Formula 3 heats up as Gabriel Bortoleto takes Australian feature race victory
Gabriel Bortoleto took his second Formula 3 victory of the year in Melbourne as the Albert Park circuit continued to provide drama-filled racing.
Gabriel Bortoleto celebrates his feature race victory in Melbourne. (Formula Motorsport Limited)
The Brazilian led the pack away from pole position and kept his rivals at bay in the incident-heavy race.
He took victory ahead of Grégoire Saucy and Gabriele Miní to establish his streak of winning every feature race from the two rounds so far this year.
“P1 in the Feature Race today, very very happy," he said.
"It was a tough race, Grégoire was quick behind me. I had to do a race without many mistakes. We have done it, the car was great and thank you to everyone supporting me this weekend.”
Bortoleto was calm and composed at the start with the field following him fairly calmly for the first half of the lap.
Australian Christian Mansell ran wide and was briefly airborne, catching the curbs as he rejoined the track.
The Campos driver was once again the centre of attention in turn 11 as he came together with Sebastían Montoya in a racing incident, with the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver retiring from the race.
On the next lap it was Franco Colapinto on a charge, claiming seventh from Luke Browning before making contact, sustaining a puncture which left him stranded at turn five.
Further up the track, Spaniard Mari Boya made contact with Nikola Tsolov in the high-speed section of Lakeside Drive, airborne across the gravel and into the wall at turn nine.
The safety car was deployed but did little to calm the field, with Kaylen Frederick locking up and slamming into the rear of Tsolov while the track was neutralised.
The order was Bortoleto, Saucy, Miní at the restart, with the Spaniard dragging the Swiss driving along with the DRS advantage.
A littany of incidents scrambled the order in the mid-field in the hot and sunny conditions, with Pepe Martí cutting his way through the pack after starting last on the grid.
Ido Cohen hit the wall at the exit of turn three after contact with Rafael Villagómez, bringing out the safety car once again.
Bortoleto was unphased at the restart, once again chased down by Saucy but pulling away from Miní and the chasing pack to take the chequered flag.
Gregoire Saucy, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Gabriel Mini celebrate in Melbourne. (Formula Motorsport Limited)
Martí was ninth by the flag, with Christian Mansell just out of the points in P11.
Fellow Aussies Tommy Smith and Hugh Barter finished in P13 and P15 respectively.
Bortoleto holds a clear lead of the championship on 58 points, with Saucy in second on 38 points ahead of Beganovic and Miní.
Christian Mansell is the leading Aussie in P15 after being promoted to ninth in Saturday's sprint race.
The FIA Formula 3 field will return in Barcelona for testing before heading to Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on 20-21 May.
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2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship - Round 2 Australia Feature Race
Gabriel Bortoleto
Gregoire Saucy
Gabriele Mini
Leonardo Fornaroli
Zak O’Sullivan
Luke Browning
Paul Aron
Dino Beganovic
Josep Maria Marti
Taylor Barnard
Christian Mansell (AUS)
Jonny Edgar
Tommy Smith (AUS)
Oliver Gray
Hugh Barter (AUS)
Caio Collet
Hunter Yeany
Sophia Floersch
Rafael Villagomez
Alejandro Garcia
Nikola Tsolov
Oliver Goethe
Nikita Bedrin
Ido Cohen - DNF
Roberto Faria - DNF
Piotr Wisnicki - DNF
Kaylen Frederick - DNF
Franco Colapinto - DNF
Mari Boya - DNF
Sebastian Montoya - DNF
