Race Report
Formula 1 Grosser Preis von Oesterreich 2023
FIA F3 CHAMPIONSHIP
Circuit: RedBull Ring (A), Length 4,326 km, 30th June – 2nd July 2023, Rounds 9 + 10
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JENZER MOTORSPORT 2023:
Nikita Bedrin (ITA), Taylor Barnard (GB), Alejandro Garcia (MEX)
Track limit penalties at the RedBull Ring
The 2023 FIA F3 circus met up for the fifth event of the season as they ran as part of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Austria on the demanding circuit of the RedBull Ring. Although weather conditions were challenging during the event it was again very clear just how close the competition is within this highly competitive field.
Qualifying
Friday, 30/06/23, 15.00 – 15.30, Weather: Cloudy, 28°C
Action started on Friday morning with the practice session. As soon as the lights went out, our drivers wasted no time and went out to get a first feeling of the track in the powerful F3 machines. When the field made its way out with a fresh set of tyres, lap times started improving. Taylor took a brilliant 2nd place, while Nikita was in 14th position and Alejandro in 24th. Not much later, in the middle of the afternoon, the qualifying got underway in hot conditions. With two sets of tyres, our drivers completed the first run with Taylor in 10th position, followed by Nikita in 15th place and Alejandro in 23rd. Traffic during the session was very challenging, but Nikita managed a great lap which placed him in 5th place! Unfortunately, his lap time was deleted due to track limits and Nikita dropped down to 22nd position. Several lap times were deleted for the same reason throughout the field. In the end, Taylor was in 18th place, while Alejandro was listed in 27th position.
| Race One Grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Josep Maria Marti (E) | Campos | |
| 2nd | Gabriele Mini (I) | Hitech | |
| 3rd | Christian Mansell (GB) | Campos | |
| 4th | Kaylen Frederick (USA) | ART | |
| 5th | Oliver Goethe (D) | Trident | |
| 6th | Franco Colapinto (ARG) | MP | |
| 18th | Taylor Barnard (GB) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 22nd | Nikita Bedrin (I) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| 27th | Alejandro Garcia (MEX) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| Race Two Grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Gregoire Saucy (CH) | ART | 1:20.474 |
| 2nd | Dino Beganovic (SWE) | Prema | 1:20.461 |
| 3rd | Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA) | Trident | 1:20.474 |
| 18th | Taylor Barnard (GB) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:21.127 |
| 22nd | Nikita Bedrin (I) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:21.320 |
| 27th | Alejandro Garcia (MEX) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:21.934 |
FIA F3 Championship
Race One (Sprint-Race, 40 Minutes)
Saturday, 01/07/23, 10.00, Weather: Rain, 16°C
The rain was pouring down on Saturday morning when the cars made their way to the grid for the start of the Sprint Race. After two formation laps behind the Safety Car, the race director decided for a standing start. From 18th place on the grid, unfortunately Taylor stalled and was pushed back in the pitlane by the Marshalls. He was then able to join the race from there, but was two laps down. Nevertheless he finished the race and reached the checkered lap in 27th position. Alejandro was not very fortunate either as he was involved in a contact in the opening lap and had to pit and retire his car due to the damages. Nikita got off well at the start and was up to 17th place soon. Conditions were very wet and there was a lot of spray, which made it not easy for the drivers. An incident brought out the Safety Car on lap 11. When the race restarted, Nikita made a stellar start and managed to overtake several cars. With this he was up in 13th place. The battles were fierce despite the difficult conditions and sometimes wheel to wheel, Nikita fought hard until the checkered flag. He crossed the line in 17th position. Following a 10 second time penalty for a contact in the race, Nikita dropped down the order in the results list to 25th place.
| Results Race One | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Paul Aron (EST) | Prema | 33.18.970 | |
| 2nd | Gabriele Mini (I) | Hitech | Gap | 1.469 |
| 3rd | Caio Collet (BRA) | Van Amersfoort | Gap | 4.978 |
| 25th | Nikita Bedrin (I) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 27th | Taylor Barnard (GB) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| DNF: | Alejandro Garcia (MEX) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Paul Aron (EST) in 1:33.061 | ||||
FIA F3 Championship
Race Two (Feature Race, 45 Minutes)
Sunday, 02/07/23, 08.25, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C
Early on Sunday morning the 30 drivers met for the feature race. Unfortunately, Nikita and Alejandro had to start from the pitlane as a technical issue prevented them to make their way to the grid in time. When the lights went out, Taylor got away well from 18th place and moved up to 16th position by the end of the opening lap. Nikita and Alejandro were catching up with the field. A Safety Car briefly neutralized the race, but unfortunately an infringement during this period meant Alejandro received a 10 second stop and go penalty and rejoined at the back of the field. After the race resumed, Taylor soon moved up to 15th place, then lap after lap steadily up until he was in 12th place, with the points clearly in his reach. Nikita was able to overtake cars as well. He made no mistakes and was progressing steadily and was soon up in 22nd place. Nikita avoided all incidents and moved further up the order until he found himself in 16th position, directly behind his teammate. Taylor had fallen back after some wide moment and was now running in 15th place. Tyre degradation was a key factor in this race, as a lot of graining was affecting the drivers’ tyres. Behind him them Alejandro was trying to recover as many positions as possible. When the checkered flag waved, Taylor crossed the finish line in 15th place followed closely by Nikita in 16th position after a very well recovered race. Alejandro managed to take 24th place.
After the race several time penalties were handed out and Floersch was disqualified because of a technical nonconformity. With that Taylor and Nikita moved up to positions 12 and 13 respectively and Alejandro was now 23rd.
| Results Race Two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Zak O’Sullivan (GB) | Prema | 37:59.535 | |
| 2nd | Gabriele Bortoletto (BRA) | Trident | Gap | 0.844 |
| 3rd | Caio Collet (BRA) | Van Amersfoort | Gap | 1.696 |
| 12th | Taylor Barnard (GB) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 13th | Nikita Bedrin (I) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 23rd | Alejandro Garcia (MEX) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Dino Beganovic (S) in 1:22.774 | ||||
We are looking forward to the next race meeting which will be held in one weeks time, on the weekend of the 9th July 2023 in Silverstone in Great Britain.
Championship standings after 10 out of 18 races:
1st Gabriel Bortoleto, (BRA), 111 points: 2nd Dino Beganovic (S), 75 points; 3rd Zak O’Sullivan (GB), 73 points; 4th Josep Maria Marti (E), 73 points; 5th Gabriele Mini (I)),65 points; 6th Paul Aron (EST), 65 points; 14th 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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