2023 saw the Formula 3 championship visit 9 different countries, with 18 races from the streets of Melbourne to the deserts of Bahrain and saw 10 teams with more than 30 drivers competing in it. Many of the talented young drivers on the 2023 grid are now signing contracts with F2 teams as we look back on some of the best moments of a thrilling F3 season.

Heartbreak for Mini in Bahrain

The season got underway in Bahrain with alpine junior driver Gabrielle Mini lining up on pole position, for what was his first F3 race. Mini got overtaken by Gabrielle Bortoleto at turn one, putting him in second. Mini would overtake Bortoleto for the lead on lap 10, however the excitement of leading his first F3 race quickly turned to upset as he was handed a 5 second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement.

This gave Mini the near impossible task of creating a 5 second gap to the Bortoleto in second, if he wanted any chance of winning the race. Try as he might, he could break free of Bortoleto, with the penalty dropping him down to 4th place, which would still be a great result. However on the penultimate lap, Alejandro Garcia had a crash which brought out the safety car, bunching the field up. This meant that Mini crossed the line in first but his 5 second penalty dropped him down to 8th, and handed the win to Bortoleto.

Aron’s comeback drive in Austria

Estonian driver Paul Aron was having a decent season when he arrived in Austria, with podiums at both Monaco and Australia. His season got even better when he took pole position for the feature race. Or so he thought, as the lap that got him pole position was deleted for track limits, meaning that he would now line up 8th for the sprint race on Saturday.

The race on Saturday would be a wet one, but this only seemed to benefit Aron who got to work straight away, making his way up to from 8th to 3rd by the end of lap one! He passed Kaylen Frederick for 2nd on lap 8 and began to hunt down race leader Pepe Marti. On lap 17 Aron made his first attempt to take the lead of Marti who held off the Estonian for another lap.

It only took another two corners before Aron was alongside Marti, trying overtake him on the main straight. The two went side by side for the next few corners before Aron finally got ahead of Marti at turn 3.

Aron would cross the line in first place to take his first F3 win in some style, as he went from 8th to 1st in just 20 laps! This cemented him as a great driver in the wet, and we would see this once again at the feature race in Belgium.

Taylor Barnard Surprise Win

The Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium is a staple on the F3 calendar and is a firm favourite among fans and rivers. The circuit usually provides exciting races with close battles and with rain forecast on Sunday, it was destined to be a great race.

The race got underway on a wet but drying track. Most drivers chose to start on dry tyres, expecting the track to dry up quickly, while some started on the wet tires, hoping to gain an early advantage while the track was still wet. Paul Aron was one of the only drivers to opt for wet tyres and he went from P11 up to fourth in the first corners as those ahead on the dry tyres struggled for grip. By the end of the first lap he was already in the lead and extending his advantage out front.

Behind him came the other wet runners of Taylor Barnard and Christian Mansell who moved up to the podium as the drivers on the dry tyres continued to struggle. The race calmed down for a while before Oliver Goethe crashed going up Eau Rouge, bringing out the safety car.

Race leader Aron sacrificed his nine second lead to pit for dry tyres under the safety car, coming out of the pit lane in 7th behind Barnard, Mansell, Bedrin, Alejandro García, Sebastián Montoya and Sophia Floersch who were all still on the wets. The race would resume on lap 8 with the top 6 bolting away from the rest of the pack. The track hadn’t dried up as quickly as everyone expected which gave a unique opportunity to the drivers who gambled to stay out on wet tyres.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for race leader Barnard who had to fend off a charging Christian Mansell. The two nearly came together on lap 11 as Mansell tried to overtake Barnard, banging wheels which forced him off the track.

But Barnard held it all together, crossing the line to take his first win in F3 as his teammates finished 3rd and 4th. This would be an amazing result for any team, but it was even more special for Barnard’s team Jenzer, who finished second last in the standings last year with just 26 points to their name. This result alone earned them 52 points, double what they managed last year!

Behind them, Sophia Floersch came home 7th to become the first female to score points in F3 history!

Monza Madness

The final round off the F3 season took place at the famous Monza circuit in Italy.

The race got underway with pole sitter Collet covering off the inside to hold the lead. Behind him Paul Aron immediately tried to take advantage of the space in front but lost out to Edgar, and then Bortoleto, falling back to 4th.

With the help of DRS Edgar took the lead off of Collet who would take it straight back on the next lap as the two exchanged the lead for essentially the whole race, even with multiple safety cars bunching up the pack.

On lap 16 of the race, after another safety car, Edgar nailed the start bolting away from Collet who immediately was under pressure from Zak o’sullivan who moved up to second place.

The action would continue all the way up to the chequered flag, with Barnard passing Collet for 3rd on the last lap.

Ahead of him, Johnny Edgar crossed the line to take his first win in F3, rounding out his 2023 campaign with some style.

Macau Grand Prix

While not officially part of the F3 calendar, the Macau grand prix uses F3 cars and sees drivers from the F3 grid compete to come out on top around the narrow winding streets of Macau in a one off, all or nothing race.

It was the first F3 race at Macau since 2019 with the event being cancelled due to covid-19 for multiple years. The race has a long history of exciting races, dramatic crashes and surprise winners, needless to say 2023 didn’t disappoint.

Luke Browning took pole for the race and managed to stay ahead on the long run down to turn one, with many drivers behind him picking up a slipstream.

There was lots of small incidents throughout the race but nothing major by Macau standards. That was until lap 8 when Paul Aron, who was running fifth, had a huge crash.

The crash spilt the car on two, setting it on fire with Aron thankfully jumping out of the car unharmed. The crash brought out the red flag, resulting in a long delay. The race resumed almost an hour later, with Browning still in the lead.

Browning would hold on to first place to take his maiden F3 win at the most difficult track there is, putting himself in the spotlight for F2 next year and maybe even an F1 seat down the line.

You can read our full report on the Macau grand prix from earlier this year on our website.