Trident Motorsport takes P2 with Bortoleto, P7 with Fornaroli in Silverstone Race 1 on a wet track as the Brazilian increases his championship lead

The FIA Formula 3 Championship is back on stage at one of its most renowned and traditional venues, Silverstone Circuit, which is home to the sixth round of the season. Trident Motorsport repeatedly achieved outstanding results at the track located in Northamptonshire. And it did so again in the 2023 Sprint Race, despite a downpour of rain, which fell just before the halfway point of the race, reshuffled the values in the field, and forced the technical staff of the team to choose different strategies.

Some drivers returned to the pits to put rain tires on, while others stayed on the track. The changing weather conditions rewarded those who chose not to re-enter the pit lane, continuing the race on dry tires despite the fact that the asphalt was becoming conspicuously wet.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Leonardo Fornaroli, who were asked by Trident Motorsport's technical staff not to re-enter the pit lane, took a brilliant P2 and a solid P7 respectively, which strengthened their respective positions in the driver ranking.

Oliver Goethe, who instead switched to rain tires, was unable to slot into the top ten. Second place allowed Bortoleto to increase his advantage at the top of the championship standings, where the 18-year-old now sits with a 44-point lead over his closest rival. The five points achieved enable Fornaroli to take ninth place in the overall standings, while Goethe remains 13th.

In today's Sprint Race, Bortoleto started from P8 on the grid, while Fornaroli, who claimed pole in qualifying, took off from P12 on the reverse grid. Regarding the team championship, Trident Motorsport trimmed its gap to the lead to just 28 points Now the drivers of the team based in Milan will analyze the data collected today with their technical staff in the usual preparation work for the Feature Race, scheduled at 8:20 tomorrow, will wrap up the FIA Formula 3 Championship weekend in Silverstone.

Giacomo Ricci

Team Manager, Trident Motorsport

"We are satisfied with the outcome of today's race. The run was affected by rain, which reshuffled the values on the field, inducing the pit wall of some teams to call their drivers back for rain tyres. That choice was not rewarded: the asphalt soon dried and rewarded those who had decided to keep their cars on-track with dry tires. This is the case of Gabriel Bortoleto and Leonardo Fornaroli, who started respectively from P8 and P12 on the grid, and delivered a convincing comeback thanks to an excellent race pace and a race devoid of the slightest mistake. The Brazilian climbed up to P2, which extended his championship lead to 44 point. Also deserving of praise is Fornaroli, who finished seventh, while, with Goethe, the choice of making the tire change was not a rewarding one. We are happy with the race pace shown by our cars, which we aim to confirm in tomorrow morning's Feature Race as well."