising as midday approached the focus moved to long runs and few more personal bests were posted. Saucy’s time remained unbeaten until the chequered flag.
The afternoon session seen the second red flag of the day as early leader Gregoire Saucy stopping on track, but both the session and Saucy were soon underway again. Josep María Martí broke into the 1.49s before the session stopped once again due to Oliver Gray pulling off of the circuit. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Tommy Smith and Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli battled for first place, taking it in turns to lead into the final hour of the day.
As the sun began to set in Bahrain, times began to improve again and Saucy put the earlier red flag behind him to sit second behind rookie Minì. Montoya, Collet and Beganovic rounded out the top five.
Day 3: A dramatic end to the final session
The final four-hour extended session in Bahrain capped off pre-season testing, giving teams one more chance to prepare ahead of the first round of the championship. Rafael Villagómez kicked it off by taking the lead in the early laps before swiftly being outpaced by Saucy with a 1.47.610. Bortoleto was next to the summit with a lap just under a tenth clear of Saucy, with PREMA’s Paul Aron sitting in third by the end of the first hour. Hugh Barter and Dino Beganovic rounded out the top five.
By the halfway point of the race, Saucy remained in third to Bortoleto and Minì while the Swiss driver and ART’s other drivers Kaylen Frederick and Nikola Tsolov sat in ninth and tenth after eighty laps ran collectively. Caio Collet was first to hit 50 laps in his Van Amersfoort Racing car with half an hour left to run as drivers prepared for their final laps on track.
Sophia Flörsch stopped by the side of the track in the last five minutes of racing, causing a red flag ultimately leading to the end of F3 testing; the session restarted with two minutes to go but no drivers returned to the track. Bortoleto remained on top, with Minì in second and Saucy taking third. Collet finished the session with 61 laps completed: the most of any driver.
The first round of Formula 3 will take place in Sakhir from 3 – 5 March.
[Featured Image Courtesy of Alex Pantling – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images]