Race Report
Formula 1 British Grand Prix 2023
FIA F3 CHAMPIONSHIP
Circuit: Silverstone (GB), Length 5.901 km, 7th - 9th July 2023, Rounds 11 + 12
www.silverstone.co.uk
JENZER MOTORSPORT 2023:
Nikita Bedrin (ITA), Taylor Barnard (GB), Alejandro Garcia (MEX)
Barnard with podium chance in Silverstone
The FIA F3 Championship took part in its fourth event in the Formula 1 program of the 2023 Formula 1 British Grand Prix on the demanding, fast track in Silverstone (GB). As usual, Silverstone delivered an amazing atmosphere with a lot of passionate fans showing up to support their heroes. Competition was tough and everybody gave it their best shot to try and shine.
Qualifying
Friday, 07/07/23, 15.10 – 15.40, Weather: Sunny, 25°C
The weekend got underway on Friday under a sunny and cloudless sky. The morning practice session was crucial for our drivers as they have never raced in Silverstone before. When the lights went green on the session, Nikita, Taylor and Alejandro were keen to get their first taste of the circuit. Taylor took 15th place, with Nikita in 22nd and Alejandro in 30th. The qualifying session got started in much warmer temperatures later on Friday afternoon. Taylor managed to put together a brilliant lap and qualified in 10th position, gaining the reverse 3rd spot for the Sprint race. Nikita and Alejandro had a trickier session, with a lot of traffic affecting their lap times. Nikita got 19th place, while Alejandro took 27th.
| Race One Grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sebastian Montoya (COL) | Hitech | |
| 2nd | Jonny Edgar (GB) | MP | |
| 3rd | Taylor Barnard (GB) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 4th | Franco Colapinto (ARG) | MP | |
| 5th | Luke Browning (GB) | Hitech | |
| 6th | Gabriele Mini (I) | Hitech | |
| 19th | Nikita Bedrin (I) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 27th | Alejandro Garcia (MEX) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| Race Two Grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Leonardo Fornaroli (I) | Trident | 1:45.520 |
| 2nd | Oliver Goethe (D) | Trident | 1:45.646 |
| 3rd | Josep Maria Marti (E) | Campos | 1:45.874 |
| 10th | Taylor Barnard (GB) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:46.155 |
| 19th | Nikita Bedrin (I) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:46.732 |
| 27th | Alejandro Garcia (MEX) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:47.560 |
FIA F3 Championship
Race One (Sprint-Race, 40 Minutes)
Saturday, 08/07/23, 09.20, Weather: Rain, 22°C
Overnight the familiar Silverstone weather returned, bringing the first drops of rain just as the FIA F3s were on the grid. After a short wait, the race started anyway, and 29 of 30 vehicles started on slick tyres. Taylor got off to a good start and snagged Colapinto on the first turn to move into 2nd place behind Montoya. Everything was going well, Taylor showed strong pacee and stayed close to Montoya when it started to rain on lap 6. Nikita also had a good start, defending his 17th place so far. Alejandro, on the other hand, had lost places due to a spin on the first lap and was in 30th place, some distance from the field. On lap 7, the safety car took over the field as a quick shower descended on the track. Soon several drivers were coming to the pit lane to have rain tyres fitted, including Nikita. The safety car stayed out until lap 11. At the restart it became apparent that two thirds of the field were now driving on rain tyres, but the first ten of the classification were on slicks. Montoya accelerated, Taylor was very close. The accident happened in the first corner, Taylor ran into Montoya and Montoya immediately fell back. Taylor stayed in 3rd place first, but had made another contact during the events and now had to pit with a flat rear left tyre. With that, the podium and good points that were within reach were lost. Nikita was now fighting for positions with the rain tyres. The rain actually lessend and the track began to dry quickly. There were some position changes throughout the field, but it turned out that the slick tyres were actually the right choice. Alejandro started a heated comeback on lap 12 and made it up to a sensational 11th place. Only one driver with rain tyres was ahead of him at that point. One more lap and Alejandro would have made the top ten! Nikita, on the other hand, just managed to limit the damage and finished in 18th place. Taylor went on track again, but it wasn’t possible to make up any places in the remaining time for him and he finished 30th.
| Results Race One | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Franco Colapinto (ARG) | MP | 37.17.100 | |
| 2nd | Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA) | Trident | Gap | 3.730 |
| 3rd | Christian Mansell (GB) | Campos | Gap | 5.840 |
| 11th | Alejandro Garcia (MEX) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 19th | Nikita Bedrin (I) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 30th | Taylor Barnard (GB) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Leonardo Fornaroli (I) in 1:48.617 | ||||
FIA F3 Championship
Race Two (Feature Race, 45 Minutes)
Sunday, 09/07/23, 08.20, Weather: Cloudy, 16°C
The main race started early on Sunday morning in front of already a large crowd, but under a dark gray sky. Taylor got off to a good start and held 10th position. Nikita managed to avoid an accident and move up to 13th place. Alejandro held 27th place. The Safety Car had to lead the field for a few laps as the track had to be cleared. At the restart, Saucy was close behind Taylor. As Taylor lost momentum, Saucy managed to get past Taylor. Taylor was now 11th. In subsequent laps, Taylor dropped back to 18th place. Then the dark clouds opened and rain started to fall over Silverstone in typical english fashion, the first accident happened and the safety car took over the field. Nikita was 14th at the time and Alejandro was 25th. After the restart, there were three laps to go. Two drivers out of 30 had meanwhile switched to rain tyres and were now making progress. The track was a bit slippery, but the majority of the field didn't decide to change tyres. After the final sprint, Nikita crossed the finish line in 18th place, Taylor in 22nd place and Alejandro in 26th place. After the race a few penalties were handed out and Nikita and Taylor moved up one place each in the results list as a consequence.
| Results Race Two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Oliver Goethe (D) | Trident | 47:40.009 | |
| 2nd | Leonardo Fornaroli (I) | Trident | Gap | 1.720 |
| 3rd | Josep Maria Marti (E) | Campos | Gap | 2.128 |
| 17th | Nikita Bedrin (I) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 21st | Taylor Barnard (GB) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 26th | Alejandro Garcia (MEX) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Josep Maria Marti (E) in 1:47.425 | ||||
We are looking forward to the next race meeting which will be held on the weekend of the 23rd July 2023 at the Hungaroring near Budapest (HU).
Championship standings after 12 out of 18 races:
1st Gabriel Bortoleto, (BRA), 128 points; 2nd Josep Maria Marti (E), 92 points; 3rd Gabriele Mini (I), 77 points; 4th Paul Aron (EST), 77 points; 5th Dino Beganovic (S), 75 points; 6th Franco Colapinto (ARG), 74 points; 16th Taylor Barnard (GB), 16 points, 21st Nikita Bedrin (I), 1 point
Nikita Bedrin (ITA)
Taylor Barnard (GB)
Alejandro Garcia (MEX)
2023 FIA F3 Championship
| 3-5 March | 2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix | Sakhir (BHR) |
| 31 March - 2. April | 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix | Melbourne (AUS) |
| 19-21 May | 2023 Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix1) | Imola (I) |
| 26-28 May | 2023 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix | Monte Carlo (MC) |
| 2-4 June | 2023 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix | Barcelona (E) |
| 30 June - 2 July | 2023 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix | RedBull Ring (A) |
| 7-9 July | 2023 Formula 1 British Grand Prix | Silverstone (GB) |
| 21-23 July | 2023 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungaroring (HU) |
| 28-30 July | 2023 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps (B) |
| 1-3 September | 2023 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix | Monza (I) |
1) Cancelled after heavy flooding in the region
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